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John Wick is a fun movie series that dispenses with the seriousness and is just fun, admittedly violent fun. The third movie opens with a madcap sequence where
by draw_down 4y ago
John Wick is a fun movie series that dispenses with the seriousness and is just fun, admittedly violent fun. The third movie opens with a madcap sequence where he kills a guy using a book, followed by hallway melee knife fight that is pure slapstick.
- zdragnar 4y agoBut the poor puppy :(
- blinding-streak 4y agoYes.. but the puppy plot device is why all the violence against the criminal regime is "justified."
- selimthegrim 4y agoThe first rule of screenwriting is supposed to be “Never kill a dog in the first act for bathos”
- GauntletWizard 4y agoAnd the second rule is "Know when to break the rules and do so with purpose"
- sonofhans 4y agoHey, at least they didn’t pee on his rug.
- rayiner 4y agoThe most American plot device ever.
- robonerd 4y agoIt seemed like a deliberate invocation of the 'kick the dog' trope. While crude and lazy villain writing, to invoke the trope so deliberately shows a degree of respect to the audience. It says the movie isn't going to waste your time by pretending to be something it isn't. And it could have been a lot worse. If John Wick were a 70s revenge movie, I think it would have started with criminals killing John Wick's wife or daughter instead.
- verve_rat 4y agoI would characterise it as fridging the dog. Which is a nice twist on the trope. They had a wife, but she was sort of fridged by proxy.
- philwelch 4y agoYeah, I actually found that part of the plot effective and easy to relate with coming from my own experiences of loss. John is basically transferring all the pain and grief from losing his wife onto the puppy, and it gives him an outlet for his grief in the form of revenge. People criticize Keanu Reeves’ acting ability but the “I’m thinking I’m back” scene works for me. Also, John Wick is such a badass of a character that they sort of need to overdo the part that makes him sympathetic to the audience or else he would just be terrifying. The movie actually plays on a lot of villain tropes for John Wick, like in all the scenes where the gangsters are terrified of him and telling stories about him. If you take out the part about the wife and dog, John Wick is basically a slasher movie where John is the vicious serial killer.
- emilsedgh 4y agoI honestly don't understand this movie franchise and all the praise it gets. It is as if the creators were _the hell with story, who cares, we just need action sequences_. There's absolutely no story. Zilch. Nil. Why is this movie praised?
- mholm 4y agoFor exactly that reason. Sometimes people just want mindless action and fun setpieces, and John Wick movies respect that. Many action movies try and force in some inane plot, or add a romance subplot, or digress from the actual point of the movie: Action and spectacle. It's not my cup of tea, but I certainly respect it for knowing exactly what it is.
- ghostpepper 4y agoNot only that but the action itself is superb. The way the hand to hand combat and gunplay is choreographed, performed and filmed is miles ahead of many films with much bigger budgets.
- roelschroeven 4y agoGood to know, now I can remove those movies from my to-watch list. I don't mind some action, but it has to serve a purpose in the plot. Action just for the action is just so boring, IMO.
- macintux 4y agoGive the first one a try. You might be surprised.
- roelschroeven 4y agoThanks, I might. Is there much difference in style between the first one and the others?
- 4y ago
- themitigating 4y agoThere's nothing like a movie where the hero doesn't grow as a character. The tension from knowing he can't be harmed and has super hero like reflexes really makes me wonder if he'll make it out alive.
- draw_down 4y ago