John Wick

As my fellow FilmBooster contributor Marigold wrote, the film adaptation of Max Payne should have looked like this. Noir stylisation (neon, rain, night, the big city) with a slightly cheesy pulp atmosphere. The comic-bookishly exaggerated world of Russian mobsters and killers for hire (with such elaborate mythology, I was surprised that the film is not based on a comic-book series). A revenge story stripped to the bone (though not to the such a degree that we wouldn’t understand the protagonist’s motivation). Melodramatic flashbacks are forcibly incorporated into the main storyline and most of the those involved know how things are done in the criminal underworld, so they can get straight to the matter at hand without thinking or talking too much about it. Therefore, neither the protagonist’s simple backstory nor needless words ever draw the flow of the narrative away from the action scenes for long. Thanks to the disciplined camerawork, longer shots and the well-executed editing, the scenes are beautifully well arranged and thus more reminiscent of Asian action (which the director got a taste for thanks to his collaboration with the Wachkowskis) than that of contemporary “realistically” tremulous Hollywood productions. The clean style of shooting the scenes of elimination, with smooth transitions between the individual shots, further resonates with the work of the character John Wick, who is fond of having a clean house and silences most of the bad guys with a bullet to the head just to be sure. Besides the possibility to enjoy the chorographically elegant, precisely rhythmised combination of gunfire and martial arts in all their beauty, the style of the action sequences also serves for the characterisation of the protagonist, for which all of the killing doesn’t otherwise leave much time. Furthermore, we don’t need to know more than the fact that John Wick is a cool killer in order to enjoy the film. Therein lies another parallel with action video games, which do not go much farther in developing their characters (another similarity can be seen in the hotel, which serves as a save-point where the hero can rest and recover from his wounds). The film thematises its video-game nature with a joke built into one of the action scenes, when the fictional worlds of a game and the film intersect. John Wick shows that the effort to oblige gamers (and the associated use of video-game aesthetics) doesn’t have to consist solely in frenetic editing. The film can also be “game-like” due to the emphasis placed on the maximum clarity of the action and the straightforwardness of the narrative, which is not concealed but rather proudly put on display. If The Raid 2 didn’t already have stiff competition in the category of best action film of the year so far, it does now. 80% (15.10.2014)

A couple of points for the action, zero points for the story. The problem is that it has some scenes that are clearly meant to be funny, together with scenes that are mean to be really serious. Unfortunately, the serious moments are so stupid (Keanu cradling his dead dog to the sounds of sad music) that I couldn’t help but laugh. But that stylish action scene in the club is enough to make me like this film and make me willing to give it an above-average rating of six points out of ten. (14.01.2015)

No action movie is complete without a proper villain, and we haven’t seen a more thoroughbred action movie than John Wick in a decade. Unfortunately, its bad guy is a nice, puppy-dog-eyed thrift store uncle. This incomprehensible casting failure is not helped by the direction, which on the one hand wants the audience to be moved by Wick’s wife dying from cancer or his puppy being mercilessly killed, but also tries to entertain with a detached perspective and cynical jokes. This creates a strange emotional mishmash which, however, is rescued from being B-movie absurdity by its cool dark style, great super-brutal action scenes, Keanu Reeves’ spectacular avenger and a few screenwriting ideas that add some refreshing comic-book elements (a hotel for killers). All of this makes me raise my rating to three and half stars. (22.10.2014)

The admirable purity of the genre (the filmmaking enthusiasm is gushing from it) doesn't quite match the script, which doesn't limp in motivations or dialogue (on the contrary, the simplicity is a good thing). Yet, paradoxically, I would have liked to see even more broken arms, and gunshots to the head, and overall I would have actually gone a bit harder in the fanboy exhibition because the great technical aspect encourages it like few other things. A weaker four stars. I'll be happy to watch selected moments again. (15.02.2015)

It is rare to see such dirty, unkempt action in an A-budget film, where in the heat of battle, opponents are beaten into a freshly stitched wound and eliminated 95% of the time in the surest way, i.e. by headshot, where cars don't explode upon impact and women fight like women (i.e. not through strength, but by subterfuge), so you don't see them punch and kick hard, which they wouldn't be able to do given their physiognomy, as the vast majority of films in Hollywood today do in terms of gender pseudo-balance. What's more, there's a humorous twist on action movie clichés – the assassins have their own hotel with its own rules, and the unquestionable reason for the carnage is a dead dog. I can understand that, if someone touched my hamster, even John Wick with his arsenal would be in trouble. (15.01.2015)