John Wick
2014 · Directed by Chad Stahelski
Original language: English
- action
- thriller
The story
Ex-hitman John Wick comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him.
What it’s like
Crisp, saturated night-time neon washes over rain-slick city streets, and the palette runs cool blues and sickly greens broken by warm amber interiors. Stahelski favours clean, wide master shots that let the choreography breathe, so fights unfold in unbroken takes across hallways, nightclubs and dim stairwells rather than in frantic cutting. The sound is a low, pulsing synth score beneath muted gunfire and thudding impacts, with long stretches of near silence after a kill. The vibe is stylised, grim and coolly melancholic, a stripped-back revenge fable with a grieving heart. Violence is frequent, stylised and often bloody, with headshots, brawling and gunfights, but there is no sexual content and little gore beyond the expected. It suits a late-night, alone-with-the-lights-low watch or a loud, focused Friday after a long week. It is for people who want kinetic, precisely staged action with a sombre, wounded core and a strong sense of a hidden underworld.
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