Film Review: Keanu Reeves in Ludicrous Premise as ‘John Wick’

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CHICAGO – Keanu Reeves has been in a lot of dogs over the years, but rarely has he left such a high body count while avenging one of them. “John Wick” is a brutal revenge thriller where Reeves is a ex-mob enforcer who goes on a murderous rampage leaving blood on every doorstep to avenge the death of his dog. Despite that chuckle-inducing premise, “John Wick” isn’t the dog I expected, but then again that’s not saying much.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

Wick is another of those crime thrillers that begins at the end. We see Keanu crash his SUV, stumble out bleeding and then watch a video on his phone and pass out, and flashbacks ensue. In the interest of time we skip over his wife dying in a terse 5 minutes or so, while the next 20 are consumed by the sights of Reeves making coffee, grieving, and then getting a farewell parting gift from beyond the grave when a dog with a note from his dearly departed wife is delivered to his doorstep.

After some Russians try to buy his muscle car at a gas station and he refuses, they break-in to Reeves’ house, steal his Mustang, and kill his dog. This sets the revenge plot in motion, but it’s pretty thin gruel to start. I couldn’t help thinking of “The Big Lebowski” and his quest to find out who peed on his rug. That seemed more plausible than this – dead wife or not.

Continue reading for Spike Walters’ full review of “John Wick”

Keanu Reeves is the Title Character in “John Wick”
Photo credit: Summit Entertainment

Continue reading for Spike Walters’ full review of “John Wick”