John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is the last person you would ever want to piss off. Why is that you ask? Because he is the most lethal dude on planet earth. How lethal is he? Well let’s just say, in any given moment, he can shoot, knife, and.or choke a man quicker than Rachel Ray can break an egg. Wick even has a nickname…The Boogie man.
When the film begins, we see that John is not a happy man. He is mourning his beloved wife, Helen (Bridget Moynahan) who we see in a video that John keeps playing. She recently died from leukemia. To say Helen was the love of his life is an understatement. He gave up his extremely successful hit man career for her. Helen knew John was going to be lonely when she was gone, so she arranged for a beagle puppy named Daisy to be delivered to him, along with a note imploring him not to forget how to love. Yes, this is one of those ‘Ah’ movie moments. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for John’s world to be turned upside down. His 1969 Boss Mustang catches the eye of a sadistic Russian creep/gangsta, Josef Tatasov (Alfie Allen). When Wick refuses to sell the car, Josef and his crew break into his house and steal it. They also beat John unconscious and do something so horrific that I had to close my eyes.
After John recovers, he is determined to get his car back and teach these bad boys a lesson they will never forget. His search for his Mustang takes him to a side of New York City that tourists never see…a hyper real, super-secret criminal community which was John’s home away from home.. After learning that his attacker is the only son of a former associate, vicious Russian crime boss, Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist), John turns his attention to vengence. As word spreads, that the legendary hit man is after his son, Viggo offers two million dollar bounty to anyone who can bring John down.
‘John Wick’ directed by former stuntman Chad Stahelski is a super violent, but super fun film. It’s filled with great fight scenes, interesting characters, including Ian McShane as Winston the owner of a club where the bad boys hang out, and Willem Dafoe (Marcus) and John Leguizamo (Aurelio).
I gave ‘John Wick’ which opens in theatres, Friday October 24, 2014, 31/2 bagels out of 5.
Check out our Two Jews On Film video for more of my thoughts.
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