Hey 3.5 readers.
2014’s John Wick was such a special, under the radar surprise. It didn’t get half the play it deserved and really grew just by word of mouth.
I was blown away when I saw it.
How to even explain it?
Very quickly, you, the viewer, are presented with a world where there’s a lot going on, but there isn’t much to bog you down in the way of detailed nuance.
Wick is a legendary hitman who goes into retirement to make his wife happy, only to come out of retirement when a puppy gifted to him by his deceased wife is killed by an epic douche.
Yeah, I know, it sounds like an unlikely plot but it works.
And there are rules. Hitmen use special coins as currency and they can stay at a special hotel where they’re supposed to be safe for the duration of their stay. And for a certain amount of coins, hitmen can make their victims’ bodies disappear no questions asked.
In other words, there’s a lot of rules but you learn them quickly and easily.
Plus, it was great to see Keanu Reeves in a big lead role again.
Shit, that man is well-preserved.
Anyway, John Wick has been given a second chapter. My only hope is that this franchise doesn’t get too big for its britches. Sometimes when a movie is an understated success there is a desire to go bigger in the sequel and that doesn’t always necessarily work out.
It was the quick, snappy, clear and concise writing that made the first Wick movie a success, so I hope there’s more of it this go around.
Bookshelf Battle 