The Baba Yaga

Certain movies exceed our expectations of their commercial viability/sustainability at the box office and develop into franchises.  The ‘Transformers,’ ‘Fast & Furious’ and low-rent “jump scare” horror movies such as those from Lionsgate, Blumhouse Productions or Ghost House Pictures are just a few examples.  Now we can add ‘John Wick’ to the list.  What started out as a one-off, stand-alone revenge B-movie about an assassin who was reluctantly brought out of retirement because his puppy was killed by the punk-ass son of a Russian mobster has inexplicably evolved into a genuine worldwide box office phenomenon.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a bonafide fan of this R-rated “assassins-gone-amok” franchise reminiscent of those stylishly choreographed John Wu “Gun Fu” movies starring Chow-Yun Fat, which just confirmed a third sequel because JW3 has toppled ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (albeit in the latter’s fourth weekend) on its way to the top of the weekend box office.  After violating the most sacred edict of “The Hitman’s Code” in JW2 by killing within the protective sanctuary of the embassy, I mean Continental Hotel in New York City, John Wick is on the run for his life with a $14 million bounty on his head and every hitman and hitwoman within spitting distance gunning for him.  But seriously, don’t feel sorry for him.  Pity those other poor souls who thought they actually had a chance of taking him down instead.

 

Once again, Keanu Reeves lived up to his acting chops and delivered his lines in classic deadpan seriousness, but that’s perfectly fine because he’s simply being in character.  In fact, the grizzled John Wick is so cool and mellow in the face of life-threatening danger and hopeless situations in this bizarro world where assassins rule and can ply their trade without worrying about law enforcement that he might as well be the robotic “Terminator” played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.  And like the Terminator, he is a killing machine without peer, racking up an impressive and blood-soaked bodycount that would even make other one-man armies like John Rambo, super spies James Bond/Ethan Hunt/Jason Bourne and John McClane hang their heads in shame.

Grade: B+