KEANU REEVES IN JOHN WICK

year: 2014 rating: ***

THE DROP aside, most crime flicks where an adorable puppy's introduced usually means it won’t live to be a dog… Or even a slightly older puppy… Which is extremely important since John Wick, played by a slowburn yet ultra violent Keanu Reeves, seeks revenge once his best friend gets whacked...

Well there's a little more to it than that...

Pup was a posthumous gift from his deceased wife, and as Wick hunts down the spoiled son of a Russian mobster, who also stole his supped-up 1969 Mustang, we learn about our title character by the nervous reactions of those who want him dead: the sleeping giant has been awakened, and ignited.  

With a thumping soundtrack and word bubbles for important dialogue, it's hard to believe there's not a comic book/graphic novel origin. The action is literally non-stop and the fight scenes are recklessly heart pounding. But JOHN WICK isn't fleshed-out enough for the bloodshed to really matter. 

It’s as if we missed a fifteen-minute setup, or started reading at Issue #2. And like the many bullets flying, JW blasts in one ear and out the other.