John Wick review

Genre: Action, Martial Arts, Thriller.
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dead Winters, Ian Mc Shane, John Leguizamo, Willem Dafoe.
Year Of Release: 2015 (UK)
Certificate: 15 (UK)
Runtime: 101 Minutes
Director: Chad Stahelski & David Leitch (uncredited)

Synopsis: "An ex-hitman comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him." IMDB

Another woefully misunderstood film, I've seen many reviews attacking this film, what did you expect from a Keanu Reeves driven Action film? A Robert De Niro acted, Oscar worthy film? Get the heck out of here, you can NOT judge all films based on the same factors, it is the equivalent of comparing say Godfather Part II and A Nightmare On Elm Street, both incredible films in their genre but holding them up against the Academy standards A Nightmare On Elm Street would be instantly brushed aside. Which is something that really irks me, I bet I could drive the Academy driven critics insane to say Birdman was a -100/10 if I were to hold it to the same standards as A Nightmare On Elm Street, because that rating would be perfectly acceptable in comparison, it is just highly unfair to compare films that are so different in their target audience and the aim of the film.

The film was directed by Chad Stahleski and David Leitch who are widely known for their stunt work, or at least they should be known for it, their collective filmography includes the likes of The Matrix, The Crow, S.W.A.T and Van Helsing, so to say they are well versed in the world of stunts and action is an understatement. So the choice to have them direct the widely coveted script by Derek Kolstad makes perfect sense, at its core "John Wick" a revenge film that is brutal and doesn't mess around at all. Hard to believe that this is the directorial debut of both Stahleski and Leitch, their work comes across as truly experienced directors within the given genre. After this film I can see them going very far in the action world, easy to see why they were given a John Wick 2 and are being touted for an upcoming DCCU film.

The film starts out with Wick losing his wife to some sort of illness (details never given to the audience, not needed at all), he inherits a Beagle puppy from his late to help cope with her passing. He quickly falls in love with the pup, spending all his time with her and his '69 Mustang. The Mustang which catches the eye of a young member of the Russian mafia, who tries to persuade him to sell the car. Iosef (Alfie Allen) not accepting of Wicks decision to completely shoot down any sale decides to take the car. Iosef and his "gang" break into the house to rob the car, beat Wick to within an inch of his life and more disturbing of all kill his dog. These events reactive Wick into his previous life he left behind as a mafia hitman, so now Wick is set to destroy any members that get in his way of an organisation of which he was once an employee.

This is the film that came bring Reeves back from some of his recent performances which I highly recommend you stay away from the likes of "Henry's Crime", "47 Ronin" and "Generation Um" come to mind. However, this time around Keanu gave a solid performance as the films titular character, Keanu done everything right to portray which emotions he needed, plus his background in martial arts really blended well with the directors choice to use "gun-fu" which if you are not familiar with, once you watch this you will understand perfectly the phrasing. It was not just Reeves who gave a great performance, other performances shone too from the likes of Michael Nyqvist, Lance Reddick, Paul McShane and the ever enjoyable Adrianne Palicki. It was a genius idea to give Reeves less to say and allow him to use his actions instead of words, what is the old idiom "Actions speak louder than words" it's like that was made for Mr John Wick himself.

The film does not mess around, it gets straight to the point storywise and characterwise, we're straight into the action within the first 15-20 minutes. Which may feel like it will have adverse effects on the pacing of the film, which at the time was a bit of a worry of mine also. Safe to say my reservations were unwarranted, the film ran at a wonderful pace, with Wick moving quickly onto his next henchman to take on in brutally beautiful manors each time. Resulting in a truly wonderful 100 minutes to behold for any Action/Thriller/Martial Arts fan of any age.

Overall, the film was a spectacle in its given genres, edge of the seat Action for 101 minutes be it from Reeves kicking ass or him getting his ass kicked. There is one thing I absolutely LOVED about this film, which was the directors choice to have Wick, once he beat a villain, was to put one/two rounds into their heart/head to make sure they were dead. Seems like something every hitman should do, it just really stood out in this film for me. This film was an incredible watch full of Action and a decent story, which slightly predictable, heck what Action film isn't. I really couldn't recommend this film any higher to fans of the genre or Reeves, if you're a fan of neither, I think this will change your view on either one.

10/10

Keanu Reeves talks Bill & Ted 3

In the past couple of days Keanu Reeves has done an interview with ComingSoon.net about Bill & Ted 3, I personally LOVE reading interviews with Reeves the man has such an insight into that world and is open to talk about it. He knows exactly how to give us fans what we want and need to hear. The interview is a longish read, but an enjoyable one if it is your thing.
 






CS: A sequel you always wind up talking about is Bill & Ted 3, you're very candid about it. One big draw is having the original writer/creators back, Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. Their voice, their sensibility is so off the wall and fun. There's a story about Solomon getting fired and rehired multiple times by Walter F. Parkes during Men in Black because his sensibility was so weird, but that made that movie click. Is that oddball sensibility part of what's holding a third Bill & Ted back?
Keanu Reeves: We have to get the script in the right place. Chris and Ed have been working really hard over a couple of years to get the draft in the right place. What is the reason to make this movie besides nostalgia or the love of these characters. Where can they be in their life that can be a story that is worth telling or has something in it and is funny? They have that. It didn't help that the first script that they brought in was probably budgeted at $150 million dollars. I don't know if Bill & Ted carry that much weight. Part of the argument is that it's not that popular internationally, that's where so much of the funding for movies comes from these days. They've worked on the script and the budget, just trying to get the right script and then get the business side wrapped up, financiers and rights, all the show business stuff.

CS: The director you guys picked out originally, Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest) was a great choice. Is he still involved?
Reeves: Yeah, Dean's re-read it and I think he likes it. It's kind of like… I call it "gravity," you have to get this mass together to make it happen. In terms of the writers' voices being too peculiar, in this case no. I think they've really crafted something that's funny. [Bill and Ted have] been weighed down by the burden of having to save the world by the song, and they just can't write it. They're losing their wives and their children, they're losing their families.

CS: Just getting too wrapped up in their own dilemma?
Reeves: Yeah, they're just like, "Dude, we have to write the song!" The future comes back and says if you don't write the song by this certain time the universe is going to unravel and history and everything is going to change and dinosaurs are gonna walk the Earth. Jesus is playing baseball! All sorts of weird things start unraveling and wormholes are twisting. We have to kind of bring order back, and it's connected into bringing our families together by writing a song.

CS: Obviously you don't want to homogenize that to the point where it's not even worth doing anymore.
Reeves: No! I mean, it's edgy. There's a great scene where Bill and Ted are in jail and we're seeing our future us's and they're all tatted and hard. They're like, [tough sounding] "What's up, dude? Hey dude. Hey guy." "Stop calling me dude!" They want to beat up Bill and Ted because they've inherited the life that they f**ked up. They're miserable and they hate Bill and Ted. There's some funny stuff!

CS: I'm super psyched, but a project I'm excited for even more is Passengers. I've read a lot of Black List scripts, and that one is probably the best I even read. I describe it to people as like WALL-E for grown-ups.
Reeves: Yeah, with edge.

CS: A lot of edge, just beautifully crafted, very satisfying. It's shocking you've had so much trouble putting it together.
Reeves: This is where you read, "Keanu does a heavy sigh." [sighs heavily] Yeah, I know. We're still trying.

CS: Is the road block just finding the right leading lady?
Reeves: Yeah, it's leading lady and financing and all that show business sh*t. We need someone who's a financier who believes in the movie at the budget and we haven't been able. We've come close to that and we've had some hard luck with actresses not being able to do the film.

CS: Reese Witherspoon was the last one, right?
Reeves: No, there was Reese then there was Rachel McAdams.

CS: It's such a really rich world, and it did great stuff for the writer, Jon Spaihts, who's now doing these big tentpole movies. There's a reason he got hired for Prometheus or The Mummy or Doctor Strange, and that's because Passengers is such a damn good script.
Reeves: Yeah, he's a great writer and a cool guy. Hopefully in five years we can be having a conversation, "I saw 'Passengers'! It's better than the script I read!"

CS: During the screening, you did a Q&A at the other night somebody actually shouted out "Doctor Strange!" at you. Did Jon ever talk to you about that property?
Reeves: No, is he doing it? He's doing that! I didn't now that. I didn't know that Doctor Strange was a comic book, I never read it. Do you know the character?

CS: Yeah, he's a doctor whose hands get mangled and he winds up going to a temple in the Himalayas and training with a master sorcerer to get powers. It's set in the world of the occult… I feel like that's territory you already explored with…
Reeves: Constantine? Is Doctor Strange a good guy or is he good and bad? What's his thing? Is he a loner?

CS: Yeah, he's a bit of loner, he lives in Greenwich Village.
Reeves: Oh groovy. So he's a New Yorker? Is he keeping evil magic at bay? Is he like the protector of the threshold? (laughs)

CS: Exactly, you know the deal. And recently they announced "Rain," your TV show about another cunning hitman. It's fascinating because you see big stars like Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson and now you going to TV. Do you guys know something we don't know? Is this like rats fleeing the sinking ship that is cinema?
Reeves: (pause) I don't know. I hope not. I mean, there's so many opportunities in terms of content possibilities, right? There's so many ways to view content and those people are producing content. There's a lot of great writers. I think, in a way, television is taking on the cinematic language and using movie language to tell television stories, which is fun. The serialization, you've got great creators doing fun stuff, cinematically and writing-wise. Television has always been a great proving ground for writers and filmmakers. I don't think movies are dead. I don't think the 90-minute storytelling form has run its course, but in order to have that four-wall experience, to go to the movies and see that, I don't know if that's the goal for everyone anymore. That used to be the goal.

CS: Conversely, the quality has gotten so good that a show can't just be "good enough for TV," it has to be "better than a movie." How is "Rain" better than a movie?
Reeves: Yeah, I mean I think it's using the cinema language and having the chance to explore the character MORE. To serialize that, not to tell one story but to tell… for me our going into it is really just to tell a man's life. The books cover, like, ten years of his life, so the vision of this series is we're investigating this man's life, not just a part of who he is but his life.

CS: The whole span?
Reeves: Yeah, this whole journey with him. Also, television is using the same tools as movies. They're using the same camera, they're using the same lenses.

"John Wick" trailer is here, does Keanu still have it?

Lionsgate have released a trailer for their upcoming Action/Thriller "John Wick" starring Keanu Reeves, Bridget Moynahan, Adrianne Palicki, Willem Dafoe, Jason Isaacs and Bridget Regan.

The film is about;

"A former hit man is pursued by an old friend who was contracted to kill him." IMDB

Stupidly over the top Action? Keanu Reeves? The beautiful Adrianne Palicki? COUNT ME IN!!!

New trailer for "47 Ronin"

Nobody seems to be looking forward to this film, I myself held judgement because I was a huge Keanu fan after seeing this trailer I felt extremely let down. I was expecting a nice martial arts film with lots of high flying, I did NOT expect dragons an fire powers an stuff. Keanu you disappoint me!

"47 Ronin" posters and promos

Keanu Reeves has been working on his film "47 Ronin" since March 2011, now its finally starting to look like its ready to come out. Keanu is one of my favourite actors ever I must have seen "The Matrix" trilogy hundreds of times.