John Wick

conorhal

Deleted User wrote: »

Look it's a pretty generic revenge film, there's nothing ground breaking to be found here but the story is well told, the action is shot with an eye to detail and the entire film exists simply to entertain. In my book that's all you need for an unassuming night in. It's not big, it's not clever, it's not original but it is a lot of fun and sometimes that's all you want or need

That pretty much sums it up. For my money, 'Shoot 'em Up' is the superior entry in this kind of stylised action fare, personally I began to tire of the films extremely repetitive action choreography.

Faith+1

Kinda reminded me of Taken. One guy takes on a whole mafia outfit. Silly at times but great action!

IvaBigWun

Faith+1 wrote: »

Kinda reminded me of Taken.

I came in here to post to exact same dammit!

A good, mindless fare if you dont want anything too taxing on the brain. I can definitely see this being a trilogy.

TheDoc

Not every film goes out to win awards, and not every film should be judged on this basis.

Had a self proclaimed film "buff" in work today bang on about " the arcs" and a load of of critic jargon he obviously read somewhere.

If you can't sit down to a film like this and appreciate what it's for, and it's purpose, we can just wrap up cinema. Films like this need to exist.

While I love all types of film, if I had to only watch 2 1/2hr dramas and films purely hunting for Oscars, movies would be a terrible boring place.

I havn't freaked my **** at an action film like this since Equilibrium. All the action scenes were incredible. That was gun porn at it's finest. The gratuitous headshot was alive and well here.

TheDoc

Faith+1 wrote: »

Kinda reminded me of Taken. One guy takes on a whole mafia outfit. Silly at times but great action!

Well I can see the comparison

"50+ year old actor who hasn't been up to much in recent years involved in revenge click where past skills come to the front in genocidal action film"

Taken, November Man, Heart of Darkness(Was that Gibsons one? ), The Equalizer, Kevin Bacon did one where his son was killed and he goes after a gang, Michael Kane even did one going after a local gang.

What I liked about this was how Wick's character wasn't a secret, he was well known, and his reputation proceeded him. And I suppose the action scenes make out why

Skerries

TheDoc wrote: »

I havn't freaked my **** at an action film like this since Equilibrium.

That's what I was thinking when watching this, a lot of the gun fights reminded me of the Gun-Kata scenes from Equilibrium

Frank Bullitt

Its just like Taken, but with a vegan instead.

Its a laugh, some of the killing is hilarious.

joe123

Absolutely brilliant Film. One of the most stylish action films Ive seen in ages.

People comparing this to Taken fair enough, its much more like "The Man From Nowhere" imo with a touch of Drive about it.

That nightclub scene was one of the best bits of film ive seen in ages. Oozed class. That backing song just fit perfectly too. Not often I'll look forward to watching a film again so soon but this is one of them.

I hope a sequel is in the pipeline. Great universe set up and Keanu Reeves is class as the main man.

TheDoc

Gintonious wrote: »

Its just like Taken, but with a vegan instead.

Its a laugh, some of the killing is hilarious.

Watched it with the misses who liked it for what it was but thought it was ridiculous.

But the bit where the grabs the guy with the beard and shoots him in the chest, and then grabs his beard and slams his head to the table and double taps him in the temple

WAS THERE ANY NEED, WAS THERE REALLY ANY NEED FOR THAT TO TAKE PLACE

Was funny

Outkast_IRE

Really enjoyed this movie, best action flick i seen in a long time. Very well shot, action scenes flowed really well and were the right length.

Keanu was great in the lead role, but the rest of the cast too were well picked for their roles.

Will watch it again in the future.

Tipsy McSwagger

It's nothing but a big dumb action movie.............................and I really enjoyed it.

DoYouEvenLift

This isn't out here until April apparently, yet it is now up online in 1080p quality lol.


Just watched it and think it was brilliantly entertaining. Movies like this also showcase how important a good soundtrack is. Wouldn't mind watching it again when it's in the cinema.

Skerries

TheDoc wrote: »

Watched it with the misses who liked it for what it was but thought it was ridiculous.

But the bit where the grabs the guy with the beard and shoots him in the chest, and then grabs his beard and slams his head to the table and double taps him in the temple



Was funny

I have seen that guy recently in another similar film, was it The Equalizer?
he is bald with a beard and has his moustache waxed so it sticks out

Edit: Tait Fletcher, he was also in Breaking Bad

DoYouEvenLift

Skerries wrote: »

I have seen that guy recently in another similar film, was it The Equalizer?
he is bald with a beard and has his moustache waxed so it sticks out

Edit: Tait Fletcher, he was also in Breaking Bad

Instantly recognised him too but couldn't remember from where, you're right about him being in The Equalizer. Such a funny moustache.

TheDoc

Is that the new ford Mustang btw in the film?

that's launching over here shortly, and notice in a fair few of Reeves films he is sporting a Mustang.

timetogo

Saw this over the weekend. I must be getting old, I thought it was dire. The dialogue was so wooden in places.

The set up for the story was unbelievable

- EVERYBODY knows who John Wick is, except for the 3 Russions who stole his car
- Why bother stealing his car. The 3 guys stole it to sell it. They didn't look short of cash at all.
- The killing of the dog set him off. Sure I get it was from his wife but he only had it a couple of days.

Then other annoyances

- Sniper guy was handily pointing his gun at John Wick whenever he was going to be killed.
- Bad guy catches Wick, ties him to a chair and then leaves him with the two henchmen rather than just putting a bullet in his head.
- Fuel the chopper. Thought that was the corniest line ever. I don't know much about helicopters. Are they normally stored empty.
- The bit in the middle where Wick has the main Russian in his sights as he's coming out of the pool. Rather than shoot him, he just stares at him. Ah, I thought, he wants to make him pay properly, rather than just shoot him. But nope, as soon as the guy started running Wick started shooting at him.
- There's only one cop in the city apparently and he's a friend of Wick. I was thinking of the newspaper headlines the next day. 100s killed by maniac and not a cop in sight.

The action scenes were good but that was it. Not much in between them.

Dozen Wicked Words

timetogo wrote: »

The action scenes were good but that was it. Not much in between them.

I think this is all anyone needs from an old fashioned action film. I enjoyed it personally.

TheDoc

timetogo wrote: »

Saw this over the weekend. I must be getting old, I thought it was dire. The dialogue was so wooden in places.

The set up for the story was unbelievable

- EVERYBODY knows who John Wick is, except for the 3 Russions who stole his car
- Why bother stealing his car. The 3 guys stole it to sell it. They didn't look short of cash at all.
- The killing of the dog set him off. Sure I get it was from his wife but he only had it a couple of days.

Then other annoyances

- Sniper guy was handily pointing his gun at John Wick whenever he was going to be killed.
- Bad guy catches Wick, ties him to a chair and then leaves him with the two henchmen rather than just putting a bullet in his head.
- Fuel the chopper. Thought that was the corniest line ever. I don't know much about helicopters. Are they normally stored empty.
- The bit in the middle where Wick has the main Russian in his sights as he's coming out of the pool. Rather than shoot him, he just stares at him. Ah, I thought, he wants to make him pay properly, rather than just shoot him. But nope, as soon as the guy started running Wick started shooting at him.
- There's only one cop in the city apparently and he's a friend of Wick. I was thinking of the newspaper headlines the next day. 100s killed by maniac and not a cop in sight.

The action scenes were good but that was it. Not much in between them.

Your annoyances, while totally valid, are what annoy me about modern cinema. Why do people feel the need to nitpick and query reality in a totally fictional world. It's a real pet hate of mine.

Christopher Nolan has a lot to answer for.

I totally understand your points above, they are 100% valid. They are the sort of thing I hear a lot from people about a multitude of films, but I always wonder why those questions ever annoy me. Why they never come front and centre. I'm perfectly aware of them, but why can I let stuff like that slide, for the betterment of enjoyment.

The one that took the biscuit for me in recent memory was the absolute TEARs people had that in Man of Steel, Superman levelled the city fighting Zod. When I was watching that in the cinema, my immediate concern was the visual orgy taking place of Superman fighting Zod smashing each other through building, not that poor Deloris might have been late leaving the office and just got minced.

</rant>

timetogo

timetogo wrote: »

Saw this over the weekend. I must be getting old, I thought it was dire. The dialogue was so wooden in places.

The set up for the story was unbelievable

- EVERYBODY knows who John Wick is, except for the 3 Russions who stole his car
- Why bother stealing his car. The 3 guys stole it to sell it. They didn't look short of cash at all.
- The killing of the dog set him off. Sure I get it was from his wife but he only had it a couple of days.

I assume them not knowing who Wick was, was due to them being a lot younger than the rest.

They didn't steal the car to sell, they stole it to use which is why the kid asked for clean papers for it.

I think that if someone broke into my home, beat me up, killed my dog which was my last connection to my dead wife and then stole my car I'd be out looking for revenge.

timetogo wrote: »

Then other annoyances

- Sniper guy was handily pointing his gun at John Wick whenever he was going to be killed.
- Bad guy catches Wick, ties him to a chair and then leaves him with the two henchmen rather than just putting a bullet in his head.
- Fuel the chopper. Thought that was the corniest line ever. I don't know much about helicopters. Are they normally stored empty.
- The bit in the middle where Wick has the main Russian in his sights as he's coming out of the pool. Rather than shoot him, he just stares at him. Ah, I thought, he wants to make him pay properly, rather than just shoot him. But nope, as soon as the guy started running Wick started shooting at him.
- There's only one cop in the city apparently and he's a friend of Wick. I was thinking of the newspaper headlines the next day. 100s killed by maniac and not a cop in sight.

The action scenes were good but that was it. Not much in between them.

Dafeo's character was following Wick and acting as his guardian angel. It makes sense that he'd be ready for anything that went down.

The whole chair thing, it's a film and perhaps there was the case of the big baddie not wanting to be around for the act.

Generally planes and helicopters are refueled before take off, so it makes sense that he would ensure that it was ready to go when he got there.

As for the cop thing, I assume that since much of the mayhem took place in mob operated venues the cops were in no hurry to get involved. It was also clear from the film that cops were paid to turn a blind eye, I assume that Wick and his capacity for violence was well known to all and the cops, such as the one who called to his door felt that getting home safely was preferable to getting involved

At the end of the day it's an easy to watch action film which isn't striving for realism, it's pure escapist fun and all the better for it. If you can just sit back and go with it then the film is a lot of fun but like every film ever made there are moments which don't work and if you stop to question them then you're just going to find more and more.

saw this recently. enjoyable but ridiculous. of course all these types of movies are ridiculous but didn't find any of the action to be believable really, although there is some impressive choreography. and the story was worse - it makes Taken 1 look like a Chekhov novel. taken as a comedy action movie it works but didn't feel it was trying to present itself like that.

e_e

When the hell is this out here? Really hope it's not another Snowpiercer/The Immigrant situation.

DoYouEvenLift

e_e wrote: »

When the hell is this out here? Really hope it's not another Snowpiercer/The Immigrant situation.

April, even though it's already out online in '1080p'

Shiraz 4.99

This was the perfect antidote to all those Oscar flicks I've sen recently & more enjoyable than many of them too.
Perfectly slick cheese, 8/10.

e_e

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

April, even though it's already out online in '1080p'

For fecksake. Hoping it'll get a preview at JDIFF because I don't do piracy.

e_e

e_e wrote: »

For fecksake. Hoping it'll get a preview at JDIFF because I don't do piracy.

You can rent or buy it on VOD from Amazon, iTunes, PSN and so on

e_e

Thanks, I'm already overburdened with movies to watch at home so I think I'll wait for it to come to the cinema.

Agricola

Really couldnt like this on any level. I have no problem with brainless action films, but this was packed with terrible acting, ridiculous dialogue, an unconvincing lead who was more wooden than a railway sleeper, way way way OTT fight scenes which ALWAYS had in your face guitar rock blaring behind them. I know there are a lot of people out there who treat all these flaws as if they are their own genre, and if that is the case, I suppose you could say this is a top film in its genre. Imo, it was like something written and directed by a couple of over excited film school students. I'd cry if I paid a tenner to see this in a cinema.

DoYouEvenLift

Agricola wrote: »

Really couldnt like this on any level. I have no problem with brainless action films, but this was packed with terrible acting, ridiculous dialogue, an unconvincing lead who was more wooden than a railway sleeper, way way way OTT fight scenes which ALWAYS had in your face guitar rock blaring behind them. I know there are a lot of people out there who treat all these flaws as if they are their own genre, and if that is the case, I suppose you could say this is a top film in its genre. Imo, it was like something written and directed by a couple of over excited film school students. I'd cry if I paid a tenner to see this in a cinema.

But who was nightclub scene

Ageyev

R P McMurphy wrote: »

Was the dialogue tongue in cheek or serious?

I think some of it was supposed to be tongue in cheek a la Clint Eastwood in the Leone western's (going out on a limb based on the film's "influences" listed on the Wiki page.

The action scenes were like something from a video game and everyhing else was dull, the bad guys left something to be desired, this needed more distincitve baddies hamming it up. Pro-wrestler Kevin Nash and actors from The Wire popping up was cool.

The dog stuff reminded me of the director's cut of Payback.

not often do dogs get killed in films like this

TheDoc

Worth remembering that there was a couple of firearms and martial arts experts drafted into the pre-production to create a completely new method combat integrating hand to hand combat and firearms. The reason it probably looks so A) Unrealistic and Visually impressive is because it was made from the ground up, for this film.

Some really interesting stuff online about it.

Ageyev

TheDoc wrote: »

Some really interesting stuff online about it.

Link(s)?

Mc Love

I am surprised with the negativity on here, I really really enjoyed this movie!

pixelburp

I dunno, I was quite disappointed, having read some fairly breathless reviews of this, as if it were the saviour of hard-boiled action cinema.

It played with many of the more blatant tropes in the action genre, but never to the point of actually doing anything new or refreshing with them. All in all it was a competent action flick, with a somewhat interesting hitman subculture in its mythology, but really that's about it. In many respects, it stood out not because it was new or original, but because it felt fairly old-fashioned; unlike the many imitators of the fashionable Bourne franchise, there was no attempt to render the action incoherent with an agitated camera frenetically following the violence. Action scenes played out in front of a sensible selection of shots and perspectives, so the admittedly balletic fight choreography - the nightclub the standout scene there - could speak for itself without the camera needing to share the adrenaline. Minus points though for the use of that other modern fashion in action films, CGI blood (or what looked awfully like it)

Nor were the performances that astounding either: Keanu demonstrated that his recent absence from the big-screen hasn't been due to acting lessons; with the cliché of the ice-cold, seen-it-all hitman, a little stoicism can go a long way to insinuate a depth behind the eyes of the killer, a needling remorse for past actions, but in the case of Keanu the deadpan delivery just felt empty, bored. The side characters, particularly those relating to the aforementioned hitman sub-culture, seemed to be having more fun with their roles but ultimately they didn't feature very much.

Good, but not brilliant by a long stretch.

oxygen

Agricola wrote: »

Really couldnt like this on any level. I have no problem with brainless action films, but this was packed with terrible acting, ridiculous dialogue, an unconvincing lead who was more wooden than a railway sleeper, way way way OTT fight scenes which ALWAYS had in your face guitar rock blaring behind them. I know there are a lot of people out there who treat all these flaws as if they are their own genre, and if that is the case, I suppose you could say this is a top film in its genre. Imo, it was like something written and directed by a couple of over excited film school students. I'd cry if I paid a tenner to see this in a cinema.

Apart from one Marilyn Manson track there was no guitar music used at all in the film. It was all new electronica tracks wrote for this movie. I've been listening to the soundtrack for the last week and enjoying it immensely.

DoYouEvenLift

oxygen_temp wrote: »

Apart from one Marilyn Manson track there was no guitar music used at all in the film. It was all new electronica tracks wrote for this movie. I've been listening to the soundtrack for the last week and enjoying it immensely.

Yeah the soundtrack was excellent, almost as good as The Guest even

oxygen

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

Yeah the soundtrack was excellent, almost as good as The Guest even

Spot on, that's another soundtrack I spent a week listening to after watching the movie...

DoYouEvenLift

John Wick 2 is in early stages of production, fuk yeah!

oxygen

I was hoping they would make a franchise out of this, go heavier into the mythology next time around, assassin's gold currency, assassin's hotel etc...

Snake Plisken

Really enjoyed this! Keanu does great action movies might import the Blu-ray crazy they held off releasing this at the same time as the US release in this day and age it would have done decent box office here and the UK. Hope the sequal will live up to the first movie.

Morag

I enjoyed it looking forward to the sequel.

Frisbee

So good I watched it twice over the weekend.

TheDoc

Frisbee wrote: »

So good I watched it twice over the weekend.

I'm due another watch this week I think

I've actually been sourcing parts to make his pistol. I play airsoft and while I probably won't use it in games, it just looks seriously cool as a wall hanger

Drumpot

Anybody any advice on where one can wastch it?

Amazon has the U.S. import but it's region locked as far as I can see!

TheDoc

Drumpot wrote: »

Anybody any advice on where one can wastch it?

Amazon has the U.S. import but it's region locked as far as I can see!

You'll need to use a proxy to get it on one of the US based VOD services. Or the other way.

Release here is in April I think, few of us already signed up to go even though we have seen it multiple times already!

Drumpot

TheDoc wrote: »

You'll need to use a proxy to get it on one of the US based VOD services. Or the other way.

Release here is in April I think, few of us already signed up to go even though we have seen it multiple times already!

Read a few things about it, sounds like my kind of movie . . Actually enjoy some of his movies that were classed sh*t including the ridiculously underrated Constantine (a superb movie IMO). .



Is it a movie that would be enjoyed better in the big screen? I don't mind waiting if that's the case . .

Luckycharms_74

Watched it the other night and though it was excellent. Some great scenes in it as well and the fight scenes were pretty good too.
All in all a pretty decent movie and one of Reeves best in a while

TerrorFirmer

Reeves finest work in a very long time. Really enjoyed it, only regret now not seeing it in the cinema as it's one of a few movies I've seen lately that would well warrant every cent of the admission price.

DoYouEvenLift

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Reeves finest work in a very long time. Really enjoyed it, only regret now not seeing it in the cinema as it's one of a few movies I've seen lately that would well warrant every cent of the admission price.

It's not in cinemas here yet. I've seen it twice and was thinking of going to see it in the cinema when it comes out here as well

Nervous Wreck

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

It's not in cinemas here yet. I've seen it twice and was thinking of going to see it in the cinema when it comes out here as well

I've also seen it and will also see again when it comes out here.

TheDoc

Drumpot wrote: »

Read a few things about it, sounds like my kind of movie . . Actually enjoy some of his movies that were classed sh*t including the ridiculously underrated Constantine (a superb movie IMO). .



Is it a movie that would be enjoyed better in the big screen? I don't mind waiting if that's the case . .

One of the lads saw it in IMAX while he was stateside, and said it's definitely one of those films you'd appreciate seeing on the big screen.

I don't actually remember a film that I've paid to watch on VOD services, pre-ordered Bluray, pirated for additional viewings and then planned to go see in the cinema, in that order.

It's a bit of a throwback to when releases always came out AGES in the states before here, and I'd pirate stuff, and then go to cinema for the things I really liked.

Wonder if the studio had genuine concerns about reception and would have curtailed release in Europe if it flopped stateside.