Random Movie Series Review - John Wick

 

When people think of Keanu Reeves, who still hasn't aged much, many would say that his best films are The Matrix saga, Bill and Ted's many excellent adventures and this. I have avoided watching any John Wick film for a long time and with the fourth one having just come out, I felt it was time to check them all out. Gotta say, it is overall a pretty solid series of action packed films that further demonstrate the ability Keanu Reeves has to just get on with kicking people's butts in the action flicks he has been in, which isn't exclusively this and the Matrix films. Did you know he was the main protagonist in the Sandra Bullock film Speed? I bet you didn't know that. Anyway, let's take a look at these films:

John Wick

In this first film, the legendary hitman John Wick (played by Keanu Reeves) is grieving his wife Helen (played by Bridget Moynahn) who leaves him a beagle puppy to help cope with his loss. But when a group of Russian gangsters try and fail to intimidate him, they break into his house and kill his puppy. Determined to seek revenge, Wick forces himself out of retirement to hunt down and kill them while also learning a thing or two about the Russian mafia while we, the audience, learn about the rules of this world. This first film came out at a time when Keanu Reeves's career was in limbo and I got to say, what an amazing comeback. The film is very stylish, very thrilling and paves the way to what would become an excellent saga of action films. Very rare we see a series so solid like this. 9/10

Chapter 2

Having succeeded in his previous endeavour, Wick chooses peace over killing the brother of the man who led the attack to his home and deceased puppy in the first film. In doing so, he quickly dispatches the men who work for Abram Tarasov (played by Peter Stormare), but spares him and returns home. But not out of the woods yet, Wick gets a visit from the Camorra crime boss Santino D'Antonio (played by Riccardo Scamarcio) who reminds him of the reason why he was able to retire and marry Helen. However, despite refusing at first, Wick is soon reminded of the rules in the underworld about not breaking a blood oath and goes about fulfilling what Santino wants him to do. The task being killing some people so that Santino can claim a spot on the "High Table", a council of 12 high ranking crime bosses in the Underworld. One thing leads to another and Wick finds himself being betrayed and all sorts and must do something about it. This is one of those rare sequels that does exactly what a sequel should do. Up the ante a bit and give us a bit more of what made us fall in love with the first film. The thrills are bigger, the choreography is better, and it's a lot of fun. 9/10

Chapter 3: Parabellum

Having done an unauthorized killing previously, John Wick has been considered "excommunicado" and as such, tries to escape this bounty that has been placed on his head. He fights against a lot of hitmen, puts his allies at risk and goes about trying to get away from all this, which may lead to some interesting events. Once again, the film ups the ante with its thrills, action sequences and the choreography. It's still got some style to it and the over-the-top stuff that fans are bound to expect. 9/10

Chapter 4

John Wick secretly prepares himself to take revenge on the High Table. He ends up killing the elder (played this time by George Georgiou) which prompts High Table member Vincent de Gramont (played by Bill Skarsgård) to take action by using the unlimited resources he has at his disposal to kill John Wick. To prove that he is being serious, he strips Winston (played by Ian McShane) of his managerial duties in the now destroyed Covenantal hotel and among other things, sends out Wick's old friend and a blind, retired High Table assassin Caine (played by Donnie Yen) to kill Wick at the risk of losing his daughter. A man with a dog known only as Mr. Nobody (played by Shamier Anderson) also gives chase to Wick which leads him to find ways to save his allies and himself from the High Table and the people they send after them which could have devastating consequences. For what can come across as a sort of finale for the series (but who knows if it will actually be that), this is a great fourth film. Stylish, more action packed than ever before, stakes being high and loads more other things, make this fourth film not only the best in the series. But also one of the best action films ever made, as well as one of the best films to come out of 2023 so far for us UK folk. 10/10

Overall, as I said, a solid action series of films that has its own easy to understand rules with lots of action and very satisfactory moments throughout. Especially with the fourth which had cheering from the audience which is always a good sign. 9/10