John Wick- Blu-ray Review

Reviewed by Jim Milton

Synopsis

When the son of a Russian mob boss steals his car and kills his puppy which was given to him by his dying wife, a nobody named John Wick seeks revenge. The mob boss tells his son, “It’s not what you stole, but who you stole it from!”…because Wick is a recently retired mob assassin. And now he is back in the game. And boy, is he angry!

Commentary

If you enjoyed Taken, with Liam Neeson, you will love this action flick. True, Reeves does not have the emotional range as Neeson, but the pure physicality is all there. Reeves spent months training for this movie and it really shows. The action sequences are bloody, but done with such fluidity as to be considered artistic. The director calls the fight scenes “gun-fu”, a mixture of weapons and martial arts. Reeves is perfect for this role because he does not have to speak very often and he has the perfect steely-eyed looks of someone you should not mess with. Once he’s set into motion by the impudent mob kid who steals his car and kills his puppy, Wick does not stop until the entire Russian syndicate is in smoldering ruins. Talk about anger issues! Yes, the plot line is not original (I grew up on Clint Eastwood movies), but the production values and action sequences are very good. The body count is very high as well. I especially enjoyed Keanu doing almost all of his stunt work himself. He even drives a few muscle cars doing some very dangerous stunts. The action is faced paced and avoids cliches, like exploding cars going over a cliff and guns that never run out of bullets. If you are an action fan, don’t miss this one!

Technical

Many of the scenes are at night, but the color, contrast and details are excellent. Some scenes feature that muted bluish coloration, but the indoor and daytime scenes look very natural. This sound was produced with Dolby Atmos, and even though I do not have that system in my room, the sound was very dynamic and lively. Plenty of deep bass from the techno-punk soundtrack, too. It could be my vivid imagination, but I thought I could hear a lot of height related sounds, like planes, bullets and birds flying overhead. Was I being Atmos deceived? Maybe. But it was still an impressive, immersive sound stage. Turn this one up, but don’t forget to duck!

Extras

Several movie trailers before the main feature and four featurettes: Don’t F**k with John Wick, Calling in the Cavalry, The Red Circle, NYC Noir & Assassins Creed. The package contains a Blu-ray, DVD and a digital copy as well. (A sequel is already in the mix, too)