John Wick Blu-ray review

Historically, action films tend to fall into two different categories.  The first one is a $200 million explode-a-ganza with whomever the current crop of action studs are (Think Michael Bay). The second one is usually a direct to video with B or C list actors.  They are made on the cheap with almost no expectations.  Recently there has been an arrival of mid-level budgeted action pieces that can merge enough story into the action to raise the stakes with raising the budget. One example is “The Raid 2” which was an adrenaline rush of entertainment as well as some nice storytelling.  The newest example of this is “John Wick”, a sort-of comeback project for Keanu Reeves.

The first 20 minutes takes a minimalist approach, simply showing quiet moments of John’s current life.  He wakes up alone, eats alone and stares out the window alone. Peppered between these moments are flashbacks of his recently deceased wife in the hospital.  One night a puppy is delivered to him with a letter, a last gift from his wife.  She wanted her to be remembered by him through this animal that can give him some companionship and love.  She didn’t want her last thoughts of him being alone.  The next day John goes about his daily life when he comes across three brash young Russians who take a liking to his muscle car. After an awkward exchange John peacefully drives away and that night he is assaulted by the same three Russians. They dole out some harsh blows to John and a fatal one to his dog.  They then make off with his car.  John then goes on a revenge mission against everyone involved in the crime even as it resurrects his past as an unassailable hitman who was part of a vast underground network .

“John Wick” works nicely to get viewers invested in the John character. In the beginning we don’t know who John is, but as events unfold and layers are peeled back, we discover he is a violent force that scares almost everyone that knew him in his past life.  It is conveyed that he left his past behind to have a nice quiet women who he loved. He’s a man who has killed, and killed expertly, for a living but death has just only recently become truly personal to him.  Only it was at the hands of nature and not some generic thug he needs to kill.  Then the assault happens and he can now place a name and a face to his internal rage.

The movie also distances itself from other common action fare with its style.  It’s fascinating that by just simply changing a few techniques here and there can make a film transcend becoming generic action fodder. Between editing, well-practiced choreography and some patience “John Wick” takes a relatively hackneyed premise and infuses it with a fresh tenacity.  The action scenes play out in steady medium-wide camera shots, echewing the modern shaky cam style used to “accelerate” (mask) the action.  This puts the Gun-fu on full display where it is easy to see what is happening.  It is called Gun-fu because the style is a merging of close quarters gunplay with martial arts.  This isn’t the John Woo slow-mo style of “Face Off” but rather a fluid and realistic display of close combat.  The finished product proves to it’s viewers that much time and effort was put into the fighting.

The style of “John Wick” also helps separate it as it holds a sophisticated sheen with classy architecture and unique set pieces.  From the secret hitman hotel John stays at to the Russian club, all of it exudes class.  There is a mix of old and new which creates a realistic yet mythic quality, like a graphic novel.  An example of this is The Red Circle, a main set piece in the middle of the film.  As the action moves from room to room you get a mix of a typical kitchen area, an underground bathhouse lines with old brick and a thumping modern dancefloor with swirling digital images and bright neon lights.  It all flows organically with a touch or surrealness.

Keanu excels in this role, letting his natural quiet demeanor cohere nicely with his action star past.  At 50, he looks as spry and nimble as anyone 20 years his younger.  He is in incredible shape and worked hard for this role.  Other cast members help add convincing depth to this world we are introduced to. Willem Dafoe, Michael Nyqvist, Alfi Allen, Dean Winters, John Leguizamo and Ian McShane are all recognizable giving distinct qualities to their characters.

Video:

Lionsgate Films presentation of “John Wick” is a wonder to look at.  The 1080P transfer shot in 2.40:1 by Arri Alexa cameras is clear and stable.  Detail is strong throughout.  The rather drab color palette used is a stylistic choice and although it does not make colors pop, it is more than perfectly matched for the story being told. That is not to say this disc is without color.  In the club scene, the blueness of the water contrasts gloriously with the old brick all around it.  Contrast also holds up nicely in these scenes.  Most of this film takes place at night or in darker areas and the blacks remain inky and dense.

Audio:

“John Wick” utilizes the new Dolby Atmos 7.1 technology.  If you are not set up for Atmos, it will output by default as Dolby TrueHD.  This is the type of soundtrack that will stress your system heavily.  Between the gunfire, body blows and the heavy beats of the pop songs your subwoofer will be put into overdrive.  All of it sounds realistic and the highs never faltering.  Even with all this dialogue is never and issue and is well prioritized.

Extras:

Audio Commentary with Chad Stahelski and David Leitch – an averagely entertaining  listen how some of the more technical aspects of the film

Don't F*#% with John Wick (17 minutes) – There is some good info here about the fight choreography and gun training. Also lots of praise for Keanu and his work ethic and how he trained for months to do most of his own stunts.
 

Calling in the Calvary (12 minutes) - A look how the project started by the producers.

Destiny as a Collective (6 minutes) -  A quick look at the stunt company and the 2nd unit directors.

The Assassins Code (5 minutes) – a brief vignette about the hidden network shown in the movie as well as the style of the film.

The Red Circle (6 minutes) – A behind the scenes peak on how they did the club gunfight scene. It was nice to see they wanted to do their take on the classic club fight scene that always seems to appear in action movies.

N.Y.C. Noir (6 minutes) – A terrific and all too brief look at the locations used in the film. They creators wanted the city to be it’s own character.  Also talked about are the challenges of finding a setpiece with space enough to film the needed scenes in

Lastly is a Theatrical Trailer
 

 

Bottom Line:

It’s refreshing to know that action can still be done in a unique and sophisticated manner. “John Wick” is violent, stylish, and intriguing the entire way through while introducing a character with depth and determination.  One can only hope that this can lead other action films to adopt a similar approach where making an effort to distinguish itself from the rest of the pack is as essential as anything else done to make a film. The audio and video are excellent and the extras will keep you happy for a night.  Highly Recommended.

Rambo cntd...

Okay so I just watched the new Rambo movie and I gotta say I liked it. Its short, surprisingly well acted and filmed. I don’t remember Rambo 2 and 3 very much but this last one was a good little bookend to the first one. At the beginning of 2nd act I hoping for a certain type of ending to the film and I got it. Very satisfying.
I like Stallone’s directing efforts. Sure Rocky 2-4 were cheesy-ish but they had flair. It seems like Stallone really loves his characters that he creates/acts/directs. And by that I mean Rambo and Rocky. And as he gets older he apparently felt the need to finish off these characters stories in a very full circle, happy and somewhat emotional way.
Edit: I just read somewhere that Stallone is writing/directing/acting in Rambo 5 and 6. So there goes the whole bookend theory. This last Rambo would have been a nice ending.

First Blood...As seen on TV...but not really

"A man who's been trained to ignore pain, to ignore weather, to live off the land. To eat things that would make a billy goat puke. "

There are certain products out there that are really good ideas but their names have become pop-ish and seemingly overshadow the product itself. People hear the name and they laugh or roll their eyes and dismiss it as being cheesy and not worth their time. But these people could actually be missing out on a good product. That is how I think people feel when they hear the word Rambo. People think of high body counts, mindless killing and yelling while firing an oversized machine gun. But for purposes of this blog I’m not talking about the 2,3 and the latest one. I’m referring to the original movie , First Blood (84%). This is a movie with a body count under five. This is more of a drama than an action film.

I actually wrote a college term paper in one of my film classes about Rambo and got an A. I compared his post war immersion back into society verses Jon Voights’s Luke Martin in Coming Home. Rambo was not permanently physically altered but sustained deep psychological wounds, enough to take offense after being “happily” escorted out of town by the local sheriff. There is plenty of running and shooting in it, one moment of semi-plausible/ semi-not plausible action and a climactic/ anticlimactic ending. However the more subdued ending makes it become more than just an action film. No it is not Oscar caliber, but not many movies are. It just in the upper tier of non –nominated movies.

The film was released in 1982 which is less than ten years removed from the ending of the Vietnam War. So it may not resonate as much now as it did when it first came out but the ideas are the same as other war movies. However, Vietnam was a very unpopular war which displaced many men upon their return from it. This is a short, small movie but it does a fine job of showing one man who just didn’t how to act and didn’t like the way he was being treated. When death and killing are all you know or practice, how are you supposed to live back in the social norm where those aspects are no longer tolerated. It's hard to figure if a movie like this can me made again after the last decade of "everything exploding" action movies. Could the public handle an atypical ending like this nowadays. Perhaps, and it may even be ballsy and inviting enough to be an award winning type of movie.

For a similar yet better vantage point on this, read All Quiet on the Western Front.

Top 5 Hung-over on Sunday morning movies

This category started for me back in college after a Halloween party. We all woke up completely hungover, half in our costumes and could barely think. Somehow the tv got turned on and Footloose had just begun. No one had bothered to change the channel. All we could do was lay there and laugh and make comments about the 80’s ridiculousness on the screen. Over the next couple of years, on hungover Sundays, a few other movies happen to be on tv or were intentionally put on because there was nothing else to do. Below are five movies that have helped me during a hangover on a Sunday.

(You’ll notice one common theme. None of them are extremely high-rated. These aren’t Oscar-worthy movies. Just thoroughly entertaining when you are too weak and dehydrated to stand.)


Footloose (58%) This is the one that started it all. Classic fish-out-of-water story. The premise alone is fantastic: trying to bring dancing back to a danceless community. It’s got everything, 80’s music, multiple fist fights, anger-dancing, one-liners while dropkicking the villain, two little kids randomly punching each other.

Point Break (67%) - Mindless action in a sunny location. Surfing, guns, chases, “speak into the microphone squid brain”, parachuting fighting. I like it because its two guys trying to out-do each other at crazier stunts. BTW Keanu wins when he jumps out of the plane with no parachute….until…Bodhi rides the ultimate wave and goes out on his own terms.


Roadhouse (42%) Oh boy, where to begin. “You’re my Saturday night thing”? Tough-guy philosopher? Nah, it has to be when Swayze rips the guys throat out by the river…and then the 25 interspersed bar fights.

Rocky 4 (n/a) Not sure why this doesn’t have a rating. But I guess it should be in the high 100’s. Great soundtrack, even though the songs are only known because they were in this movie. Stallone knows how to hype up a villain and then chop him down. And it subtly addresses some steroid use – which I never caught onto as a kid. And there are four montage sequences. It’s amazing. The actually movie is only like 20 minutes long without them.

Office Space (79%) This is mostly in here because it makes me feel better about going to work on Monday. I usually get deep Sunday night blues but when I watch this I realize we’re all in it together. But not caring about your job is one of the great freedoms of the world.

Anti sci-fi lovers sometimes get stopped from seeing some good movies that aren’t really sci-fi

I do not consider myself too much of a sci-fi fan. Star Trek or Star Wars don’t do too much for me. Aliens that look like semi-humans with strange forehead wrinkles but are still aliens dont impress me. I’ll watch the Rings trilogy for the action but don’t get anything out of spells and trolls. However, there are some movies that fall under the Sci-fi genre that I consider more horror or action than actual sci-fi. Where the human element is in the forefront and the sci-fi aspect sort of stumbles into it.
Take the Alien movies for example. Yes, they take place in space and are about aliens. So right there is has two HUGE sci-fi aspects to it. But to me, it doesn’t feel like sci-fi. They are action horror movies that just so happen to take place in space. Ridley Scott says in his Alien (99%) commentary that he wanted to make “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” in space. He put regular looking working class people doing basically “oil rig” work in space. Instead of a maniac killing them, its something unknown and ruthless. Its basically a minimalist survival tale. I remember as a kid thinking the last 20 minutes of the movie were devastatingly scary. I couldn’t imagine being the only person left and having to get from one part of the ship to another with “something” out there. Aliens, (an amazing 100%) is more of an action film but with horror moments and a lot of character depth to it. Alien 3 (32%) is actually one of my favorite movies. Sure it was marred by serious production woes and a questionable script origin, however it is a very dark movie with serious “Is there a God” tones. David Fincher made it his own and I have become a huge Fincher fan. I don’t pay attention to any of the sequals/spinoffs after that as the quality of the films seriously decline.



Yes, there is a distinct possibility that aliens do not exist. There has been no widespread known physical evidence so far. However, the same can be said from different people about ghosts, God and the Devil.



The Terminator movies fall into this category as well. Okay, yes again, they deal with robots and the future, two more major sci-fi aspects. But again, it takes place in a human world and the sci-fi parts kinda just stumbles into it. In fact, the first Terminator (100%) has been quoted as “This is a monster movie” in many reviews. Just a thing that comes after you and seemingly cant be killed, like in Halloween or Friday the 13th movies. Terminator 2 (97%) upped the CGI anti and filled it with more heart. It is also a darker story that explores fate vs inevitability vs responsibility.



I actually think Terminator 3 (70%) is smarter than most people give it credit for. Sure it doesn’t really bring anything revolutionary to the table, but it’s the 3rd movie in a franchise, its hard to be original without being a completely different movie. It also has several silly moments which weren’t needed. But it is a well thought story line. The movie also answers a question that the first two movie (as good as they are) contradict. If they stop the war from happening, how can the terminator be sent back to assists them, thus, enabling the whole story to exist. T3 makes a plausible and depressing case that the war is inevitable which explains why the terminators were able to be sent back. Also, there is a major gap between the present days of the first two movies and the supposed war in the future. The third movie actually shows the days leading up to the day it all begins, filling in that “audience-distancing” gap.
There are many movies that talk about technology advancing and ultimately turning on us, (I Robot, A.I., The Matrix), that the idea of it actually getting to the point is somewhat plausible. If you look at the world fifty years ago and look at the technological progression up to present time and then project forward another fifty years of compounded advances, there will be a thin line separating our complete dependence on technology. There will be a point where we will have to figure out if we as people will ever be able to live without computer assistance. On top of that, computers can closely be compared to human brains and we eventually evolved. And the thing is, they would evolve stronger, smarter and faster than us, and the scariest aspect is they would be and emotionally indifferent only using percentages to rationalize their decisions. If computers somehow evolve someday into something resembling free will, that would make us their God’s, and look at all the wars that started over religion.

Frustration with my adoration of Rob Zombie movies

(pre-edit: I am not a prude in my life. I swear with the best of them, but usually when I’m just trying to emphasis a point or hit my elbow on something)

Also - Trying not to belittle any readers with obvious definitions but it took me a while to find the perfect work for my dislikes for his movies, I will be using this word a lot.

Crass: So crude and unrefined as to be lacking in discrimination and sensibility.

I like two of Rob Zombie’s three movies. But I wish I could respect them more. I saw five minutes of “10,000 Corpses” (16%) but just couldn’t watch anymore. The humor was too crass and sophomoric. I can not really comment past that. After I got laid off several years ago I had a lot of time on my hands. After all my writing chores and housework were done for the day, I set 2 hours aside to watch a movie. This is when I came across The Devils Rejects (53%). I rented it with low expectations knowing it was a loose sequel to a movie I couldn’t even watch. Well I was pleasantly shocked with it. It had me right at the moment the opening gunfight scene starts. He uses freeze frame shots combined with a heavy base cord to hammer up the tension.



“Rejects” seems more thought-out and refined. It had an old sixties, seventies feel to it like Sam Peckinpah. The intentional use of freeze frames and grainy film quality showed me that he had a specific look he was looking for achieve and his attention to detail was apparent. It has a dusty, dry-dirt appearance where everything looks sandblasted. You can tell there was real effort put into it. The Sound track is top notch. Being the heavy rocker that Zombie is, he had an entirely classic rock and western music soundtrack. But he used his hard-rock talents to create some effective instrumental music peppered throughout the movie. As a bass lover, I think that type of music is fantastic. He achieves the same effect in the Halloween remake (27%) to, music wise and cinematography wise. I like the way the movie looks and feels. Its production value looks far superior to the latter entries of the franchise. The detail of the famous mask was great and there is a distinct ominous aura about it.

I am also impressed with some of his scenes he creates and the dialogue given to the characters within these scenes. The standouts being outlined below:

- The movie critic scene in “Rejects”
- The climactic scene with Sheriff Wydell tormenting his captives.
- In Halloween, the short dialogue exchange between Laurie in her mother, trying to get Mr Bones, the Halloween decoration, back together again.
- The short “vacation” talk between Laurie’s parents on the porch
- The entire hospital interaction between Michael and Loomis

He excels in these scenes. These little touches add so much to the film. It gives them credence.


Now the dislikes

Where Rob Zombie loses me is his proclivity to sporadically use crass dialogue and embarrassing character behavior. It mars the overall adult-looking effort that was put into the film. I was legitimately excited to see a Halloween remake directed by Rob Zombie. It didn’t take long before I was disappointed. The entire first 15 minutes of the film that takes place in the Myers house and in the boys lavatory is awful. So much degenerative dialogue is spoken that it feels like it’s overboard and too much, trashy. If just seems so forced.

I get what he was trying to do: to show exterior circumstances that help lead him to his killing ways. But the trashiness was just so blatantly put out there. There are other ways to display a bad home life other than incessantly swearing and making gross sexual comments. How about patiently showing neglect for the kid or the effect of a depressed parent has on a child. I don’t really have an exact answer for Rob, but there are more subtle ways to do it. Actually whenever I watch his Halloween, I start it right before little Mike kills everyone, completely bypassing the first 15 minutes.

I also don’t understand the director’s version of the escape scene. The theatrical version was fine, it worked. The dvd version seems to exists to just push the envelope. But it simply appears mean and adolescent. Now, Zombie is a smart guy. I’ve seen many interviews and heard his commentaries and he knows what he is doing and has a realistic approach to developing his movies. Hell, I’d love to have lunch with the guy. However, I do not understand his seemingly need to sabotage his good parts.

Someone once told me that people use swears when either A) they are trying to emphasize their point or B) They don’t know what else to say. I believe swearing can be cathartic. It can feel good and it has its places, like getting into a car and hitting your head on the rearview mirror, then you punch the mirror accidentally breaking it….uh….I digress. I also believe that if you limit its use, it becomes more powerful. For example, near the end of Catcher in the Rye, when Holden Caulfield sees the word “f*ck” (first time used in novel) written on the school wall, it stands out harshly and you can feel that one word is a comment on society. It was so powerful at the time that people actually wanted to ban the book. However instead, it is now considered a classic.

Growing closer and farther: One movie I appreciate more than before and one movie I once loved but now have moved on

Back in 1992 when I was a freshman in high school, I used to love horror movies and every weekend I would try to rent to bloodiest and goriest movies I could find. My older brother and his friends came across two movies called Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2. They left them on the coffee table one day so I watched them. Being the typical adolescent I was, I loved them. So it was around that time when I saw a preview for Army of Darkness (78%). I obviously saw it immediately saw and thought it was the best movie ever made. To me, Bruce Campbell was the best hero ever!!!! I even cut out and saved the Hartford courant review for it. Which is weird, I know this….now

It was out of the theaters in like a week. I was p*ssed that I wouldn’t be able to watch it until I could rent it on VHS months later. Then one day I noticed it was playing at a nearby Drive-in (paired with Scent of a Woman…wtf!) So we went and I still loved it. I have since bought it on DVD and seen the alternate version, but my love for it crumbled down into a mild appreciation for its humor. Technically, it’s a rather budget looking film and the humor can be sophomoric at times, but there are still some classic one-liners in there. The special effects however are severely dated. It’s somewhat sad not liking a movie anymore that you once thought was the greatest of all time. It is because it is proof that you have changed and a reminder that things/love/complete $#%^ing obsession doesn’t last forever. That being said, I still believe it has one of the best movie endings of all time

On the other side

Unforgiven (96%) came out on HBO when I was in high school. I found a blank VHS tape and put it in the VCR and got all ready to record it when my parents came in the room and started watching it too. After several scenes, the dreaded “C” word was said and my stepfather promptly said “that’s too much” and turned off the cable box. Luckily they left the room within a minute so I quickly turned the cable box back on. Now, a brief cable history lesson for the little ones out there, back in the day cable boxes did not work like Tivo does today. If you shut off the cable box during recording, when playing it back all you would see is a blurry preview channel scrolling through channel listings. So, in subsequent viewings of that movie, I always missed that one minute of the movie. (but in that 1 minute I could tell that Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach was on a pretty heavy rotation at the time).

Between going away to college, travelling everywhere and getting situated in a house in a different state, I only recently got to watch this movie again (in a glorious Hi-def dvd format). Maybe it’s because I am older, or perhaps it was because of the incredible detail on Hi-def on my 84” movie screen, or it could even been finally seeing that one lost minute, but the movie was more amazing and deeper than I ever had previously realized. As a kid, I really thought it was just an action movie. There were good guys and there were bad guys. As a kid, you instinctively root for the good guys. If not, well then, good luck in life. I had no idea I was watching a movie that had won Oscars.

Watching it through older eyes, I could see that there really aren’t any clear good guys and bad guys in the movie. The main character, the guy you’re supposed to identify with is a former murderer of innocent people, now reformed. He is reformed because of the death of his wife. She got him off of drinking (which seems to be the cause of his once nefarious ways). Throughout the movie he repeats to others around him that he is different now and not “like that” anymore. The real meat of the story comes in the final 20 minutes when circumstances cause Eastwood’s character to take a drink for the first time in many years. Seeing him take a swig of the alcohol and the look in his eyes, you can tell he transforms back into the man he once was. He was on a mission to destroy anyone associated with what got him to take that first drink. And as he strolls into town through the pouring rain with vengeance on his mind, you see the empty whisky bottle thrown into the mud. This is when you know he will finish what he needs to. No going back.

The west, and movies about the west, were all about rumors and building people into tall legends. These rumors are what this movie is about, or at least deconstructing those rumors. It takes place in the late 1890’s which is around the time the Cowboy way was dying out. Commercialism and technology started prevailing. People started giving themselves nicknames by lying and increasing the numbers of the people they killed, like the Schofield Kid and English Bob did. This is unlike Eastwoods character who actually doesn’t correct peoples stories about him when they under-number the amount he actually killed. After the killing deeds are done you hope the main character digression is temporary, but in the end, all you get is that “rumor has it” about the rest of his life. It’s a great story told during a great time period and the best part is that it is told with such depth.