John Wick
Short description
John Wick is a retired hitman living quietly in the suburbs after the death of his wife. The only things he has left of her are a vintage 1969 Ford Mustang and a dog named Daisy. When a young gangster and his accomplices break into his home, steal the car and kill the dog, Wick returns to the life he left behind and goes after them in New York. The trail leads to Iosef Tarasov, son of crime boss Viggo Tarasov, for whom Wick once worked. Viggo puts a bounty on Wick's head, turning the city's assassins against him.
The 2014 action thriller was directed by Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, both credited here as directors, with a screenplay by Derek Kolstad. It was the first directing credit for Stahelski, who went on to direct three further films in the series in 2017, 2019 and 2023, and for Leitch, whose later directing work includes Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train and The Fall Guy. Keanu Reeves plays the title role, with Michael Nyqvist as Viggo, Alfie Allen as Iosef, Willem Dafoe as Marcus, Dean Winters as Avi and Adrianne Palicki as Ms. Perkins. It was produced by Leitch, Eva Longoria and Basil Iwanyk.
Made for about 20 million dollars, the film took roughly 86 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its budget that helped launch a franchise. Audiences rate it 7.5 out of 10 on IMDb from more than 820,000 votes and 7.5 out of 10 on TMDB from over 21,000 votes, while critics give it 7 out of 10 from 226 reviews, so critical and audience assessments sit close together.
What's left behind the scenes
- Keanu Reeves learned the entire fight scene in the nightclub on the day of filming.
- According to Keanu Reeves, he performed 90% of the stunts in the film himself.
- When John meets Marcus, he has a large umbrella. When they part, he has a small umbrella. The next shot shows a large umbrella again.
- In New Jersey, when John Wick first encounters Iosef, both of them use self-service gas pumps, which are actually prohibited in that state.
- In the final chase scene, when the Tahoe pushes the Dodge Charger off the edge of the wall, it can be noticed that the falling car is missing its transmission, engine, and driveshaft.
- During the phone call between John Wick and Winston before the final scene, both of them use smartphones, and each of their touchscreens are lit up during the conversation.
- In the final fight scene, when the protagonist and his opponent are sitting in the rain, it can be noticed that the rain is artificial – the drops are falling in different directions (those in the left of the frame fall to the left, those on the right fall to the right).
- Before the fight between John and Perkins in the hotel, Marcus fires a warning shot into a pillow next to John, leaving a large hole to signal the danger. Later during the fight, Wick and Perkins are again on the bed, but all the pillows there are intact.
- At the 13th minute, when John Wick wakes up, the clock shows 1:41 a.m., but when he gets out of bed, the clock shows 1:00 a.m.
- In the scene where Miss Perkins shoots the character played by Willem Dafoe, a young stunt double falls instead of the actor.
- The security guard waving at Wick on the runway is reading Trevanian (Rod Whitaker)'s novel "Shibumi." This novel describes events similar to the film's plot: a retired hitman is forced to return to his craft. Also, Viggo's story about Wick killing three people with a pencil is a reference to "Shibumi," whose hero used various household items to commit murders.
- The name John Wick was given to the main character by screenwriter Derek Kolstad in honor of his grandfather.
Similar movies
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