John Wick (7/10): Keanu Reeves is back doing what he knows best

“People keep asking if I'm back and I haven't really had an answer, but yeah, I'm thinking I'm back.”

John Wick is as predictable and formulaic as the other 99% of revenge action flicks out there, but what makes this stand out is how well the action scenes are choreographed and what a breath of fresh air it is to see the action take place without all the extreme close ups and fast edits which never allow you to enjoy them. John Wick was directed by two former stunt men, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, who seem to have a grip at what they’re doing because they don’t take any of the fun away from the action scenes. Derek Solstad’s screenplay is pretty straightforward. We are introduced to the main character, John, who is grieving over his recently dead wife. She leaves him a cute puppy which will help him during this grieving period, but a group of young Russian mobsters break into his home one night to steal his car and in the process they kill the dog. That brings John to his breaking point and we discover pretty soon that he is no common man. He was once a feared hitman who later retired after meeting his wife. Now he is set on getting his revenge and the action begins. John is the typical hero we can route for and identify with for his loss, while the villains are ruthless and deserve to be punished. We’ve seen all this in almost every other revenge film, but what makes this one stand out and feel fresh is that the action scenes are stylized and energetic. So despite having a predictable plot you are entertained with some of the coolest action scenes of the year. This is no Raid 2, but it does get the job done. There is one particular action scene that takes place in a nightclub that is fantastically choreographed. These are the strongest moments of the film, but if you are looking for an original plot look elsewhere because this is very predictable. There are some interesting elements that Solstad introduces in this world where the mobsters have a series of codes and rues that they follow giving it sort of a video game vibe to it at times.

In order for the action scenes to work for a film like this where they aren’t cutting the scenes every second you need to have an actor who can pull them off. They found the right one with Keanu Reeves who definitely knows his stuff. He delivers in every action scene with some fantastic choreographed moves. The mobsters build him up as someone they fear and respect, and once you see him in action you believe it. He also delivers during the quiet moments as well despite not having the best dialogue to work with. He was made for these roles and delivers. The supporting cast is excellent as well. Alfie Allen (from the Games of Thrones series) is getting typed cast as the hateful villain who behaves like a child at times. His father is played by the excellent Michael Nyqvist, who John Wick used to work for. He knows his kid made a mistake but tries to protect him nonetheless putting a generous reward on John’s head. Willem Dafoe, Lance Reddick, and Adrianne Palicki get some screen time as well and they were a lot of fun. The way everyone treated John when they realized he was back in business was also another nice touch that the directors made and help lighten the mood at times. This was an extremely entertaining film with some of the best action scenes of the year despite all of its predictability. Stahelski and Leitch succeeded in making this predictable story feel fresh and if you are a fan of Keanu Reeve’s work you will not want to miss this.

My Review: GI Joe: Retaliation (6/10)

¨Call me JOE¨

As a kid I was a huge fan of the GI Joe cartoons and had a vast collection of the action figures, but I never thought it was a very good idea to bring the franchise to the big screen. I didn’t like the first film despite all the great special effects because the entire concept was just way too silly, and I didn’t like this film all that much either despite the fact it had a better story and some more interesting characters. What really saved this film for me was a ten minute action scene in the mountains which was pretty amazing and made the entire movie worthwhile. It was one of the best action scenes I`ve seen all year. This second film was directed by Jon M. Chu (Justin Bieber Never Say Never and Step Up 2) and the screenplay co-written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Zombieland), but very few actors are back from the original movie (only five) so this felt like a totally different movie. Retaliation is much better than Rise of Cobra but it still felt a little light due to the nonstop action. It’s one of those movies you can enjoy for two hours but forget about once it’s over. What it does have going for it is that is includes better action stars like The Rock and Bruce Willis. The Rock is probably one of the best contemporary action stars and he already brought the Fast and Furious franchise back alive again. He doesn’t quite do the same with GI Joe, but he still makes this movie a little more enjoyable than the original one. Despite all the cheesiness of the plot I still had some fun, and the producers knew that the premise couldn’t be taken seriously so they just played around with it.

The Joes continue to serve and protect the world under the leadership of Captain Duke (Channing Tatum) and his team which consists of Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock), Flint (D.J. Cotrona), and Jaye (Adrianne Palicki). They have a couple of successful missions until the team is betrayed by the US president (Jonathan Pryce) who is actually Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) infiltrated as him. Thus the Joes are forced to fight enemy forces inside their own government and are forced to receive help from the only person they can trust: retired General Joe Colton (Bruce Willis). Meanwhile Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) has conceived a plan with Firefly (Ray Stevenson) to free their imprisoned Cobra Commander (Luke Bracey). Snake Eyes (Ray Park) is determined to stop him with the help of Jinx (Elodie Yung), but the Joes are running out of time with the President threatening the world with a nuclear war. Will the Joes be able to stop the Cobra team before they destroy the entire world?

Channing Tatum and The Rock shared some funny scenes together and had great chemistry, but I would have enjoyed more screen time with them. Adrianne Palicki looked great in that red dress and was a good addition to the film. Cotrona and Willis didn’t do much, but the highlight of the film was the mountain action sequence between Park and Lee. The film had its extremely cheesy moments, and I couldn’t believe they even didn’t care about the explosion of London. They continued as if nothing ever happened and celebrated the success of the mission without considering the devastating loss. I think that was probably the worst part of the film and the entire scene was probably used to attract people through the trailers. Retaliation is big and loud, anticipation for what is to come in the blockbuster summer movies. By the time summer gets here we will probably have forgotten all about this movie, but it was still a fun and entertaining two hours. Even those people that will end up hating this film will have to agree that the ten minute action scene between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow was pretty entertaining. As long as you don’t think too much about what`s going on you might enjoy this senseless film.

My Review: Red Dawn (5/10)

¨We´re not doing too bad for a bunch of kids. We´re gonna fight. We´re gonna keep fighting cause it´s easier now and we´re used to it.¨

I agree that this was a totally unnecessary remake and that the plot is beyond ridiculous, but I still had a decent time with Red Dawn as long as I didn’t try to think too much about the unbelievable scenario. The real reason why this movie failed is because they took the ridiculous plot way too seriously when they should have played with the concept a little. A much lighter and playful approach would have made this film work. I really don’t understand why the producers thought a remake like this would be a good idea considering the original film wasn’t all that great either. I think it´s about time the film industry begins taking bigger risks instead of recycling the same material over and over again and only adding new faces and better visual effects. This version of Red Dawn was directed by Dan Bradley who is known mostly for his work as a stunt coordinator in big budget films like the Spider Man and Bourne franchises. This was his directorial debut and of course it has several flaws and a rather terrible and unsatisfying ending, but it still managed to maintain my interest throughout most of the film. It was adapted from Kevin Reynolds´s story of the 1984 film by Carl Ellsworth (Disturbia and Red Eye) and Jeremy Passmore, but their script wasn´t much brighter. I think that if the film didn’t take itself so seriously and played more with the ridiculousness of it all then it could have been much better. It never ended up embracing the absurdity of it all.

The original Red Dawn dealt with the invasion of Soviets, but since we are in different times this time the enemy is North Korea. The story is very fictional and you have to be very imaginative in order to go along with the entire situation. The story takes place in a small American town in Washington while the local High school team has suffered a defeat under the leadership of its star quarterback, Matt Eckert (Josh Peck), while his father Tom (Brett Cullen) and older brother Jed (Chris Hemsworth) watch from the sidelines. Despite the loss, his girlfriend Erica (Isabel Lucas) manages to lift his spirit and they all go out to celebrate at the local bar until they are interrupted by a blackout. Everything changes the next morning when a swarm of North Korean soldiers come parachuting down several jet planes and begin taking everyone hostage. Jed, who has recently returned from his service in Iraq, manages to escape along with his brother and several other friends to the woods. Together they decide to fight back the invaders and disrupt their plans. The young kids form a revolutionary group and call themselves the Wolverines, like the school mascot. Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, and Connor Cruise all form part of the rebellious group that is led by Jed. It is impossible for a group of young teenagers to take down such a big military force, but somehow they manage to create chaos and inspire the rest of the American citizens to fight back.

The film was shot in 2009 but due to some production problems it was finally released last year. I don’t think they should have gone with all that trouble because the outcome wasn’t really satisfying although the recent fame of Chris Hemsworth (Thor and The Avengers) and Josh Hutcherson (Hunger Games) may have helped the box office. Hutcherson who worked with Hemsworth´s brother, Liam, in The Hunger Games doesn’t really have an important role he. The true stars of the film are Chris and Josh Peck (from the Josh and Drake show) although there really wasn’t a strong performance in all the film. It´s hard to believe the actors when the script is pretty much unbelievable. The entire film feels like watching a couple of friends play Modern Warfare. The film could have worked better as a television miniseries or something like that, but as a two hour film everything felt way out of place. This is Friday Night Lights meets Pearl Harbor.   

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