John Wick was awesome. It's a total dude-flick from start to finish, but it's 100% aware of that and just wants to entertain you. It feels like a modern take on the same kind of movie Commando was, a power fantasy dialed to 11 with the knob broken off. A paper thin story with badass, memorable characters and endlessly quotable scenes.


This could have easily been nothing but schlock, just a throw-away popcorn flick, but the character of Wick and Reeves' performance elevated the movie to being more than the sum of its parts. He gave life to Wick where none really needed to be, he could have easily gotten away with just puting on a lazy scowl and phoning this in as another forgetable action hero. However, he made Wick both intimidating and sympathetic as a character. His decision to play this role straight, gave the character a much needed trait that would make stand out among the other action heroes; Humanity. John Wick isn't a super hero, he gets hurt like everyone else, both emotionally and physically. He shudders as he openly sobs about the deaths of those he loves. He has to *try* to succeed, he doesn't just walk into a room and everyone dies without any effort. He's not Rambo, hitting shots literally without aiming and standing in plain sight with nothing but the dirt at his feet getting shot. He makes mistakes, he sometimes gets seriously hurt and needs others to bail him out. He's not perfect, and that imperfection makes him relatable. You feel that every fight he's in could end with his death, and that adds tension.

He's not invincible, he's just a man.. a very driven, focused man. That's what makes John Wick stand out, how human he is, while also being so larger-than-life *good* at what he does.

John Wick was awesome. It's a total dude-flick from start to finish, but it's 100% aware of that and just wants to entertain you. It feels like a modern take on the same kind of movie Commando was, a power fantasy dialed to 11 with the knob broken off. A paper thin story with badass, memorable characters and endlessly quotable scenes. This could have easily been nothing but schlock, just a throw-away popcorn flick, but the character of Wick and Reeves' performance elevated the movie to being more than the sum of its parts. He gave life to Wick where none really needed to be, he could have easily gotten away with just puting on a lazy scowl and phoning this in as another forgetable action hero. However, he made Wick both intimidating and sympathetic as a character. His decision to play this role straight, gave the character a much needed trait that would make stand out among the other action heroes; Humanity. John Wick isn't a super hero, he gets hurt like everyone else, both emotionally and physically. He shudders as he openly sobs about the deaths of those he loves. He has to *try* to succeed, he doesn't just walk into a room and everyone dies without any effort. He's not Rambo, hitting shots literally without aiming and standing in plain sight with nothing but the dirt at his feet getting shot. He makes mistakes, he sometimes gets seriously hurt and needs others to bail him out. He's not perfect, and that imperfection makes him relatable. You feel that every fight he's in could end with his death, and that adds tension. He's not invincible, he's just a man.. a very driven, focused man. That's what makes John Wick stand out, how human he is, while also being so larger-than-life *good* at what he does.