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John Wick is a 2014 American action thriller film directed by Chad Stahelski and written by Derek Kolstad. Keanu Reeves stars as John Wick, a legendary hitman who comes out of retirement to seek revenge against the men who killed his puppy, a final gift from his recently deceased wife. The film also stars Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Willem Dafoe.

Kolstad’s script drew on his interest in action, revenge, and neo noir films. Producer Basil Iwanyk purchased the rights as his first independent film production. Reeves, whose career was declining, liked the script and recommended that the experienced stunt choreographers Stahelski and David Leitch direct the action scenes; Stahelski and Leitch successfully lobbied to co-direct the project. Principal photography began in October 2013, on a $20–$30 million budget. Stahelski and Leitch focused on highly choreographed and long single takes to convey action, eschewing the rapid cuts and closeup shots of contemporary action films.

Iwanyk struggled to secure theatrical distributors because industry executives were dismissive of an action film by first-time directors, and Reeves’s recent films had underperformed. Lionsgate Films purchased the distribution rights to the film two months before its October 24, 2014, release date. Following a successful marketing campaign that changed its perception from disposable entertainment to a prestige event helmed by an affable leading actor, John Wick exceeded box-office projections and became a modest success, grossing $86 million worldwide. It received generally positive reviews for its style and action sequences. Critics hailed John Wick as a comeback for Reeves, whose character played to his acting strengths. The film’s mythology of a criminal underworld with rituals and rules was praised as its most unique and interesting feature.

John Wick began a successful franchise which includes three sequels (John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019), and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)), the prequel television series The Continental: From the World of John Wick (2023), the spin-off film Ballerina (2024), as well as video games and comic books. Some retrospective assessments have identified John Wick to be among the best action films made; it is seen as having revitalized the genre and popularized long single takes with choreographed, detailed action.

Plot
In New York City, John Wick is grieving the death of his wife Helen, who had arranged for him to receive a beagle puppy to help cope with his loss. A few days later, a group of Russian gangsters, led by Iosef Tarasov, accost John at a gas station and fail to intimidate him into selling them his 1969 Boss 429 Mustang.[b] That night, they break into John’s home, assault him, kill the puppy, and steal the car. Iosef takes the Mustang to a chop shop to remove its identifying details, but the shop owner, Aurelio, recognizes it and refuses service. Aurelio informs John that Iosef is the son of Viggo Tarasov, the boss of New York City’s Russian mafia.

Upon learning of his son’s actions, Viggo berates Iosef for incurring John’s wrath. He reveals John was once a hitman in his employ, and was renowned and feared in the criminal underworld as the Baba Yaga, a ruthless, relentless “man of focus, commitment, and sheer will”. After John fell in love with Helen, a civilian, Viggo gave him a seemingly impossible task to earn his freedom; he succeeded.

John recovers a concealed stash from his former career that includes weapons and gold coins. He refuses Viggo’s attempt to make amends for his son’s actions and kills the hit squad subsequently sent to his home. Viggo puts a $2 million bounty on John and enlists his former mentor, Marcus, to kill him. John lodges at the Continental, a luxurious hotel that serves as neutral ground for the underworld and where conducting criminal business is forbidden. Winston, the hotel’s owner and John’s old friend, informs him that Iosef is at a nightclub called Red Circle. John infiltrates Red Circle and confronts Iosef, but he is attacked by Viggo’s henchman Kirill and forced to retreat to the Continental for medical attention.

As John rests, a hitwoman, Ms. Perkins, sneaks into his room. Marcus sees Perkins from an adjacent building and fires a warning shot to alert John, who wakes up and subdues her. Perkins reveals Viggo has doubled the bounty for her to kill John in the hotel and has concealed a high-value stash in a church. John hires another hitman, Harry, to secure Perkins but she kills Harry and escapes.

At the church, John destroys Viggo’s cache of cash and extensive blackmail material. When Viggo arrives to assess the damage, John assaults him and his men but is hit by Kirill’s car and captured. John tells Viggo he will not stop until Iosef is dead because the puppy gave him hope and a chance to not be alone in his grief for Helen. Marcus again intervenes to save John, who kills Kirill and threatens Viggo into revealing Iosef’s location in a safehouse. John assaults the safehouse and kills Iosef. Marcus encourages John to return to his everyday life. Perkins witnesses this and reveals Marcus’s duplicity to Viggo, who has him tortured and killed. Viggo calls John to taunt him with the details, drawing him back to the city.

Winston has Perkins executed for breaking the Continental’s rules, then informs John that Viggo is preparing to leave the city by helicopter. John races to New York Harbor, where he fights and mortally wounds Viggo. John, resigned to dying from his injuries, watches on his phone a video of Helen telling him they need to go home. He breaks into a nearby animal clinic, treats his wounds, and adopts a pit bull puppy scheduled to be euthanized before beginning to walk home.

SOURCES

Wikipedia | The Free Encyclopedia

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