John Wick (Otro día para matar)

Lesson learned: don't get on retired legendary hit-man John Wick's bad side. In the film of the same name, he goes back into action shooting up bad guys in a city where it seems that the cops have all simultaneously taken a vacation. Played by surprisingly youthful quinquagenarian Keanu Reeves, John Wick's style of shooting baddies is reminiscent of my days playing Whac-A-Mole, Duck Hunt, or any of those arcade games with the plastic guns. Wick is a vengeant superman, and this is the basis of the entire movie. Although he doesn't have a clear weakness that can be exploited like most heroes, Wick does get into enough trouble for the audience to be sincerely worried about him.

If you're planning on seeing John Wick because you like movies with clever or meaningful story lines, then you're going to be disappointed. If you are looking for raw well- choreographed action and machismo, then look no further. House Greyjoy's Alfie Allen stands out as villainous Russian mafia brat Iosef Tarasov, and Michael Nyqvist (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) plays Viggo, his mob boss father. Adrianne Palicki, Willem Dafoe, Ian McShane and Dean Winters round out a strong supporting cast.

Overall, I enjoyed John Wick as a pure action film. It doesn't have a storyline like The Matrix or Speed, but it was visually entertaining and the simplicity of the story allowed for appreciation of the action. This movie is manly and primitive, and proves that at the age of 50, Keanu Reeves can still mix it up as an action star.

An incredible film that brought a very 70s and 80s cinema to this era. Not only that, it brought back a struggling but beloved actor like Keanu Reeves and connected him to a character for a decade, once again becoming an icon like Mr. Anderson/Neo in "The Matrix." Simple premise, brilliant execution. It's a film with a purpose from its conception, but it also develops the character layer by layer. It gives us context, motivation, unbridled fury, and a brutality that other films have subsequently attempted to emulate with much less success and impact.

Nothing suggested that this film would become a saga with several sequels, millions of dollars, a series, spin-offs, and much more.

It has brought actors forgotten by Hollywood and the big spotlight back into the spotlight, and that's appreciated.

A separate detail is the work of Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, those wonderful choreographies that one saw in Asian action films or anime, and that gave it that unique touch that characterizes it today.

And all of this was "only" triggered because some Russian thugs decided to steal Baba Yaga's car and kill her dog...

Though he no longer has a taste for wet work, retired assassin and "Boogeyman" John Wick has suffered a personal tragedy that's left a huge void in his life. When he and his dog (really the last meaningful thing he has left) fall victim to a scummy group of Russian mobsters, he emerges from his shell with vengeance on his mind. Slow and ambiguous at first, but reveals more as it goes along, and once it kicks into gear it rarely lets up with plenty of stylized, visceral action scenes, an impressive arsenal of weaponry, plus sly direction and editing that give it the feel of a violent music video at times. Preposterously fun to watch, it just doesn't have much of a story at its disposal, not to mention all the over-the-top bloodletting and mayhem eventually becomes redundant. Savvy, indestructible Reeves looks right at home, and delivers many of his lines with a sardonic wit. **½

It's hard to find anything bad to say about John Wick. The action is beautifully choreographed, the setup is surprisingly emotional for an action flick, and Keanu.... What more is there to say? If you love action or even just like it you will be in for the ride of your life.

He never misses, he is literally unstoppable.... He's got a particular set of skills that would make Liam Neeson look like a catholic priest... Did I mention he shoots a priest in the leg? This action movie was "perfect"..... Is it in the realm of the best subjective movies of all time, Godfather, Shawshank or The Dark Knight? Well no but in terms of the genre it's self? I'm giving it a perfect 5 out of 5 Stars... Hell continuity was even good, the dialog was sound and had moments of humor at every beat, and Keanu actually shows some range... Yeah you heard that right, raaaaange.... Not only that Mr. Wick even takes time to reload again everything just worked perfectly with this movie... I don't have anything to nitpick... The supporting cast was even good, this is a perfect fun action movie.... Dammit I gotta see this again. Remember children when the boogie man goes to sleep, he checks under his bed for John %^$% Wick...