• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

I saw a movie. A movie called John Wick

Status
Not open for further replies.
I think it would be more likely that the viewer might feel that way if the Theon's dad had not sent out a hit squad to kill John before he did anything. While that was preemptive on their part for their own safety it kind of gives John the moral high ground to take down everyone.
The preemptive strike is the only thing that would almost make me agree but Wick already made the threat and everyone knew what was coming especially the father. He forgave the chop shop guy for slapping the taste out of his son's mouth because he understood the death sentence he had already committed.

The only place where I see the father doing wrong is not having posters of Wick all over the house with the caption "NEVER MESS WITH THIS MAN!"

It wasnt about the dog. It was about them taking the last link to his recently dead wife away.

Boy did you miss the point.

His wife died. The dude was miserable. In complete despair. His wife left him that dog almost as her replacement. A reminder of her. For Wick, that dog WAS her in the form of a canine companion.

It IS like someone came and killed his wife as far as Wick was concerned.
That's completely irrational. I get it, I understand the metaphoric relationship of the dog to his wife but it doesn't make it any less crazy. The guy is suffering from depression and these random guys came in and did the wrong thing to the wrong guy at the wrong time but the father expressed to Wick that he would have done anything in order for his son to live. He was deathly afraid of Wick and truly sorry for the mistake his son made. I couldn't help but feel he was the true victim in the movie, which he really was.
 

Ezalc

Member
That's completely irrational. I get it, I understand the metaphoric relationship of the dog to his wife but it doesn't make it any less crazy. The guy is suffering from depression and these random guys came in and did the wrong thing to the wrong guy at the wrong time but the father expressed to Wick that he would have done anything in order for his son to live. He was deathly afraid of Wick and truly sorry for the mistake his son made. I couldn't help but feel he was the true victim in the movie, which he really was.

Motherfuckers lit the fuse, he was the only one left holding the bomb.
 

SpaceWolf

Banned
Apologies for the bump, but I finally got around to watching this film last night.

Overall, I thought it was a very enjoyable film, although the first ten minutes gave me something of an uneasy feeling (cheesy Stephen Segal style title-cards, overly saccharine flashbacks with wife). Pretty much the moment John begins his roaring rampage of revenge however, the film really takes off. The shoot-out in the nightclub was absolutely sublime, and I loved all the refreshingly understated world-building that was going on, with subtle nods to past relationships and events that don't get overtly spelt out. It was also really interesting to see an action movie where the balance of power was so clearly in the protagonist's corner, with all the bad guys reacting to him with absolute terror, the moment his name is so much as even mentioned. John Wick is essentially a Terminator movie from the Terminator's point of view, and I kind of loved that aspect of it.

I had a handful of problems with the movie, though. I really don't understand why Viggo, after managing to knock John unconscious, suddenly had the brilliant idea to just sit John in a chair and taunt him for a while. Of all the characters in the film, Viggo seemed the most frightened of John and as such seemed the most aware of what he was capable of and as such seemed determined not to underestimate him. It seemed a very out of character move. What was supposed to be the purpose of that interrogation, exactly? Also felt it was rather jarring for John's marksmanship abilities to suddenly go out the window whenever Viggo's son was within his line of sights, when he's previously been established to shoot ten guys in the head in the space of five seconds without breaking a sweat. Finally, after all that work, John never saw fit to get his car back? Where did the car even end up? That seemed a little anti-climactic.

Overall, a really fun movie, though. Looking forward to checking out the sequel!
 

Cracklox

Member
I haven't seen this despite hearing a lot of good things. I didn't know about

KEVIN NASH.

Movie has now shot up list of movies I need to see. Things is, I really can't handle dogs dying on screen. Shit fucks with me. Conundrums, conundrums....
 

Zakalwe

Banned
I haven't seen this despite hearing a lot of good things. I didn't know about



Movie has now shot up list of movies I need to see. Things is, I really can't handle dogs dying on screen. Shit fucks with me. Conundrums, conundrums....

It doesn't die on screen, don't worry.
 

Woorloog

Banned
I had a handful of problems with the movie, though. I really don't understand why Viggo, after managing to knock John unconscious, suddenly had the brilliant idea to just sit John in a chair and taunt him for a while. Of all the characters in the film, Viggo seemed the most frightened of John and as such seemed the most aware of what he was capable of and as such seemed determined not to underestimate him. It seemed a very out of character move.

Wick had just destroyed all hold Viggo had on the city. Basically, Viggo lost his mind because of that.
It is a stupid move, but people do stupid shit often. That said, i think he would've gotten away with it unless Wick's friend had helped him a bit.
 

Metalmarc

Member
I had a handful of problems with the movie, though. I really don't understand why Viggo, after managing to knock John unconscious, suddenly had the brilliant idea to just sit John in a chair and taunt him for a while. Of all the characters in the film, Viggo seemed the most frightened of John and as such seemed the most aware of what he was capable of and as such seemed determined not to underestimate him. It seemed a very out of character move. What was supposed to be the purpose of that interrogation, exactly? Also felt it was rather jarring for John's marksmanship abilities to suddenly go out the window whenever Viggo's son was within his line of sights, when he's previously been established to shoot ten guys in the head in the space of five seconds without breaking a sweat. Finally, after all that work, John never saw fit to get his car back? Where did the car even end up? That seemed a little anti-climactic.

Overall, a really fun movie, though. Looking forward to checking out the sequel!

Isn't it like a nod to all the Typical Villan Cliches? Like in the Bond films erc, You know they always tie up the good guy and yet they always escape.
 
Apologies for the bump, but I finally got around to watching this film last night.

Overall, I thought it was a very enjoyable film, although the first ten minutes gave me something of an uneasy feeling (cheesy Stephen Segal style title-cards, overly saccharine flashbacks with wife). Pretty much the moment John begins his roaring rampage of revenge however, the film really takes off. The shoot-out in the nightclub was absolutely sublime, and I loved all the refreshingly understated world-building that was going on, with subtle nods to past relationships and events that don't get overtly spelt out. It was also really interesting to see an action movie where the balance of power was so clearly in the protagonist's corner, with all the bad guys reacting to him with absolute terror, the moment his name is so much as even mentioned. John Wick is essentially a Terminator movie from the Terminator's point of view, and I kind of loved that aspect of it.

I had a handful of problems with the movie, though. I really don't understand why Viggo, after managing to knock John unconscious, suddenly had the brilliant idea to just sit John in a chair and taunt him for a while. Of all the characters in the film, Viggo seemed the most frightened of John and as such seemed the most aware of what he was capable of and as such seemed determined not to underestimate him. It seemed a very out of character move. What was supposed to be the purpose of that interrogation, exactly? Also felt it was rather jarring for John's marksmanship abilities to suddenly go out the window whenever Viggo's son was within his line of sights, when he's previously been established to shoot ten guys in the head in the space of five seconds without breaking a sweat. Finally, after all that work, John never saw fit to get his car back? Where did the car even end up? That seemed a little anti-climactic.

Overall, a really fun movie, though. Looking forward to checking out the sequel!

If only they made a sequel.
 

SpaceWolf

Banned
Well they needed something to start off John Wick 2. ;)

If only they made a sequel.

giphy.gif
 
Also felt it was rather jarring for John's marksmanship abilities to suddenly go out the window whenever Viggo's son was within his line of sights, when he's previously been established to shoot ten guys in the head in the space of five seconds without breaking a sweat.

Were you talking about the scene where he shoots at Iosef in the club? The reason for that was the glass causing the bullets to ricochet and miss Iosef. Going through the glass changed their trajectory, so even though he would have hit his target if there was nothing in between them, he didn't.
 
My absolute favourite part in the movie which goes counter to SpaceWolfs complaint about tying John Wick to a chair to talk to him is when
John finally catches up to Iosef and just walks up to him and puts a bullet in his head. No words, no you killed my dog, no where's my car? Just blam and he walks away.
 

SpaceWolf

Banned
Were you talking about the scene where he shoots at Iosef in the club? The reason for that was the glass causing the bullets to ricochet and miss Iosef. Going through the glass changed their trajectory, so even though he would have hit his target if there was nothing in between them, he didn't.

I was talking about that part and I never picked up on that. Thanks!

My absolute favourite part in the movie which goes counter to SpaceWolfs complaint about tying John Wick to a chair to talk to him is when
John finally catches up to Iosef and just walks up to him and puts a bullet in his head. No words, no you killed my dog, no where's my car? Just blam and he walks away.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I loved the scene...I just felt the context surrounding the interrogation seemed a bit forced.
 
Finally, after all that work, John never saw fit to get his car back? Where did the car even end up?

Just on this point, the second movie addresses this question, and is also a really enjoyable, fun movie. Whether the first or second is better is very much down to personal taste as each has some positives and negatives which differ from the other film, but it's very much worth watching regardless of which you prefer.

I got confused at the end of the second movie anyone care to explain?

Could you clarify, in spoiler tags citing it relates to the second movie, what precisely you mean or are unsure of? The basic idea is:

(John Wick 2 ending)
Basically, John kills D'Antonio in The Continental. This violates one of the two 'rules' which are present, and thus John is excommunicated and can no longer use any of the services which The Continental. Typically the punishment for this is death (as shown in the first movie), but Winston decided not to do so (making a show of this by bringing a huge amount of presumed assassins to John's excommunication and letting him leave), either out of a fatherly concern for John, out of a respect and fear of John's abilities and not wanting to make himself an enemy of John should he survive, or for another unstated purpose. The High Table however still have a high-paying contract out on John, and with all of the service providers having been notified that John has been excommunicated and can no longer receive their services after an hour (the calls and texts indicating all of the high-paying contract, the excommunication, or an indication of John's fear now that he can trust nobody as anybody he meets could be an assassin intending to kill him), John flees with his doggy.

Winston hands John a Marker. This as explained in the film is a blood oath you can give somebody which means you (the person who gives the marker) can request somebody to do something for you (generally something of a serious nature) but you are required to do something from them in the future (which fulfils the marker). It basically is like a "If you do this thing for me, I will owe you one favour which I will do no matter what" card. As John didn't open it up, it could either be:

1) A blank marker - Which would mean that John could give it to somebody so that they can choose to do something for him in return for having John do something for them in the future, which may be necessary given that John now has no allies to depend upon.

2) A marker which Winston has put his thumb print on - Which would mean John could ask Winston to do something for him and Winston would have to do, and in return John would have to do something for Winston in the future.

Until the third we won't know how it could be used.
 

Chorazin

Member
I got confused at the end of the second movie anyone care to explain?

What was there to be confused about?
He's been excommunicated from the assassin's group. He's now Kill On Sight for a huge gold coin bounty. He's gotta run for his life.
 

KurtFehl

Member
What was there to be confused about?
He's been excommunicated from the assassin's group. He's now Kill On Sight for a huge gold coin bounty. He's gotta run for his life.

Yeah but
The way everyone was looking at him .
Even seemingly random pedestrians noticed him. I was weirded out by that tbh. Is everyone an assassin for hire or something?
 
Yeah but
The way everyone was looking at him .
Even seemingly random pedestrians noticed him. I was weirded out by that tbh. Is everyone an assassin for hire or something?

I took it as
part assassin community, part paranoia on John's part that he can't trust anyone anymore.
 

Chorazin

Member
Yeah but
The way everyone was looking at him .
Even seemingly random pedestrians noticed him. I was weirded out by that tbh. Is everyone an assassin for hire or something?

It was to show that anyone could be an assassin. Any time, any place,
someone could merc him. It shows how paranoid John will need to be.
 
I just saw this for the first time recently. I had no expectations going in but was surprised by how much I liked it.

It has zero shame in being what it is--a revenge movie with lots of great gunplay. Pure, unadulterated, unapologetic mayhem.

Excited to see the sequel when I get some money to buy it.
 
I didn't enjoy the sequel as much as the first movie, but it was still definitely solid.

I think my biggest problem with it was:
How he goes through with fulfilling the marker at the beginning of the movie. They throw in a little info that lets you know that his target is no angel, but it still just doesn't sit well. I get that fulfilling a marker is part of the code or whatever, but that's especially frustrating when he ends up breaking the code at the end of the movie anyway. If he was going to do that, why not just fight back against the guy to begin with?

Still solid though.
 
Saw this first one a month or so ago..have rewatched it many times, bought the second one on Amazon video....have already watched it 3 times. Yeah I might like these movies.
 

Chorazin

Member
I didn't enjoy the sequel as much as the first movie, but it was still definitely solid.

I think my biggest problem with it was:
How he goes through with fulfilling the marker at the beginning of the movie. They throw in a little info that lets you know that his target is no angel, but it still just doesn't sit well. I get that fulfilling a marker is part of the code or whatever, but that's especially frustrating when he ends up breaking the code at the end of the movie anyway. If he was going to do that, why not just fight back against the guy to begin with?

Still solid though.

Well he wasn't originally.
He refused politely, realized he'd have to do it to be finally free after they destroyed his house. Dude then double crossed him for a seat at the table, so he did what he thought he needed to to for personal vengeance.
 
I like the first movie a lot, but it always feels like a razor sharp 1 hour and 20 minutes... that then goes on for another twenty minutes after it should have ended. After John kills Theon Greyjoy, the movie just potters around until the credits, manufacturing an ending where John has to fight the chubby old Russian who's obviously no match for him. It's a real wet fart of an ending.

(Plus I always cringe at the bit where John says "KILLED THAT FROM ME!" Such a stupid line :p)

I think the sequel is perfect, though. While the basic premise isn't as lean and mean as "They killed his dog", I really enjoyed the deep dive into the rules of the goofy assassin's guild; they never take things too seriously (a sommelier talking about guns like they're wine, for god's sake), which I really appreciate. And the action is absolutely sublime. I honestly think it's the best Western action movie ever made. Inventive choreography, beautiful framing and camerawork, Keanu showing off all the training he did behind the scenes doing all his own stunts. It was beautiful.
 

jonezer4

Member
thats a extremely reductive way to look at things.

There really isn't much more to it than that. And it doesn't matter. It was refreshing to watch an action movie that didn't get too far up its own ass and try to act like something loftier than it was.

The film embraced being a mindless action movie so hard, that you can't help but embrace it back.
 
The only thing that ever bothered me about this movie was Iosef and the other Russian not recognizing John Wick at all. Considering how instrumental John was in their family and how well know he is in their world.
 
So I'm watching John Wick again because this thread popped up.

When Winston says "No business can be conducted on these premises unless inciting heavy penalties", John says "it's personal"

Could that not be a loophole for Chapter 2? Santino didn't have a contract out on him, no?

Ugh I guess not since Perkins killed on the premises.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom