John Wick (2014) - Chad Stahelski

John Wick, a recently retired high-end hitman, is trying desperately to leave his old life behind.  After the death of his wife who struggled with an undisclosed disease, John keeps to himself with no real purpose or drive to live.  One day a dog shows up at his door, a present from his wife before her death, urging him not lose hope and the ability to love.  When Russian thugs break into his house, steal his car, and murder his dog, it unleases John Wick, out for revenge against the gangsters who took his last glimmer of hope.  Chad Stahelski's John Wick is a fast-paced, acition-packed revenge story that features some of the best action scene chorreography in awhile.  The film starts off relatively slow, revealing details of who John Wick is and why he is such a dangerous man.  This slow build pays off beautiflly later, when Wick comes out of retirement to make these men pay for taking the one thing his wife left him. Wick is a memorable protagonist because of how feared he is, with lots of well choreographed action sequences and gun play that makes the whole experience a lot of fun.   John Wick is a playful film that creates a fun portrait of the criminal underground, with world class assassins and mob bossess intermingling in a game of cat and mouse.  I particularly enjoyed 'The Continental Hotel' aspect, a hotel that specializes in housing the most dangerous assassins in the world, a silly and self-aware moment that pays dividends in both comedy and action set-pieces.   John Wick is a strong action film that manages to be a little silly but also serious fun, creating a memorable action heroine in the world-class assassin John Wick. 

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