Review: Really fun, pure escapist entertainment, and who can't like an action movie that features the hero running down the highway with motorcycles chasing him.
This movie is so much fun because it never takes itself seriously. It has no pretentions of being anything more than a fun action film and it successeds quite well at this. The action is extremely over the top and fits in much dark slapstick in these scenes. For instance I love a scene taking place at a horse stable and the pure over the top-ness of an early scene involving throwing knives almost reminds one of an ultraviolent version of a Three Stooges pie fight in the best way possible. This is not the only humor in this movie. There is some great humor to appear in the characters and dialogue, and one villain (who fanboys a bit over John Wick) had me laughing multiple times. With the absurdity of each scene this movie was meant just as much of a Mack Sennett or Three Stooges style comedy as it was as an action film, and as a fan of slapstick over the top comedy I had a ball watching this. Besides just being funny the action scenes are perfectly choregraphed and at times the film almost feels like a very macho version of a ballet (heck we even see a ballerina do a very impressive dance). Despite all this over the top-ness the story as slight as it can be, still managed to connect with me, because I like the character of John Wick. This is not a character of great depth, but he is likable and often times relatable. This made it easy for me to root for him and therefore made the action scenes more exciting. This movie also offers us some very visually impressive environments that are a joy to look at.
This movie is naturally not without its faults. While I liked John Wick, many of the side characters where rather bland. Also as well done as it is, the final action scene is overlong and can get repetitive.
Just turn your mind off and enjoy an over the top silly movie.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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