This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Todd Gaines’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
Keanu Reeves as John Wick, a grieving widower who finds comfort in a sweet puppy dog named Daisy. The comfort is short lived when a gang of thugs makes the worst mistake of their lives. The mistake? They killed the wrong badass motherfucker's dog. That critical error wakes up the sleeping killing machine inside of John Wick and he goes all Point Break Speed Matrix on the Russian Mafia and everyone else that's in his way in this action packed bullet flying adrenaline rush flick that reminds the world that Keanu Reeves is still around and he's as awesomely awesome as ever. Waves. Blood. Rain. Black umbrellas. Willem Dafoe has that "you don't won't to fuck with me" look. I don't think he's acting. I think he's for real. I wanna grow a John Wick beard. Theon Greyjoy acting all cocky and being a total dick. Daisy the Dog deserves to be in the Dog Hall of Fame right next to Gordon the Dog from Friday the 13th Part IV. She's so cute and cuddly and loves to eat cereal. John Wick screams badass. Keanu drives a Mustang like he stole it. He shoots a gun like no other, and he can fight like he's straight outta The Raid. It's like John Woo and Gareth Evans collided and made John Wick from their DNA. John Wick might be the greatest marksman ever. The way he handles a gun is action porn. John Wick gives a new meaning to dinner reservations. Trust me, you don't want him making reservations for you. What the fuck is Adrianne Palicki doing in this film? Not my first or twentieth choice for a lethal assassin. Mikael without Lisbeth and he makes an okay central baddie. The problem with the bad guys in John Wick is I liked the smaller role baddies more. Theon's pals are more interesting than Theon. Mikael who plays the Russian Mafia Boss Viggo has a bodyguard named Kirill who looks cool as fuck and is a pretty damn good fighter and a wise cracking advisor Mr. Mayhem himself Dean Winters. Both characters are a lot more interesting than their boss. But it really doesn't matter because Keanu owns John Wick. He does get some help from the always reliable Dafoe and Ian McShane's character is absolutely hilarious in a brief, but vital cameo. The plot is super simple. The action is non-stop once it gets going. The score is Rock N' Roll badass. The directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski have a stunts background and you can tell. The action choreography is off the chain. I'm in awe of the sheer fun of John Wick. It might not be the best film of 2014, but it comes damn close to being my favorite film of the year. Do you think Johnny Utah is a badass motherfucker? If you do, please watch John Wick. You won't regret it.
