Ah, the Glorious, Cinematic Gun Porn of Wick. I finally watched, and now get it.
I don’t care how many times you’ve seen a Glock on screen, Keanu handles his pistols like he actually went through the range crawl with real shooters. And he did at a discreet range in the foothills behind Malibu.
No limp-wristed nonsense. He looks like he put in the hours, and it shows. Watching him run those drills is like watching a new SEAL recruit who didn’t suck.
Sure, some fight scenes stretch reality like spandex on a chunky Vegas stripper—but who cares? Wick’s reloads alone make half of Hollywood’s “action heroes” look like mall cops with Nerf guns.
The Characters — Continental Cool & Old-School Grit
Let’s talk about the real MVP: Winston, the manager of the New York Continental. Ian McShane. The guy drips gravitas like he was poured out of a bottle of top-shelf Scotch. I loved him back in Deadwood—he could make reading a Denny’s menu sound like Shakespeare. His presence elevates the chaos, and every scene he’s in feels like the rules suddenly matter.
The assassin code, the gold coins, the “you can’t shoot people in the lobby” rules—it’s like an underworld Geneva Convention that only psychos with good suits follow. I dig it. I want.
The Dog — The Real Trigger
You don’t kill a man’s dog. That’s it. Full stop. In the SEAL Teams, guys would joke that if you touched their pup, it was more personal than sleeping with their wife. Wick’s rampage is biblical vengeance dressed in Gucci. It makes sense. If someone messed with my little tactical poodle, Apollo, I’d come into full rampage mode.
Keanu Reeves — Patron Saint of Not Being a Hollywood Asshole
Let’s be honest—Keanu seems like one of the few genuinely good dudes in Tinseltown. No ego, no whining, just grinding through stunt training and being decent to the crew. Respect. When he kills 87 people with a pencil, you buy it, because he’s earned it off-screen too.
Why It Works for a Cynical Frogman
I’ve seen a lot of “operator” movies that make me want to throw a remote at the wall. Wick ain’t perfect—but it’s close enough, and its fun as hell. It’s got the gear, the brotherhood, the blood oaths, the code, and the pure unapologetic violence we secretly crave in a world where everything is padded, soft, over woke, and “sensitive.”
It even lit a fire in me to sketch out a sci-fi series: future assassin guilds, loyalty crypto coins, futuristic Continental-style safe havens in orbit. Think John Wick meets Blade Runner meets The Expanse.
Final Verdict
The John Wick franchise is required viewing. Not for film snobs, not for critics—but for the tribe of gun nerds, veterans, and anyone who misses movies that don’t apologize for being bloody, stylish, and insane.
Go see it. Pour a stiff drink. Pet your dog. And remember, don’t ever mess with a man’s canine.