In the 2014 film John Wick, Keanu Reeves’ titular character loses his beloved wife to illness but takes solace in a gift she has arranged to arrive after her death – a beagle puppy named Daisy. That, and taunting death, are the only things that the retired hitman has going for him. Of course, if that were the end of the story you’d probably be pretty satisfied, because who doesn’t enjoy Keanu Reeves and puppies?
It doesn’t end there – well, it does for the dog – and for the next 80 minutes it’s Reeves playing the bad-ass. Coming out of retirement, he seeks to extract revenge on the Russian mobster whose son – played by Lilly Allen’s brother Alfie – who took his wife’s gift away from him, along with his cherry 1969 Ford Mustang. While not a car movie per se, John Wick has a lot of cool metal throughout. Along with the ‘Stang, Reeves drives a ’70 Chevelle SS and a 2011 Dodge Charger. Oh, and his wife’s RX350 still sits in the garage indicating that it might have been boredom that caused her demise.
The movie was tag-team directed by former stunt coordinator and second unit directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, who treat the viewer to a homage of Hong Kong crime films mixed with graphic novel angles and hues. It’s stylish, well-paced, and features crazy staccato action sequences throughout. It also has a bunch of recognizable faces in supporting roles, including Willem Dafoe as another assassin, Ian McShane as a confidant, and Adrianne Palicki (Rowr-Rowr) as a woman on a contract. The trailer gives you the first two acts encapsulated in just three minutes, but you’ll want to stay for the ending if you haven’t seen the whole shootin’ match. Check in out after the jump.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/RllJtOw0USI[/youtube]
John Wick is presently playing on HBO, but if you are not an HBO subscriber, you can buy it from any of the major streamers. You could also check your local Redbox to see if they have it for a one-night stand.

Image: YouTube