Action junkies unite! John Wick is easily one of the best revenge based action films in the last decade. With a minimum amount of plot and a maximum amount of empathy, directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski made a character with whom anyone can identify: John Wick.

Wick is a retired “fixer:” the man you call when you have an unsolvable problem, rather like “The Wolf” (Harvey Keitel) from Pulp Fiction. Only Wick tends to eliminate the problem, not just fix it and he does it with extreme violence.

Imagine John Wick, living a peaceful life following his wife’s death, being attacked in his home and losing the things he’s using to barely hold on. It is heartbreaking. Moments after the invasion, Wick (Keanu Reeves) is arming up, grabbing a stack of gold and preparing for war. Someone is going to pay.

At this point it’s easy to hearken back to the Death Wish franchise with Charles Bronson. Bronson is Paul Kersey, an architect whose wife is murdered by street thugs. Kersey begins a killing spree in New York City, any and all muggers better watch out. It is a passionate look at revenge and gets the audience really involved.

John Wick is a better film, but it brings out the same passion, kill everyone and let God sort them out. What makes Wick so much better is the absolute belief, developed by the writer and director, that Keanu Reeves’ character is that deadly. Even more amazing is the beauty and believability of the violence. The choreography of the action is brilliant and nothing seems gratuitous or unnecessary..

In some sense it was rather like The Bourne Identity: a minimum of movement leading to a maximum result. Every director should take notes. Realism is so effective…Kill Bill and The Matrix notwithstanding.

The directors also managed to leave acting to the actors and let Reeves stick with action.  Willem Dafoe, Michael Nyqvist and Ian McShane were rather brilliant. All three are acting work horses and shouldered the film adding depth and spice. The surprise was Alfie Allen as Iosef Tarasov. From spoiled brat, when he tries to bully Wick, to “deer in the headlights” when he gets caught, literally with his pants off, he was excellent. I wanted to kill him myself. I like him as Theon Greyjoy in Game of Thrones, but in this he was so good I forgot where I’d seen him before. Thumbs up!

So much was done extremely well, that I would love to see some Oscar nods, something not usually given to this type of film. The directors deserve much of the credit, the minimalist writing also much, but the actors carried the load and made this an absolute pleasure to watch. Even John Lequizamo was a delight.

This is a film that you really need to see in the theater before it goes away. You will not be disappointed!

Rating 4.5 stars out of 5.

Have you ever gone into the theater expecting a movie to turn out one way only to be disappointed or if your lucky it turns out better than expected!  These are two of those movies! You’ll have to listen in to find out! Is it Lucy starring Scarlett Johannson and Morgan Freeman or Hercules Starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, John Hurt and Ian McShane. We’ve given our reviews let us know yours call our voice mail 260-573-0015 or email us moviemadnesspodcast@gmail.com or post on our Twitter or Facebook Page

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