John Wick Reviews: Round 2 – Update X2!

Peter Martin has written a positive review “Fantastic Fest 2014: John Wick Quickly Runs Out of Body Bags” for Twitch Films. He says:

…or the action-movie crowd, the type of people — like me! — who want to sit back and relax while everyone on screen is beaten or smashed or shot to a bloody pulp. And it accomplishes all that with a bit of style and a dash of cheek, which makes the movie go down easy, like a shot of cheap whiskey that rolls around in the mouth before burning its way, pleasantly, down.

Michael Taylor has posted his review for Examiner. He gave the film 5 stars and said:

In addition to the kinetic fight sequences, the movie has a sly sense of humor that elevates the matieral. It’s played so straight, so comic-book-esque, that it allows Reeve’s often diffuse persona to shine.

One hopes that “John Wick” will get the attention it deserves. While it sounds cliched on paper, it’s a total blast, and Keanu Reeves’ best work in years.

Fred Topel has posted his review for CraveOnline. He gave the film a 9/10 and said:

Cinema’s next great badass is here. John Wick is totally fucking awesome, with a style and tone as impressive as its action. Keanu Reeves IS John Wick.

We fall in love with the dog too but there’s no blatant cutesy manipulation. It’s the inherent charm of an animal and the performance Reeves gives with it.

The professional respect for Wick gives the film class. …everyone from door men to hit men know and revere John Wick, and they happily defer to Wick should they encounter him.

Bill Graham has posted his review for The Film Stage. He has given the film a B and said:

In the end, John Wick is the kind of slick, humorous and overall entertaining action film that makes one want to embrace the theatrics and relax. It overstays its welcome a bit, but Stahelski inserts some unique touches to keep things moving along, including making certain subtitles pop with color for emphasis to spice things up. Reeves has had a bit of a resurgence lately, with his own entertaining directorial debut last year in Man of Tai Chi and now John Wick. Hopefully audiences are paying attention, because this is a welcome new era of action for the actor.

Britt Hayes has posted his review for Screencrush. It was a positive review and he appears to get Keanu’s acting style.

Eric Kohn reviewed the film for Indiewire and gave the film a B. You can read the review here.

Joe Gross reviewed the film for the Austin Movie Blog and didn’t like it. You can read his review here.

Update: Marc Campbell reviewed the film for Dangerous Minds and liked it a whole bunch. Here are some money quotes:

John Wick may be the best Hong Kong-style gangster movie to be produced since Chow Yun Fat went hardboiled on our ass.

John Wick succeeds on just about every level. It looks great, has an amazing cast and not a single ounce of fat on its lean, mean celluloid body. If last night’s Fantastic Fest audience is any indication, this is the film that could reignite Reeves career big time and may very well kickstart a very cool movie franchise.

…In the center of it all is the silent but deadly Reeves, a Zen killer in Gucci suits who drives a fuel-injected ‘69 Mustang in Manhattan (!), has a soft spot for puppy dogs and a predilection for blowing people’s faces off.

Spencer Howard reviewed the film for Film Dispenser and gave it an 8.5/10. He said:

…All of this is wrapped in an exciting new world where the hitmen all stay at The Continental, a safe zone and hotel, when on business. Gold coins pay for underworld needs and instead of calling The Wolf to clean your dead bodies you order dinner out for twelve. It’s all great fun. So much so that when it was over I knew John Wick was a guy of whole I wanted to see more. I’m hoping for John Wick 2: Continental Boogaloo with the same crew in the next few years.

Matt Danato reviewed the film for We Got This Covered and didn’t come across as liking it.

Update X2: Michael Haffner reviewed the film for We Are Movie Geeks and gave it a 4/5. He said:

WICK soars at being both a perfect example of how to construct an exciting action film as well as being a fine example of how style over substance isn’t always a bad thing. If there’s one thing that can certainly be taken from the film, it is that Liam Neeson should step aside… there’s a new vengeful badass in town and his name is John Wick.

Alex Billington has reviewed the film for FirstShowing and gave it a 9.5/10. Here are a couple of money quotes:

John Wick starring Keanu Reeves as John Wick is the latest movie to join the pantheon of great modern action movies (in the last 10 years), including The Raid 2, Kick-Ass, Crank, Shoot ‘Em Up, Wanted (just a few that came to mind while watching this). It’s nearly perfect, and is the kind of pure action I’ve missed.

I just can’t believe how much this movie surpassed all of my expectations, I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be THIS awesome.

Keanu Reeves is back in the game, kicking ass and taking numbers (body count according to the directors: 84). John Wick truly is an outstanding action movie and I hope it finds the right audience, because it’s the kind of action movie we all deserve to see again.

Nording reviewed the film for Ain’t It Cool. Here are a few quotes:

There’s a real sense of audience participation with JOHN WICK.  The film is a blast with an audience who knows what they’re in for.  It also helps that the action is so well done.  It’s beautifully shot and lit by Jonathan Sela, and the camerawork is playful but not aggressive.

Reeves does good work here – he knows what kind of movie this is and knows just when to restrain himself and just when to let loose.

That said, JOHN WICK almost feels like a parody of action cinema; each action sequence is shot incredibly well and choreographed to the best of the filmmakers’ abilities, but the worldbuilding that director Chad Stahelski and writer Derek Kolstad do in the movie goes far and beyond what most movies of this nature accomplish.

Evan Saathoff reviewed the film for Badass Digest. He said:

Reeves gives one of his most physically precise action performances ever. His emotional performance is top notch as well. There’s one bit in particular where he really just loses his shit, and you kind of want to stand up and cheer.

Actually, you’ll probably want to do that a lot. I certainly did. Even knowing ahead of time that the movie was supposed to be really great, it still blew my brains all over the wall.