John Wick

[Crenners]

I've only just seen the first John Wick film so no spoilers please for the series, but I was inspired to share a few thoughts after seeing this.

First of all, exceptional violence and 'gun fu' reminiscent of the great 90s John Woo movies with Chow Yun Fat and others. I expected relatively little here besides some meathead cheese and dumb dialogue. I got all of that and a lot more.

The gunplay is outstanding, lots of point blank almost hand-to-hand gunishment meted out, many pop-pop-...POP! executions whereby John shoots someone in the heart or stomach before ensuring they die immediately by shooting them in the brain at one inch range. Lots of holding a man's head down after breaking his arm or elbow or shoulder and shooting some other bad guys before finally shooting the guy's head flush against whatever surface.

It's rare to experience impactful, quite shocking, winceworthy violence in a modern action film but this had me whistling with appalled primitive glee. As an animal lover, I also found John's motivation for the lunatic spree to be very relatable.

I thought this would be popcorn nonsense but it's popcorn nonsense smothered with delicious nduja sausage and jalapeños, washed down with a Blanton's whiskey. It's the kind of thing where if I had watched it at the cinema, I'd have come out buzzing, pretending to shoot my mates in the street going BLAMM BLAMM BLAMMM until someone got upset. It's that kind of infectious thing.

Cast is actually quite good, ham and cheese all round.

Are the rest worth watching for quality action fans?

[bgmnts]

Yeah I think it's the only modern series I watched. I actually saw 3 in the cinema which is rare for me.

As you say, slick action and gun fu, actual choreographed fights that are shown on screen, instead of the usual 800 cuts per second where you have no clue what's happening a la Batman. Keanu look like he put a shift in to be fair.

Some genuine gruesome violence as well, one guy gets kicked in the head by a horse, which Reeves then goes on to ride on the NYC streets. Just pure fun.

And watching dogs maul the absolute fuck out of a baddie's cock, as they were bred to do, is always a pleasure.

[Magnum Valentino]

Fucking absolutely. Love 'em.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The first one is a masterpiece. Easily one of the best action films of the last decade.

The sequels certainly have their moments, but they get rather baggy. The third film in particular started to test my patience. A good lesson in less is more.

One thing in their favour is that they look spectacular. Everyone remembers the dual coloured lighting, but the set design and cinematography are top notch - frequently outclassing films that cost way more - and it seems to be mostly ignored.

[mothman]

I suppose you could say this of any action film since forever but the sheer disposability of all the goons started to bother me after a while. Where did all these henchmen come from? What sort of career trajectory sees you as an ultimately ineffectual heavy and/or bodyguard in a nice suit whose end comes when you rush one of the most feared professional hitmen of all time and he kicks you in the balls then uses your own gun to shoot three of your colleagues while you're still holding it before putting the last bullet into the back of your head?

Love them though, but it becomes almost numbing especially towards the end of Parabellum.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Could be worse.

[mothman]

Never far from our thoughts. ⚰️

[gib]

i loved the 1st one and was gripped and invested from the start, but bailed half hour into the 2nd, can't remember exactly why. I seem to recall that it all felt very contrived, or i couldn't get into the story.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Loved it when he did PE lessons on YouTube during lockdown.

[Chollis]

Are the rest worth watching for quality action fans?

yeah I'd say so. they're more of the same

[dissolute ocelot]

I find the shooting can get a bit much, but there is generally enough other tomfoolery that it doesn't get boring, like some great car stuff near the start of JW2, and as mentioned it often looks fabulous. The first one definitely has the best villain in Michael Nyqvist.

[13 schoolyards]

I appreciate that they try (especially in the sequels) to vary the action up a bit, even if that means I find the second two have stretches that don't quite click for me. The opening of the third film, where he's forced to use knives and uses them in the exact same way as bullets - put as many as possible into every bad guy and finish them off with a head shot - is probably my favourite single sequence, which suggests that (for me at least) they're at least not dropping off quality-wise.

Also in the third, that whole bit with him putting together a revolver out of parts of other revolvers was a nice callback to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, which is not a film I expected a John Wick movie to reference.

[beanheadmcginty]

Not forgetting that these films all feature Lovejoy. Any films with Lovejoy in them are required viewing.

[Butchers Blind]

I liked the first one, only parts of the second and by the the third part it was starting to get on my..

lame joke

wick

[close]

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Not forgetting that these films all feature Lovejoy. Any films with Lovejoy in them are required viewing.

It's part of the Lovejoy Cinematic Universe.

[dissolute ocelot]

It's part of the Lovejoy Cinematic Universe.

Phyllis Logan would make an ace crime boss or similar villain. Chris Jury, who played hapless Eric, directed several episodes of a show called Nurses Who Kill. There's definitely scope for a franchise.

[notjosh]

Good fight choreography but a completely one-note central performance and a visually unappealing world populated entirely by arseholes. I guess some people like the straightforward simplicity of it all; I just don't care about anyone in it and therefore can't get emotionally invested in any of the action.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

They killed his dog. What more motivation could he need?

Fair enough about the lead performance (what else can you expect with Reeves?) but "visually unappealing"?!

[Catalogue Trousers]

Shit for cunts.

[Avril Lavigne]

shocking, winceworthy violence

For rills? I liked the first two JW movies (haven't seen the third) but I can't separate this kind of thing from dance choreography so it's much more technically impressive / well-executed than it is winceworthy.

[Mr Trumpet]

I think the second film is the best of the trilogy, not least for the amazing cameo by

Spoiler alert

Peter Serafinowicz

[close]

[13 schoolyards]

It's definitely a series I wish would lean more into stunt casting. At this stage there's no reason not to have all his celebrity mates / random big names turn up for once scene as yet another creepy crime boss or kak-handed killer who gets their neck snapped.

Alex Winter's broken his acting drought, start with him. And Winona Ryder and Sandra Bullock should definitely turn up and try to shoot him while he's buying dog food or something

[Crenners]

For rills? I liked the first two JW movies (haven't seen the third) but I can't separate this kind of thing from dance choreography so it's much more technically impressive / well-executed than it is winceworthy.

Impactful, punchy, superb timing for an American 'martial arts' film.

I was feeling the hits and exhilarated. That's rare for me outside top tier HK action movies. Winceworthy isn't necessarily the right word but we were feeling it and going 'oof' and 'holy fuck haha' quite a bit.

Sound design also deserves plenty of credit there. It's beautifully crafted, got a proper thump and snap through our setup.

[Avril Lavigne]

For sure, I was hung up on the word winceworthy which I associate less with action-movie violence and more with the kind of gore that makes you do a vom face, like the crowbar scene in Possessor Uncut.

[mothman]

Get Odenkirk and Neeson in. Could call it Nobody Takes John Wick!

Or even...

... get Karen Gillan in too, and call it Nobody Takes John Wick For A Gunpowder Milkshake!

[close]

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Considering how influential it's been in it's own right, it's kind of weird to think that the first one was basically riding Taken's coattails. It just happened to be not shit.

[dissolute ocelot]

For rills? I liked the first two JW movies (haven't seen the third) but I can't separate this kind of thing from dance choreography so it's much more technically impressive / well-executed than it is winceworthy.

I find it a bit icky the way it combines brilliant choreography with lots of shooting people in the head. Would prefer if he just tossed them off balconies or something.

[mothman]

That just makes me think of this scene from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles which was their way of showing a Terminator massacring police officers a la the original movie m, but on a TV budget and ratings.

https://youtu.be/NWZFkPiFlkE