John Wick (film)

''John Wick'' is a 2014 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Chad Stahelski (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Derek Kolstad. It stars Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Willem Dafoe. It is the first installment in the ''John Wick'' film series. The story follows former hitman John Wick and his attempt to hunt down the men who broke into his home, stole his vintage car, and killed his puppy, which was a last gift to him from his recently deceased wife.

Stahelski and David Leitch directed the film together, though only Stahelski was credited. Kolstad had completed the screenplay in 2012 and further developed it for Thunder Road Pictures. Stahelski and Leitch previously worked with Reeves as stunt doubles on ''The Matrix'' trilogy. Stahelski and Leitch's approach to fight scenes drew upon their admiration for anime and martial arts films. The film used fight choreographers and gun fu techniques from Hong Kong action cinema. The film also pays homage to works such as John Woo's '' The Killer'', Jean-Pierre Melville's '' Le Cercle Rouge'' and '' Le Samouraï'', John Boorman's ''Point Blank'', and Spaghetti Western films.

''John Wick'' premiered at the Fantastic Fest on September 19, 2014, and was released theatrically in the United States on October 24, by Summit Entertainment. The film grossed $86 million worldwide against its budget of and received generally positive reviews from critics, with praises for its action sequences, visual style, and Reeves's performances (which many viewed as his comeback role). It has since come to be regarded as one of the best action films of all time.

The film was followed by '' John Wick: Chapter 2'' and '' John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'' in 2017 and 2019, respectively.

Plot

After losing his wife, Helen, to a terminal illness, John Wick receives a beagle puppy named Daisy that Helen had arranged to send before she died, to help him cope with his grief. Despite John's stoic demeanor, he bonds with the puppy and they spend the day driving around in his vintage 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1. At a gas station, he encounters a trio of Russian gangsters whose leader Iosef insists on buying his car. John refuses to sell or be cowed by Iosef's attempts at intimidation. That evening, the gangsters break into John's home, knock him unconscious, kill Daisy, and steal his car. Iosef takes the Mustang to a chop shop to have the VIN changed. Aurelio, the shop's owner, recognizing the car and knowing who it was stolen from, punches Iosef and ejects him from the facility. John visits Aurelio, who identifies Iosef as the son of Viggo Tarasov, the head of the Russian mafia in New York City.

Aurelio relays Iosef's activities to Viggo, who attacks and berates Iosef before explaining to him that John Wick was formerly in Viggo's employ as an enforcer nicknamed "Baba Yaga." When John wanted to retire and marry Helen, Viggo gave him an "impossible task," implied to involve multiple high-level assassinations in a short period of time. To Viggo's surprise, John succeeded, and his efforts were key in establishing the Tarasov syndicate. After warning Iosef of his impending doom, Viggo tries to talk John out of seeking retribution, but John refuses to talk. Viggo sends a team of hitmen to John's house, but John kills all of them and enlists an underworld cleaning service to dispose of the bodies and evidence. Unsurprised, Viggo places a $2 million bounty on John's head and personally offers the contract to John's mentor, Marcus, who accepts. John seeks assistance from the New York Continental Hotel, which caters exclusively to the criminal underworld and permits no assassinations (termed "business" in their language) on its premises. Viggo doubles the bounty for those willing to break this rule to kill John.

Winston, the Continental's manager, informs John that Viggo has Iosef under guard at his Red Circle nightclub. John enters the Red Circle and kills a horde of Viggo's men to reach Iosef, who narrowly escapes after Viggo's lieutenant Kirill thwarts his attempt and incapacitates John. John retreats to the Continental to have his injuries treated. Ms. Perkins, an assassin and acquaintance, sneaks into John's room to kill him. Marcus alerts John with a warning shot, allowing him to subdue Perkins, who reveals the location of Viggo's front. He knocks her unconscious and leaves her with Harry, a fellow assassin, to await punishment, but she later frees herself and kills Harry. John travels to a church in Little Russia, which serves as Viggo's front and destroys his cache of money and blackmail material. When Viggo and his henchmen arrive, John ambushes them, but is subdued and captured.

Ignoring John’s demands to surrender Iosef, Viggo taunts John for thinking that he would be able to leave his old life behind. Before John can be killed, Marcus intervenes again, allowing John to free himself, strangle Kirill to death, and accost Viggo, who reveals Iosef's location. John then travels to Iosef's Brooklyn safe house and kills him and his bodyguards. Perkins learns that John and Marcus have been in contact and informs Viggo, who has Marcus beaten and tortured briefly before killing him in his home. Viggo calls John to report this, planning to have Perkins ambush him. While waiting for John, Perkins is summoned to a meeting with Winston, who has her executed for breaking the Continental's rules. Winston calls John to inform him that Viggo is planning to escape by helicopter. John races to New York Harbor, where he kills Viggo's remaining henchmen before battling Viggo on the dock. Viggo brandishes a knife, and John allows himself to be stabbed before disarming and wounding Viggo, leaving him to die. John breaks into an animal clinic to treat his wounds and releases a pit bull puppy scheduled to be euthanized. John and the dog walk home along the boardwalk where he had his final date with Helen.

Cast

* Keanu Reeves as Jardani Jovanovich / Johnathan "John" Wick:
A former hitman who returns to the underworld he fought to leave behind. On accepting the role of Wick, Reeves explained, "Basil and Peter Lawson of Thunder Road brought the script to me with the idea that I would be a part of such a great collaboration. We all agreed on the potential of the project. I love the role, but you want the whole story, the whole ensemble to come to life." On the character of John Wick, Reeves stated, "When we first see him, he's a guy grieving for his lost wife. But it turns out he has lived in two worlds: one in which he's a happily married man and one in which he's an assassin. He has tried to bury his past, but without his wife, he is lost." Reeves also compared Wick's story to "a kind of Old Testament revenge story" adding that, "When someone takes the things he cherishes, violence erupts and John can't temper it." In the original script, the character of John Wick was written with "a man in his mid-sixties" to play the role, given the title character's fabled reputation, ergo, the filmmakers had initially imagined an older actor. However, head of Thunder Road Pictures Basil Iwanyk decided against this, stating, "Instead, we decided to look for someone who is not literally older, but who has a seasoned history in the film world." Both Stahelski and Leitch were adamant that Reeves wouldn't learn any forms of martial arts that he'd learned before; for the role, Reeves spent four months learning Judo, Japanese ju-jitsu, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu from "some of the toughest guys" both Stahelski and Leitch have encountered, which included their " LA SWAT and Navy Seal friends" due to willingly wishing to undergo intense training regimens. Of Reeves' training, Stahelski spoke of developing a new style of close-quarter combat that mixed grappling martial arts with guns. The name John Wick is a name Kolstad had used as a reference to his grandfather, the founder of Wick Building Systems. Wick stated, "I was tickled by Derek using my name for a movie, and the hit man character was frosting on the cake." The character was written with Paul Newman in mind.
* Michael Nyqvist as Viggo Tarasov:
The head of the Tarasov family and an enterprising businessman with questionable roots. On taking the role of Viggo, Nyqvist mentioned, "I found the relationship between John and Viggo to be interesting. Viggo has always liked John because he was brilliant at his job. They have the kind of love and respect you might see between a father and son, but it breaks down when John comes for Iosef." Stahelski stated that the role of Viggo had been decided after a great many meetings due to the importance and complexity of the character and that Nyqvist brought both odd and interesting qualities to the character, also adding that " yqvist'squirkiness is a good match for Keanu's stoicism." The filmmakers were most determined to attempt to bypass the stereotypical Russian mobster characterization. Iwanyk stated that Viggo needed to be played by someone who would be "believable as this ultra-bad guy, but was still very, very charming." adding that, " ichael_brought_the_character_a_kind_of_humanity."_For_the_role_of_Viggo,_Nyqvist_was_given_a_style_of_fighting_based_on_the_Russian_martial_art_of_Sambo_(martial_art).html" "title="martial_art.html" ;"title="ichael brought the character a kind of humanity." For the role of Viggo, Nyqvist was given a style of fighting based on the Russian martial art">ichael brought the character a kind of humanity." For the role of Viggo, Nyqvist was given a style of fighting based on the Russian martial art of Sambo (martial art)">Sambo