The 'John Wick' series has quickly become a modern cult hit, with three solid action films & a fourth on the way. Today, I feel like taking a look at all three and giving you my thoughts on each. Let's start with...well the start all the way back in 2014 with 'John Wick'.
Keanu Reeves plays the titular John Wick, an ex-hitman whose life has just been shattered after his wife passes away. Things seem to get better when she leaves him one final gift: a puppy that John quickly becomes attached to. Of course, this being the first in a trilogy you can of course guess that things quickly go downhill & Mr. Wick gets back in the game on a never ending quest of vengeance. The original film still holds up against the two sequels despite the lower budget. The film is so fast paced, going from scene to scene of non-stop action that its never boring and it's one I frequently replay. It's shortcomings are mostly in the story as little background about John or the people he works with/for is explained. I understand that they were thinking ahead with sequels to expand the world a little at a time, but you have to see it as if you only saw this film. We simply do not get enough information about certain characters or the organization behind everything which hurts this one a bit. Having said that, the original film is still a solid flick with high rewatch value if you love action movies.
The sequel picks up directly after the first with Wick being tasked by a high ranking member of their organization to pull off a job thought to be impossible. This naturally gets John into even more trouble as the consequences of his actions begin to show themselves. Part 2 delivers on the usual sequel checklist and then some. It's scenes are bigger, louder, and bloodier though not necessarily better than the first. Some scenes do tend to go a bit too long and can make the pacing slow at times. The script I feel is a lot more complicated but the deeper dive into these characters and the world they live in is welcome to me personally. I enjoyed seeing the characters of Winston and the Concierge return providing some of the film's wicked humor throughout. The story can also be considered the film's Achilles' heel as a movie such as this, with lots of gunplay and hand to hand combat it can be difficult at times to pay attention to the overall narrative, especially when they are attempting to build a cinematic world of sorts. I don't think 'Chapter 2' is better than the original, but more on equal footing. It has the same fun action you'd expect with some hit or miss elements sprinkled in.
John is now on the run after breaking the rules of the organization. With a hefty price on his head and little time, he attempts to clean the slate and escape with his life. One aspect of these 'John Wick' movies I love is that you can watch them back to back without any sort of recap or backstory at the beginning. You are immediately thrown into the film as John rushes through the heavy rain after his actions in the previous movie. It also begins with some really badass fight scenes, including one at a weapons museum. However, after this lighting paced opening the film really slows down and dumps a lot of exposition. Yes there are still a lot of fight scenes in between this but it puts the brakes on the film a bit too much (this is the longest movie at 2hrs 30min). If edited down a bit more, this is easily the best one in the series and perfectly sets up a fourth film that I cannot wait to see. It's also the best looking film, shot in widescreen with brilliant colors and the sound design goes perfectly with the excellent fight choreography. 'John Wick 3' only suffers from taking a breath a bit too often that results in a bloated running time. Even still, this one comes highly recommended.
And there you have it, a solid modern trilogy that are amazing in how consistently well done they are. Here's hoping the fourth film doesn't disappoint. Ratings for each are below. Thank you for reading and enjoy your time at the movies.
John Wick: 8.5/10
John Wick Chapter 2: 8/10
John Wick Chapter 3: 8.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment