John Wick (5 Stars)

When John Wick arrived in 2014, it looked at first glance like a modest, even disposable action thriller. Keanu Reeves, long past his early-2000's peak, was starring in a revenge story triggered by the death of a dog; hardly the stuff of a major franchise launch. Yet the film did something quietly radical; it rethought how a modern action series could be built, not through escalating spectacle alone but through world-building, tone and physical credibility.

At its core, John Wick is disarmingly simple. A retired hitman is dragged back into violence when the last emotional connection to his late wife is brutally taken from him. The script understands that this simplicity is a strength. By stripping away subplots and moral hand-wringing, the film creates a clean emotional through-line that justifies the relentless action. Wick is not positioned as a hero in the traditional sense; he is a professional monster briefly unleashed, and the film never pretends otherwise.

What truly marks John Wick as the birth of a franchise, rather than a one-off revenge picture, is the way it sketches an entire criminal ecosystem without overexplaining it. The Continental Hotel, gold coins, blood oaths and whispered reputations are introduced as everyday facts of life. Characters speak of John Wick in hushed tones, as if he were a myth who happens to exist in the real world. This approach invites curiosity and rewards repeat viewing; it also leaves narrative space for expansion, sequels and spin-offs without feeling retrofitted.

Equally important is the action itself. Directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, both with stunt backgrounds, foreground choreography, geography and duration. Fights play out in longer takes than audiences had become used to, allowing Reeves' training in gun-fu and judo-inspired movement to read clearly on screen. The violence is stylised but legible, elegant but exhausting. In an era dominated by frantic editing, John Wick made clarity fashionable again, and its influence can be seen across action cinema in the years since.

As a franchise starter, the film is also notable for its restraint. It does not try to be bigger than it needs to be. The mythology is suggested, not dumped; the ending closes Wick's immediate arc while leaving his world intriguingly open. This balance is precisely why the series could grow bolder with each sequel without collapsing under its own weight.

In retrospect, John Wick feels less like the first chapter of a planned saga and more like a confident proof of concept that audiences embraced. Its success lies in understanding that franchises are not born from scale alone but from a distinctive identity. By combining a minimalist revenge story with rich, implicit world-building and a new standard for action choreography, John Wick did not just introduce a franchise; it redefined what one could look like.

Success Rate:  + 2.3

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