Control: John Wick

I, Dalton Lewis, have watched the John Wick movie twice. I like Keanu Reeves’ acting. He plays a strong, smart, resourceful character very well, and he also plays someone who is relatable and charming. I can like him and very much want to watch him fight bad guys for two hours.

The plot: Bad guys offer fourteen million dollars to any contract killer who can kill John Wick. John Wick takes care of his dog and tries to manage the situation by moving gradually higher on the totem pole, asking to speak to the highest bosses of the assassins in an attempt to make things right. Eventually he has to decide if he wants to sell his soul — in a metaphorical sense — and agree to work for the villains in order to get his bounty removed. Halle Berry plays an ally of John’s who tries to introduce him to someone who can help him find the boss assassin. She loves dogs, too, and has two dogs with her in a big shootout scenes in Casablanca. The setpieces offer excellent gunfights and a lot of brutal, well-choreographed action.

Why is pulp with lots of violence sometimes more literary than a quiet little drama with no action? John Wick says something about rules and breaking them; about who to work for; and about loyalty versus treachery.

Keanu Reeves can throw a punch. He famously earned the lead in the matrix by being able to fight a believable fight. He and Halle Berry and Laurence Fishburne form a core of characters because they have been actors working at the highest level for dozens of years.

This movie is not realistic at all; it does not want to be. It is a parable, a story about fighting and beliefs and loyalty. It is the definition of pulp fiction but somehow elevates itself above that. Sometimes i just want to watch a lot of people fight, and that happens in this film. Well played, Keanu Reeves.

Thanks, and take care, friends.