Since John Wick hit theaters in 2014, it’s launched an unprecedented hard-R action blockbuster franchise and given Keanu Reeves a lucrative career comeback that’s made him one of the most popular movie stars in the world. The sequels that followed, subtitled Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 – Parabellum, have been satisfying follow-ups to the action-packed original.
But, arguably, neither of the John Wick sequels have quite topped the trendsetting greatness of the original. The subsequent movies have been just as visceral and exciting, but they haven’t stood head and shoulders above the competition in the same way the first movie did.
Keanu Reeves’ Performance Made An Instant Icon Out Of The Title Character
While Keanu Reeves' unwavering commitment from the first movie has carried through into the sequels and he’s not slowing down any time soon, his performance in the original John Wick film arrived as a breath of fresh air that launched him back into superstardom.
Thanks to Reeves' dedication to playing John Wick as a real human being in addition to a gun-toting superman, the character became an instant icon.
Screenwriter Derek Kolstad’s Worldbuilding Created A Rich Fictional Universe
Derek Kolstad’s script for John Wick, originally titled Scorn, didn’t just have franchise potential in its lovable eponymous antihero; the writer’s rich worldbuilding also established a wider universe to explore in future movies (and even a TV show).
This worldbuilding even included a hotel chain for assassins called The Continental. The introduction of the Wick-verse created high expectations for the subsequent movies that would explore it.
Breathtaking Fight Choreography
The fight choreography in John Wick is breathtaking. The great thing with the John Wick series is that, since Keanu Reeves does most of his own stunts, there’s a lot more freedom in editing the fight sequences.
Every time the stunt team behind the John Wick movies has topped themselves, they’ve just created a rod for their own backs as they have a new personal best to beat in the next one.
A Bereaved Hitman Is The Ultimate Antihero
John Wick is the ultimate antihero because his illicit line of work involves callously taking human lives for money, but the loss of his wife makes him plenty sympathetic.
It can be difficult to get audiences to root for an assassin, especially if their attitude toward killing never changes, but the fact that John has lost everything he ever cared about makes him more of a human being than a monster.
John’s Grief Rang True
The problem with most run-of-the-mill revenge thrillers is that the emotions don’t ring true. Taken stood out because Bryan Mills’ love for his daughter rang true. And John Wick stood out because John’s grief over the loss of his wife — later rolled into his grief over losing his puppy — also rang true.
Keanu Reeves truly believed this could be something special and committed wholeheartedly to giving the character tangible emotions the audience could relate to.
Slick Neo-Noir Visuals
The visual style of John Wick was heavily influenced by film noir, with stark contrasts in the lighting like setting John’s silhouette against the flashing sirens of a police squad car parked outside.
The neon-drenched visuals of modern noirs are most prominently homaged in the nightclub shootout sequence. The name of the club, “The Red Circle,” is a reference to the title of Jean-Pierre Melville’s classic crime caper Le Cercle Rouge.
Alfie Allen’s Iosef Was A Truly Hateable Villain
In Game of Thrones, Alfie Allen played a sympathetic character, Theon Greyjoy, who was bullied and terrorized by his captor, Ramsay Bolton, one of the show’s most despicable, reprehensible antagonists. In John Wick, Allen’s role falls more into the latter category.
Iosef is a truly hateable villain. He’s the son of a mob boss who steps on people and thinks he can have whatever he wants. He does terrible things like shooting a puppy in the head. The audience actively wanted John to kill him.
Spaghetti Western Themes
In many ways, as the tale of an antihero seeking blood-soaked revenge against even worse villains, John Wick is a classic spaghetti western. Chad Stahelski and his uncredited co-director David Leitch were heavily influenced by spaghetti westerns in characterizing the titular hitman.
Action movies have their roots in westerns, so every great action movie is a western on some level, and John Wick is the bloodiest, most brutal kind of western there is.
Dizzying Gun Fu
One of the strongest influences on John Wick was the work of director John Woo, particularly The Killer. Woo’s movies were known for their intense shootout sequences whose extravagant gunplay has been described as “gun fu.”
There’s a lot of gun fu in John Wick — particularly in the iconic nightclub sequence — brought to life by Keanu Reeves' tireless firearms training.
Killing Off An Adorable Puppy Was A Simple But Effective Trick
One of the things that made John Wick stand out in the revenge thriller crowd was the boldness of killing off an adorable puppy at the beginning. This simple trick was much more effective than the studio’s original plan to instead kill off John’s entire family — the same setup seen in countless derivative thrillers over the years.
After that dog was killed, the audience immediately got behind John’s vengeful quest. They didn’t care how many people he had to kill, or how brutally he chose to kill them, because they desperately wanted the satisfaction of seeing justice served for that dog.