A villain can turn protagonist, but after the Cold War, Defection-as-Plot-Device lost meaning. Tom Clancy is now more associated with Gaming than books and their barely-adopted films.
Nah give me my morally grey protagonist who is in the right but goes to absolutely unhinged lengths and measures to a point where you begin to wonder if he's the bad guy.
Reminds me of Yakuza (Kiryu) in a weird way. Except Kiryu is a more comedic form of John Wick's character, partly because Yakuza in general is a pretty silly comedic series.
Totally agree One of my favorite examples of this is in the 4th movie, when he's fighting the Marquis with num-chuks, before he fights Cane, he throws a last hit on a Marqui and just slams on the floor, you can even feel his soreness and exhaust if you focus enough, as if you were there fighting with him Really nice detail
Also afaik in russian culture 7 is a symbol of death, with the words sem and smert sounding similar and also the number being shaped like a scythe or axe. Lots of cars in the baltics have license plates with 777 or a similar combination, the russian immigrants cant get enough of that stuff
@@lolatmyageyeah, 7, especially 777 (three axes) has a lot of "soldier of fortune" connotations. Mercenaries, bandits, gamblers. A lot of Russian immigrants from 90s (the type to have that on a license plate) are at least one.
another really cool thing about the john wick movies. “bottomless mags” don’t exist here. if you know the gun he is using, you can count the amount of times he shoots and he is always out when he should be it’s another great detail
From memory they're a bit inconsistent with it. Sometimes they count shots realistically, other times they dip into magic-mag territory. It's been a while since I saw them last, so I could be wrong, but I remember the scene in the second movie where John shoots his way out of the tunnels sticking out to me at the time as such an instance.
@VermillionMonk so they definitely lost reality in the 3 and 4 but 1 and 2 were solid. And I counted the tunnel scene and he was accurate on his round counts only if he was ghost loading his benelli m4. Which he could be doing and the m4 is famous for being 8+1+1.
What makes John truly terrifying is no matter how many times he goes down, he keeps getting back up. He's beat up, you think he's almost lost the fight, then he gets back up and somehow, staggered and bruised, kills his opponent. Dude just perseveres through everything
One review I saw of John Wick stated that the key to having an all but unstoppable protagonist is that it has to look absolutely &$@%ing exhausting. Wick annihilated everything in his path, but he looks like he wants to just collapse halfway through
My favorite part of the first movie that made me go "Oh . . . Fuck." was when the mob boss is questioning his son about what happened between them and he then spits out in the most calmest voice you, but you can tell why is pissed, "You burned his house . . . And killed his dog?" and pretty much after that he's saying "You just fucked up in the most catastrophic way that I wish I wasn't even associated with you." Really cemented exactly how much John was respected and feared. Then there's the whole "He's the guy you hire to kill the Boogeyman." bit which was the sugar on the cream.
Something you missed is the second fight we actually see, in his home. That is one of the biggest intros, especially when it comes to seeing his skill. He looks at reflections, windows, everything to get more intel on WHERE they are.
No, an anti hero is someone who seeks the greater good through horrible means, a villain ultimately does evil for selfish gain. John Wick is a tragic villain, he doesn't kill the mafia boss because he sells drugs, kidnaps, rapes and tortures the innocent and is overall evil, he kills the mafia boss because he refused to give his son who killed his dog when all he wanted was to chill, he didn't want to go on a murder spree but he ultimately did because someone did something bad TO HIM, not because someone did something bad to anyone else.
@@Eri587 that's not always correct. An anti hero does not fight for the greater good. A vilain harms the innocent, an anti hero doesn't. The villain finds solace in harming the innocent but an anti hero doesn't.
@@Eri587 John actually spared the mafia boss after the mafia boss *did* give up his son. He just then kills the mafia boss after the mafia boss tortures and murders his friend.
To give you an idea of how much work and effort Keanu Reeves put into training, back before John Wick: Chapter 2 came out there was like a couple minutes long video of Keanu training at Taran Tactical's shooting range. And watching him do 3-gun challenge runs and doing them as fast and as accurately as he was, I realized: Keanu Reeves is so good at this that he could literally stop acting and have a career in competitive shooting. There's... virtually no other actors (that weren't already competition shooters) that you could say that of.
@@gundamzaku214 I. caught a clip of an interview with the actor that played Francis. When he talks about losing weight, he's telling John how many guards are inside. Something like that.
@@sketchseven if I remember correctly when John asks Francis how much weight he’s lost, Francis answers “26 kilograms”, indicating 26 guards are inside I think the subtitles changed the measurements to pounds instead of kilograms so the code’s lost unless you know Russian or can convert lbs to kg on the fly
As someone familiar with russian folklore, i always thought he has that nickname because Baba Yaga is sort of gatekeeper on the edge of mortal world. She's strongly associated with death, testing the worthiness of heroes and with transformation. She's not just the random old witch. So i believe that nickname is uncanny but fitting after all.
@@littlePixelHadaSong I mean, I know, but she is still an old witch, it's funny to me not as someone who is particularly familiar with russian folklore, it's funny to me as a russian
@@Gamez4eveR Поняла! я могу понять почему старая карга на болоте выглядит смешно в контексте франшизы про ассасинов, но сказки на самом деле такая лютая символическая хтонь, что детали иногда меркнут на этом фоне х)
the first time i saw this i immediately felt the awe of pressence when the cops showed up. not for wick's ability to kill, but because he has *power* over everyone else in the film. you know nothing of his past yet and it still tells you EVERYTHING. i just remember chuckling because i was so excited to see everyone's reactions to him. yeah, that's right, its john wick. AHHHH!
I like that it was always subtle, scary and treated like his power is norm, when the boss is explaining to his son who Wick is, it didn't do crazy flashbacks, it was spooky and subtle and left us to imagine, when the cops showed up, they weren't scared or panicking, it's like they knew that yes, he's extremely dangerous, but he's also doing things within restrictions of his job, but within all these interactions, Keanu is known for being kind so it kinda falls on John too where even tho he's extremely feared, there is no need to be afraid if you're not his targets, so characters were often checking if he's good and then immediately giving him his space, he also has a lot of people's respect too
Something about John Wick 1 are the subtle lines hinting John is the kind of man you never want to cross. Even if you have a lot of power. People over-rate Viggo’s exposition about John being the “one you send to kill the boogie man”. But Aurelio’s “the owner, did you kill em?” and “How do you know what Viggo does and doesn’t like? ‘Tell you somethin, he’s gonna understand” are gems. It subtly explains how Viggo would agree with the gravity of the situation- punching Yosief himself later. And that if you hit John, you better make sure he never gets up again.
Ummm but actually John Wick killed 77 people on screen in the first movie. You gotta disclose his kill count correctly or he may visit you with a pencil in hand, and he won't be writting 😂😂😂
Keanu hands down made that movie. dude spent THOUSANDS of hours learning the guns and training to fight. that's just craftsmanship above perfection at this point
2:20 It's probably just a cool coincidence, but in Dante's Inferno, 7th layer of hell is preserved for those who committed violent acts such as murder. If the afterlife and hell exists, John will be stuck there for eternity.
Not to be "that guy"... but it's not exactly a 1911. It's a new design of one called a 2011 designed for competition shooting. It's a double stack 9 instead of single stacked magazine 45. They have a capacity of 17. Sorry for the firearm autism rant
Something that is really cool to see when rewatching the first movie is the colored lighting for the club. When the light on Wick is blue, he is in control and the enemy in the light is killed. When Wick goes i to red light, the enemy is in control and Wick either gets injured or gets into a fight with the enemy in control. When the light is purple, neither Wick nor the enemy have the advantage and go through trading blows. Super cool detail i love
My favorite part of these movies is that Keanu Reeves is effectively John Wick now… like all those skills, are not for show they are genuine, just really adds more a greater respect and to all the characters he fights, cuz you KNOW they spend months and months training.
_"Yeah..."_ Also, something interesting with the conversation with Francis outside the Red Circle, his comment on how much weight he lost is actually Francis telling him how many guards are inside
John is an outstanding character for sure... but i also loved the character of Winston. His cold nature, the unbreakable calmness and the authority he commands are insane. And Ian really transported this perfectly.
that was the saddest part of the John Wick Series. In the first movie he was truly terrifying, but after that he lost this aura of a real reaper, someone who instills fear in even the most harden criminals. They were good movies and i watched them all and i enjoyed them, its was just a bit sad to see him become just a real good hitman and not the "Baba Jaga" he was in the first movie.
I liked it personally. He did start off as the vengeance driven reaper you mentioned, but was futher humanized as the movies went on. We saw his friends like Caine, his connections like the Ruska Roma and Winston. Imo, he didnt stop being the "Baba Yaga", we just got introduced to the world the Baba Yaga walks around on, making him feel "smaller" in a way since we got introduced to people with the same or even greater intimidation factor as him (Koji, Caine, D'Antonio, more High Table people like the Harbinger, and of course Marquis). I loved that part because the movie gave them this high ass pedestal yet made you feel that yeah, John can take these guys on. The movies balanced out the intimidation due to the unknown with the world building and depth to Wick's motives
Related to what you are saying: in the first movie, it seemed like the more experienced the bad guy, the more terrified of John he was. In subsequent movies you never really see people crapping their pants because John is coming for them. You just see them thinking they can take him and then being wrong. I just wish we had seen more people saying "OK, I will fight him. I'm definitely gonna die now."
@@TheBenjdudei wanted to see that aswell. But you have to realize that the Baba Yaga that people talk about when John was in his prime was the unstoppable and untouchable assassin they heard stories about. But what they see here and now is a reaper that bleeds plus the people thinks that they can take him with numbers on there side. It emboldened them.
@ReinZero on the same note, the first movie was vengamce based, as was mentioned. However, the latter three movies moved beyond that as he tried to back out again. He doesn't want to do this anymore, he simply does because he has to. In his prime, John has the mission at hand to fuel him, that's what we saw in the first movie. Now, he's tired and just surviving. He's still the worst foe to cross, but that's the problem. The underword is now seeing John Wick as washed up has been, until its too late. There were many people who still gave John the respect he deserved and earned. But others only see a story, a legend turned myth. It's why the high table failed. They should know not to mess with an older man in a young man's game.
another thing to note is that, in-story, the 4 movies took place in less than a year - he got more and more exhausted and injuried with almost no respite until the end
Another cool detail moment that someone else in the comments on another John wick video explained is that the conversation that wick and the bouncer at 8:51 had actually contained intel and wasn’t just “ey wassup bro move” Apparently the “you’ve lost weight” is code language In Russian or something for how many guards are inside, and the bouncer replies with over 60 lbs which converted to kg is about 28kg aka 28 guards which means the guard (at gun point and being threatened) told John how many guards there are inside. If I find the original commentor I’ll edit this one and explain a little better because I forgot like half of the stuff😅
Interesting thing, John Wick the most powerful and destructive person in his world. Usually a protag is the underdog, often at the mercy and afraid of of the might the antag(s). It is switch around in John Wick films, the antags are afraid of the might of John Wick. This is one of the many reasons why John Wick is so interesting. I really cant think any other media that does something like that but only one show, a recent acclaimed anime called Frieren: Beyond Journeys End. Basically, follows the story of a seemingly aloof elf girl coming back after defeating the demon lord and she struggles with the idea of her longevity leaving her ageless while watching her friends and comrades dying of old age. We later come to learn that she is one of the most powerful beings in her world and the demons, ruthless human mass murderers, are deeply afraid of her and call her Frieren the Slayer. She is the John Wick of her world, very talented and a force of nature to her enemies. Frieren and Wick are both terrifying protagonists.
I really liked John Wick, but I'll always remember seeing the 4th installment at the Paris Grand Rex. When John speaks with the continental owner here, he says something like "I'll kill them all" in a very strange delivery and the whole room burst laughing.
It's the slippage of the facade. The moment when John stops being calm and gives into the rage. The other time that voice comes about is when John's saying "I'm thinking I'm back! You can hand your son over, or DIE SCREAMING ALONGSIDE HIM!!!"
@@vladyvhv9579 It's just shitty acting, man. No need to be so deep over it. Christ, people give Keanu several lightyears of concession when it comes to this part of his career, or lack thereof, just 'cuz he's Keanu! Love the man like a brother, and love his movies, but he's a garbage actor that'd be starring in B-list movies with those chops. He brings the mettle in boiling and raging when it comes to his physicality of action at least! Now that no one can compare to in the industry at present, at least when it comes to the way the John Wick movies represent it/him and his persona.
John Wick raised the bar for action movies not only with the realistic fights but the violence of it all. The flow of the fights, the unique finishers from time to time. I can’t say enough good about the films.
Yes, the rolling all the way down the stairs was kinda goofy. There was an underlying point to it, though. It was symbolic as well. He had made it "out" of the life and been thrown/fell back into it. He was once again trying to climb out but was losing the fight and himself. Then a friend told him he had to get up and get to the top, again. So he did. This led to him getting out again.
The scene between John and Francis before the Red Circle was great. It didn't only elevated John's status even further, it also made me want to know more about what happened in the past between both of them. They seem to have a mutual respect for each other.
What I loved about John was how he didn’t drag Theo’s death out. One shot and that was it, he was walking away. Because ultimately Theo was nothing to him, but that pup meant the world.
This movie has an amazing attention to detail. There's a color code to it, John's aqua blue, Viggo's red and the Continental's green. The Red Circle scene portrays this beatifully; when John's dominating the scene is his color, when Viggo's men are dominating is red and when is both it turns purple. Absolute cinema.
I love how John Wick turned it around. Most movies would've had him beat up everybody in the first scene and save the dog. Then villains would've tried to kill him out of spite and ego like the old Arnold movies. Instead they beat John’s ass then come after him again out of pure fear and trying to finish him while he's weak.
man every time i see a compilation or explanation about john wick i always end up rewatching the movie again. by this time, maybe its already the 50+ time i watch the first john wick. absolute masterpiece!
I don't usually like action movies. HOWEVER, my husband told me that it's about avenging a puppy, and I was like: "They killed his puppy? DEAAAAAATTTTHHH!" I cheered during every shot John Wick took because touching a man's dog is like touching the USA's boats. You. Just. Do. Not. Do. It.
I’ve loved the franchise since I first watched. But I never realized scenes like the beginning in chapter 1 are a sign of symbolism. Nice work on explaining the symbolism
One thing I really loved about the first John Wick is how grounded and realistic it was. Like you mentioned, the movie used real world gunfighting tactics for the shootout scenes. All that went out the window as the series progressed though, and each movie just had another layer of nonsense to the criminal underground(seriously, is everyone in NYC an assassin?) and the gun fights with the completely impenetrable bulletproof clothing were just plain silly.
I'm one of those jaded oldies who generally hate modern movies/music and pop culture, once I watched the first one I was born again, I had to watch the rest.
The entire babayaga thing for john is perfect A term usually so innocent, only used for little kids Now used to define a terrifying beast, a man who lost whatever reason he had to live, and have become an absolute terror not for kids, but for very dangerous people.
Another thing that idk if it was missed or intentionally skipped over: I love Keanu, I think hes great and will watch things just bc hes in them. And I think he deserves praise and applause, but hes not really award winning. I think that is also what helped this movie out a ton. They leaned into his style/ cast the perfect person for this style of movie. And with limited "acting" and a lot of hard work and choreography and actual effort, made something so much better than if they decided to throw in an audience pulling action star Denzel, Cruise, Statham, etc.
I know so many people talk about how the fog is so important but damn I never realized how much they hammer home that the pup was truly helping John heal slowly. This movie is a masterpiece
If you think about it. This whole franchise is a horror movie from the point of view of the monster. Vigo left him tied in a chair . Got in his car and rounded the corner just to come face with john again. Thats horror.
Action heroes are scary because they're larger than life. Their stories bend around them. They command authority with each step. John Wick is terrifying because he is just a very skilled and talented man who has had enough.
In School we were taught that stories have parts, the setting, the conflict, the rising action, the climax, the falling action and the ending. In John Wick One it was all Rising Action until the ending. The Setting was a Rising Action, the intro was tense and ominous, almost the entire movie was a rising action until the climax at the end. When I watched that movie, I told everyone, they can't remake that, it was a perfect ramp. And then we have John Wick 2 where the entire movie was a setup, the climax didn't even drop. I realized this when the pack of people stopped moving around John... I was like.. "Oh shit, it's ONLY JUST BEGINNING."
If the villains had just bashed John and stole his car, everyone probably would have been like "whoa guy, it was just a car. Calm down, and think this about your actions". But the MOMENT they beat the dog to death? EVERYONE collectively went "aw H*LL no, f*ckin kill'em, john!"
The stair fall is allegedly so they could do the longest possible stair fall that could ever exist. No other move can ever top it, now they can only ever match John Wick. At least, until someone builds a bigger stairway in the world somewhere
I absolutely love that Reeves is the one that came up with the whip of the gun handle to flick out the mag faster. Such a finesse filled move... It was smooth AF.
I like how the first John Wick movie opens. You see him wounded, not knowing what he did or how he got there. It makes you want to know how he got there and his story.
I really like how John Wick isn't like superhuman, he is essentially like going through a Souls game: cautiously and taking enemies out individually. He is also not known as like evasive ninja where nobody can land a hit, nor an invincible juggernaut, but someone with "sheer fucking will" to make anything happen. He isn't invincible, it is his will that made him look like The Ancient Demon from Fear and Hunger from the POV of the antagonist.
i think the bulletproof suite took away the sense of danger that the first movie had. he was basically invincible and there was less of a sense of risk to me.
"John is the dragon" and unfortunately for everyone that stands in his way there doesn't exist a knight with shiny enough armor no sharp enough sword to face that dragon
John Wick character is build on a basis that its not the man who is cruel and violent that should be feared. Its the one that used to be like that and can be like that, but chooses not to. The whole 1st and 2nd movie are basically movies made out of a short poem/quote "Demons run when a good man goes to war". If anyone seen ie. a family member or a friend that usually has this demeanor of being very kind, loving etc, being pushed to violence, they know. People like that can be terrifying when pushed over the edge. Its not that they "snap". They will calmly walk close and pummel the oponent into the ground. Sometimes not even changing their expression. There wont be hate, there wont be anger. Opponent is just an obstacle, a threat, a problem to solve. Thats why John Wick of first 2 movies is scary. In every other movie or universe, he would be the antagonist, or at least that one very efficient killer that will come for you no matter what, and cant be persuaded or reasoned with. Not because he is insane or anything. He simply... IS. There is a target and a way to eliminate it, nothing else matters.
A villain turn protagonist? nah
A terrifying protagonist? _yeah_
I can hear the "yeah" in my head 😂
@@FilmJunk1e I wonder which is higher? The amount of "yeah" or the amount of times John got hit by a car...
A villain can turn protagonist, but after the Cold War, Defection-as-Plot-Device lost meaning. Tom Clancy is now more associated with Gaming than books and their barely-adopted films.
Nah give me my morally grey protagonist who is in the right but goes to absolutely unhinged lengths and measures to a point where you begin to wonder if he's the bad guy.
Missed opportunity couldve done the ❌✅
“Hey John”
“Hey jimmy”
*jimmy sees body(s)*
“Goodnight John”
“Goodnight jimmy”
"Morning Sam"
"Mornin' Ralph"
"Good afternoon Mr Wick"
"You, uh, working again?"
The best part about this scene is when he reaches up and takes his hat off, making it really clear that he is no longer acting as a police officer.
💀
“I heard you struck my son?”
“He stole wicks car and killed his dog.” “*Oh.*”
"It was at that moment, he knew. He fucked up".
Yeah, the whole change in his demeanor was awesome.
“Why didn’t you strike him _harder?”_
“…..that’s fair then.”
The most iconic, one word line in movie history.
"This is a story of a dragon . .and *you* just got in its' way."
Goes UNBELIEVABLY hard
bro wtf not a single reply
@@uvncommunity it's wild actually
@@uvncommunitywhy deos it matter
cringe
Reminds me of Yakuza (Kiryu) in a weird way. Except Kiryu is a more comedic form of John Wick's character, partly because Yakuza in general is a pretty silly comedic series.
One thing I always liked, is when John fights and guns down loads of people, you can see how he eventually gets exhausted like a normal person
Especially when he ends a fight, you see the adrenaline wear off and he need to take a minute to breathe
Totally agree
One of my favorite examples of this is in the 4th movie, when he's fighting the Marquis with num-chuks, before he fights Cane, he throws a last hit on a Marqui and just slams on the floor, you can even feel his soreness and exhaust if you focus enough, as if you were there fighting with him
Really nice detail
Another good example (imo), is Atomic Blonde
@@seangambone8534 And the Daredevil series.
The Daredevil show is really good at this too, makes the scenes so much more tangible
3 things I won't fuck with:
- Obi wan's high ground
- Clint Eastwood's mule
- John Wick's Dog
I would in fact fuck the ground under ObiWans Feet
Let's imagine Obi-Wan kills John Wick's dog and then they fight where Obi-Wan has high ground. Who would win?
@@snooons88 Chuck Norris
America's boats.
Yeah, bestiality is rather frowned upon
Something I haven't seen yet is another meaning of descending 7 steps, when violence is the 7th layer of hell in Dante's inferno
Well, John does in fact do a lot of violence in the movie...
Sharp point, interesting connection
Also afaik in russian culture 7 is a symbol of death, with the words sem and smert sounding similar and also the number being shaped like a scythe or axe. Lots of cars in the baltics have license plates with 777 or a similar combination, the russian immigrants cant get enough of that stuff
That's actually really interesting
@@lolatmyageyeah, 7, especially 777 (three axes) has a lot of "soldier of fortune" connotations. Mercenaries, bandits, gamblers. A lot of Russian immigrants from 90s (the type to have that on a license plate) are at least one.
John Wick telling Francis to go home is the epitome of "I can kill you anytime any place, but I have no reason. Don't give me one."
another really cool thing about the john wick movies. “bottomless mags” don’t exist here. if you know the gun he is using, you can count the amount of times he shoots and he is always out when he should be it’s another great detail
That’s neat
As a gun nut I noticed this in theaters and loved it.
From memory they're a bit inconsistent with it. Sometimes they count shots realistically, other times they dip into magic-mag territory.
It's been a while since I saw them last, so I could be wrong, but I remember the scene in the second movie where John shoots his way out of the tunnels sticking out to me at the time as such an instance.
Kinda feel like John wick Was inspired by Kingsmen in that Regard but j dunno I might be wrong
@VermillionMonk so they definitely lost reality in the 3 and 4 but 1 and 2 were solid. And I counted the tunnel scene and he was accurate on his round counts only if he was ghost loading his benelli m4. Which he could be doing and the m4 is famous for being 8+1+1.
What makes John truly terrifying is no matter how many times he goes down, he keeps getting back up. He's beat up, you think he's almost lost the fight, then he gets back up and somehow, staggered and bruised, kills his opponent. Dude just perseveres through everything
I think if I had to describe John in one word it’d be “Relentless”
John Wick: imagine all the things a good movie needs… and multiply it by 6!
don’t you mean… 7?
6 Factorial
Megamind reference spotted.
*6.5
One review I saw of John Wick stated that the key to having an all but unstoppable protagonist is that it has to look absolutely &$@%ing exhausting. Wick annihilated everything in his path, but he looks like he wants to just collapse halfway through
They did that with gojo from jjk too
im batman too
My favorite part of the first movie that made me go "Oh . . . Fuck." was when the mob boss is questioning his son about what happened between them and he then spits out in the most calmest voice you, but you can tell why is pissed, "You burned his house . . . And killed his dog?" and pretty much after that he's saying "You just fucked up in the most catastrophic way that I wish I wasn't even associated with you." Really cemented exactly how much John was respected and feared. Then there's the whole "He's the guy you hire to kill the Boogeyman." bit which was the sugar on the cream.
Step One: Cast Keanu Reeves
Worked for the Matrix franchise, they only had to make 1 good film and Reeves carried the rest.
Step two: let him cook
Step Three: Profit
Neo wasnt terrifying
@@ahmethacikasimoglu5819 He wasn't supposed to be. Not to the audience, anyway.
Something you missed is the second fight we actually see, in his home. That is one of the biggest intros, especially when it comes to seeing his skill. He looks at reflections, windows, everything to get more intel on WHERE they are.
John wick is not a villain.
Morally deprived protagonist, yes.
He kills, but only those who have caused him harm.
Basically he is an anti hero
No, an anti hero is someone who seeks the greater good through horrible means, a villain ultimately does evil for selfish gain.
John Wick is a tragic villain, he doesn't kill the mafia boss because he sells drugs, kidnaps, rapes and tortures the innocent and is overall evil, he kills the mafia boss because he refused to give his son who killed his dog when all he wanted was to chill, he didn't want to go on a murder spree but he ultimately did because someone did something bad TO HIM, not because someone did something bad to anyone else.
@@Eri587 that's not always correct. An anti hero does not fight for the greater good. A vilain harms the innocent, an anti hero doesn't. The villain finds solace in harming the innocent but an anti hero doesn't.
@@Eri587that’s an anti villain, John wick is an anti hero
@@Eri587 John actually spared the mafia boss after the mafia boss *did* give up his son.
He just then kills the mafia boss after the mafia boss tortures and murders his friend.
I think it is fair to say he is a villain. Protagonist and Villain are not mutually exclusive terms so he very well can be both
To give you an idea of how much work and effort Keanu Reeves put into training, back before John Wick: Chapter 2 came out there was like a couple minutes long video of Keanu training at Taran Tactical's shooting range. And watching him do 3-gun challenge runs and doing them as fast and as accurately as he was, I realized: Keanu Reeves is so good at this that he could literally stop acting and have a career in competitive shooting. There's... virtually no other actors (that weren't already competition shooters) that you could say that of.
Jerry Lee Lewis was legitimately one of the fastest quickdraw artists in the world.
8:55 And the truly brilliant part of this exchange is they're speaking to each other in code. John is asking what to expect inside, Francis answers.
Hopped into the comments to mention this exact thing. Fantastic detail.
Didn’t even know this until much later!
@@gundamzaku214 I. caught a clip of an interview with the actor that played Francis. When he talks about losing weight, he's telling John how many guards are inside. Something like that.
@@sketchseven if I remember correctly when John asks Francis how much weight he’s lost, Francis answers “26 kilograms”, indicating 26 guards are inside
I think the subtitles changed the measurements to pounds instead of kilograms so the code’s lost unless you know Russian or can convert lbs to kg on the fly
@@swordsmancs you’re exactly right I think
baba yaga as a nickname for john wick is probably the best misunderstanding of russian folklore in the history of cinema
As someone familiar with russian folklore, i always thought he has that nickname because Baba Yaga is sort of gatekeeper on the edge of mortal world. She's strongly associated with death, testing the worthiness of heroes and with transformation. She's not just the random old witch. So i believe that nickname is uncanny but fitting after all.
@@littlePixelHadaSong I mean, I know, but she is still an old witch, it's funny to me not as someone who is particularly familiar with russian folklore, it's funny to me as a russian
@@Gamez4eveR Поняла! я могу понять почему старая карга на болоте выглядит смешно в контексте франшизы про ассасинов, но сказки на самом деле такая лютая символическая хтонь, что детали иногда меркнут на этом фоне х)
There is no grandpa witch that is terrifying or fits the idea. But I remember an old story of her transformation to other sexes to get revenge
the first time i saw this i immediately felt the awe of pressence when the cops showed up. not for wick's ability to kill, but because he has *power* over everyone else in the film. you know nothing of his past yet and it still tells you EVERYTHING. i just remember chuckling because i was so excited to see everyone's reactions to him. yeah, that's right, its john wick. AHHHH!
I like that it was always subtle, scary and treated like his power is norm, when the boss is explaining to his son who Wick is, it didn't do crazy flashbacks, it was spooky and subtle and left us to imagine, when the cops showed up, they weren't scared or panicking, it's like they knew that yes, he's extremely dangerous, but he's also doing things within restrictions of his job, but within all these interactions, Keanu is known for being kind so it kinda falls on John too where even tho he's extremely feared, there is no need to be afraid if you're not his targets, so characters were often checking if he's good and then immediately giving him his space, he also has a lot of people's respect too
Something about John Wick 1 are the subtle lines hinting John is the kind of man you never want to cross. Even if you have a lot of power.
People over-rate Viggo’s exposition about John being the “one you send to kill the boogie man”. But Aurelio’s “the owner, did you kill em?” and “How do you know what Viggo does and doesn’t like? ‘Tell you somethin, he’s gonna understand” are gems.
It subtly explains how Viggo would agree with the gravity of the situation- punching Yosief himself later. And that if you hit John, you better make sure he never gets up again.
Ummm but actually John Wick killed 77 people on screen in the first movie. You gotta disclose his kill count correctly or he may visit you with a pencil in hand, and he won't be writting 😂😂😂
he'll be signing your death warrant instead🤣
@@DOOMguy117. Thats not how that works but ok.
@@DOOMguy117. You'll love the video on UA-cam that counts up all the crimes he committed and how many years he would get if this were real life
@@realmdarkness I actually saw that one it would be completely accurate if #1 it was justified and 2 if the cops didn’t fear him
wdym? since when were the standards of genocide so low@@DOOMguy117.
Keanu hands down made that movie. dude spent THOUSANDS of hours learning the guns and training to fight.
that's just craftsmanship above perfection at this point
2:20 It's probably just a cool coincidence, but in Dante's Inferno, 7th layer of hell is preserved for those who committed violent acts such as murder. If the afterlife and hell exists, John will be stuck there for eternity.
Heaven and hell do indeed exist. Only through faith in Jesus is Heaven possible
1:01 The whiplash with the fart sound and then him burying Daisy got me thinking hard
2:21 7 is also the amount of rounds that can be held in a 1911 magazine. The same gun John uses at the end of the second movie.
Not to be "that guy"... but it's not exactly a 1911. It's a new design of one called a 2011 designed for competition shooting. It's a double stack 9 instead of single stacked magazine 45. They have a capacity of 17. Sorry for the firearm autism rant
@@Oliver0200 i know he mains a 2011 in one of the movies. But like i said, he uses a 1911 at the end of the second movie, not a 2011.
@@Oliver0200The Pit Viper shows up in Chapter 4. And, where do you find mags with that little capacity for 2011's?
Something that is really cool to see when rewatching the first movie is the colored lighting for the club.
When the light on Wick is blue, he is in control and the enemy in the light is killed.
When Wick goes i to red light, the enemy is in control and Wick either gets injured or gets into a fight with the enemy in control.
When the light is purple, neither Wick nor the enemy have the advantage and go through trading blows.
Super cool detail i love
4:45
"Good evening John 😐"
"Good evening Jimmy"
Dead body in the corner:
"Good night John 😀"
"Good night Jimmy"
My favorite part of these movies is that Keanu Reeves is effectively John Wick now… like all those skills, are not for show they are genuine, just really adds more a greater respect and to all the characters he fights, cuz you KNOW they spend months and months training.
I doubt he really has the skill to make the mob nicely line up to be killed one after another. Still pretty awesome skills that he does have though.
_"Yeah..."_
Also, something interesting with the conversation with Francis outside the Red Circle, his comment on how much weight he lost is actually Francis telling him how many guards are inside
“He the one you send to kill the boogeyman!” Is the greatest line in movie in history. Thank you Theo for killing his dog.
this is probably the only movie ive enjoyed with a dog getting murdered in it
😭😭
John is an outstanding character for sure... but i also loved the character of Winston. His cold nature, the unbreakable calmness and the authority he commands are insane. And Ian really transported this perfectly.
One more thing that makes John unstoppable and terrifying.
He's Keanu Reeves.
The stair roll was the moment of all time in John Wick
that was the saddest part of the John Wick Series. In the first movie he was truly terrifying, but after that he lost this aura of a real reaper, someone who instills fear in even the most harden criminals. They were good movies and i watched them all and i enjoyed them, its was just a bit sad to see him become just a real good hitman and not the "Baba Jaga" he was in the first movie.
I liked it personally. He did start off as the vengeance driven reaper you mentioned, but was futher humanized as the movies went on. We saw his friends like Caine, his connections like the Ruska Roma and Winston. Imo, he didnt stop being the "Baba Yaga", we just got introduced to the world the Baba Yaga walks around on, making him feel "smaller" in a way since we got introduced to people with the same or even greater intimidation factor as him (Koji, Caine, D'Antonio, more High Table people like the Harbinger, and of course Marquis). I loved that part because the movie gave them this high ass pedestal yet made you feel that yeah, John can take these guys on. The movies balanced out the intimidation due to the unknown with the world building and depth to Wick's motives
Related to what you are saying: in the first movie, it seemed like the more experienced the bad guy, the more terrified of John he was. In subsequent movies you never really see people crapping their pants because John is coming for them. You just see them thinking they can take him and then being wrong. I just wish we had seen more people saying "OK, I will fight him. I'm definitely gonna die now."
@@TheBenjdudei wanted to see that aswell. But you have to realize that the Baba Yaga that people talk about when John was in his prime was the unstoppable and untouchable assassin they heard stories about.
But what they see here and now is a reaper that bleeds plus the people thinks that they can take him with numbers on there side. It emboldened them.
@ReinZero on the same note, the first movie was vengamce based, as was mentioned. However, the latter three movies moved beyond that as he tried to back out again. He doesn't want to do this anymore, he simply does because he has to.
In his prime, John has the mission at hand to fuel him, that's what we saw in the first movie. Now, he's tired and just surviving. He's still the worst foe to cross, but that's the problem. The underword is now seeing John Wick as washed up has been, until its too late. There were many people who still gave John the respect he deserved and earned. But others only see a story, a legend turned myth.
It's why the high table failed. They should know not to mess with an older man in a young man's game.
another thing to note is that, in-story, the 4 movies took place in less than a year - he got more and more exhausted and injuried with almost no respite until the end
Another cool detail moment that someone else in the comments on another John wick video explained is that the conversation that wick and the bouncer at 8:51 had actually contained intel and wasn’t just “ey wassup bro move”
Apparently the “you’ve lost weight” is code language In Russian or something for how many guards are inside, and the bouncer replies with over 60 lbs which converted to kg is about 28kg aka 28 guards which means the guard (at gun point and being threatened) told John how many guards there are inside. If I find the original commentor I’ll edit this one and explain a little better because I forgot like half of the stuff😅
Interesting thing, John Wick the most powerful and destructive person in his world. Usually a protag is the underdog, often at the mercy and afraid of of the might the antag(s). It is switch around in John Wick films, the antags are afraid of the might of John Wick. This is one of the many reasons why John Wick is so interesting. I really cant think any other media that does something like that but only one show, a recent acclaimed anime called Frieren: Beyond Journeys End. Basically, follows the story of a seemingly aloof elf girl coming back after defeating the demon lord and she struggles with the idea of her longevity leaving her ageless while watching her friends and comrades dying of old age. We later come to learn that she is one of the most powerful beings in her world and the demons, ruthless human mass murderers, are deeply afraid of her and call her Frieren the Slayer. She is the John Wick of her world, very talented and a force of nature to her enemies. Frieren and Wick are both terrifying protagonists.
"I once saw him kill a tall man in a library, with a book...
...
... *A FOOOOKIN' BOOK!"* 📙
John Wick 2, when "serving the marker" for santino, i could swear it felt like payday 2 gearing up. From buying intel, to weapons, to armour.
the fact that he’s in payday 2 makes this even better
For me there's only one sceene that hit's harder than that "Oh".
"That f*cking nobody, is John Wick". It hit like a train.
I really liked John Wick, but I'll always remember seeing the 4th installment at the Paris Grand Rex. When John speaks with the continental owner here, he says something like "I'll kill them all" in a very strange delivery and the whole room burst laughing.
I think it's just how driven he is and showed how even with stupid odds he only Thinks of killing his way out, no backing down what so ever
I agree it was a bit off, it repeated the 'all' part and sounded like an angrily read poem
It's the slippage of the facade. The moment when John stops being calm and gives into the rage. The other time that voice comes about is when John's saying "I'm thinking I'm back! You can hand your son over, or DIE SCREAMING ALONGSIDE HIM!!!"
@@vladyvhv9579 It's just shitty acting, man. No need to be so deep over it. Christ, people give Keanu several lightyears of concession when it comes to this part of his career, or lack thereof, just 'cuz he's Keanu! Love the man like a brother, and love his movies, but he's a garbage actor that'd be starring in B-list movies with those chops.
He brings the mettle in boiling and raging when it comes to his physicality of action at least! Now that no one can compare to in the industry at present, at least when it comes to the way the John Wick movies represent it/him and his persona.
John Wick raised the bar for action movies not only with the realistic fights but the violence of it all. The flow of the fights, the unique finishers from time to time. I can’t say enough good about the films.
Yes, the rolling all the way down the stairs was kinda goofy. There was an underlying point to it, though. It was symbolic as well. He had made it "out" of the life and been thrown/fell back into it. He was once again trying to climb out but was losing the fight and himself. Then a friend told him he had to get up and get to the top, again. So he did. This led to him getting out again.
The scene between John and Francis before the Red Circle was great. It didn't only elevated John's status even further, it also made me want to know more about what happened in the past between both of them. They seem to have a mutual respect for each other.
What I loved about John was how he didn’t drag Theo’s death out. One shot and that was it, he was walking away. Because ultimately Theo was nothing to him, but that pup meant the world.
“The bodies he buried that day…laid a foundation of what we are now.”
Is one of the most badass lines I’ve heard in a movie
*"You know what?!...Yeah! I'm thinking I'm back!"*
First minute in and you HOOKED me with the Dragon line. YEAH!
This movie has an amazing attention to detail. There's a color code to it, John's aqua blue, Viggo's red and the Continental's green. The Red Circle scene portrays this beatifully; when John's dominating the scene is his color, when Viggo's men are dominating is red and when is both it turns purple. Absolute cinema.
I love how John Wick turned it around. Most movies would've had him beat up everybody in the first scene and save the dog. Then villains would've tried to kill him out of spite and ego like the old Arnold movies. Instead they beat John’s ass then come after him again out of pure fear and trying to finish him while he's weak.
man every time i see a compilation or explanation about john wick i always end up rewatching the movie again. by this time, maybe its already the 50+ time i watch the first john wick.
absolute masterpiece!
Time to wait 1 month for 10 minutes of quality
I'm trying man but these videos take time + I got other stuff going on in my life and I don't wanna rush a vid
@@FilmJunk1e if you keep quality up, we will wait a year
Edit: year thing is a joke
John Wick puts the ''pro'' in ''protagonist''
I don't usually like action movies. HOWEVER, my husband told me that it's about avenging a puppy, and I was like: "They killed his puppy? DEAAAAAATTTTHHH!" I cheered during every shot John Wick took because touching a man's dog is like touching the USA's boats. You. Just. Do. Not. Do. It.
I’ve loved the franchise since I first watched. But I never realized scenes like the beginning in chapter 1 are a sign of symbolism. Nice work on explaining the symbolism
i've seen alot of John Wick videos, and this might be the best
true facts my friend!
"It's not about what you did... It's about who you did it to"
It’s crazy how Wick is far from the typical hero type yet you’ll root for him because of how good the story telling is.
I wish i could watch it again for the first time. That character expo scene from Viggo had me on the edge of my seat
“Hey John”
“Hey jimmy”
"noise complaint?"
"noise complaint."
One thing I really loved about the first John Wick is how grounded and realistic it was. Like you mentioned, the movie used real world gunfighting tactics for the shootout scenes. All that went out the window as the series progressed though, and each movie just had another layer of nonsense to the criminal underground(seriously, is everyone in NYC an assassin?) and the gun fights with the completely impenetrable bulletproof clothing were just plain silly.
I dont know if you planned on making me want to rewatch John Wick, again by making this video but... you succeeded lol
this movie seriously changed something in my brain chemistry. i was on an intense Keanu kick for like a year.
6:55 yep and that’s why the John Wick franchise exceeds the Bourne franchise.
at first a terrifying villain is introduced and that villain introduces the terror of JOHN WICK
I'm one of those jaded oldies who generally hate modern movies/music and pop culture, once I watched the first one I was born again, I had to watch the rest.
The entire babayaga thing for john is perfect
A term usually so innocent, only used for little kids
Now used to define a terrifying beast, a man who lost whatever reason he had to live, and have become an absolute terror not for kids, but for very dangerous people.
Holy shit man. This video was awesome. Honestly your videos seem so fresh compared to the usual video essay style. You are a hidden gem!
Keanu is probably able to qualify as a special forces operator after all the training he had for the movies.
0:34 Story of A WHAT! (Yakuza reference).
Ten years in the relationship did not, in fact, make John a f*ckin' pussy.
Another thing that idk if it was missed or intentionally skipped over: I love Keanu, I think hes great and will watch things just bc hes in them. And I think he deserves praise and applause, but hes not really award winning. I think that is also what helped this movie out a ton. They leaned into his style/ cast the perfect person for this style of movie. And with limited "acting" and a lot of hard work and choreography and actual effort, made something so much better than if they decided to throw in an audience pulling action star Denzel, Cruise, Statham, etc.
I know so many people talk about how the fog is so important but damn I never realized how much they hammer home that the pup was truly helping John heal slowly.
This movie is a masterpiece
"Afraid so Francis. Why don't you take the night off.."
"Thank you sir"
Immediately leaves. Hahahahahahaha. Sometimes it's the little things
I half forgot how awesomely well was this movie executed
"this is a story of a dragon, and you just got in its way"
Oooo tae, damn that opening is epic
There is no character I have ever been as scared of and hopeful for as John Wick.
If you think about it. This whole franchise is a horror movie from the point of view of the monster. Vigo left him tied in a chair . Got in his car and rounded the corner just to come face with john again. Thats horror.
Action heroes are scary because they're larger than life. Their stories bend around them. They command authority with each step.
John Wick is terrifying because he is just a very skilled and talented man who has had enough.
8:53 the smartest person in all of the John Wick franchise
Kevin Nash!
Are we just going to ignore the way they made the video look like John Wick killed his own dog for shitting in his yard?😂
"A man with nothing to lose is a man to fear"
7 Deadly sins...
7 Pillars of wisdom...
Nah the cut from John Wick's dog from taking a dump to just being dead killed me, im dying pls help
In School we were taught that stories have parts, the setting, the conflict, the rising action, the climax, the falling action and the ending. In John Wick One it was all Rising Action until the ending. The Setting was a Rising Action, the intro was tense and ominous, almost the entire movie was a rising action until the climax at the end. When I watched that movie, I told everyone, they can't remake that, it was a perfect ramp. And then we have John Wick 2 where the entire movie was a setup, the climax didn't even drop. I realized this when the pack of people stopped moving around John... I was like.. "Oh shit, it's ONLY JUST BEGINNING."
bro your shit is awsome! please keep putting these videos out this is a literal gold mine for good content!
the casual greeting between john wick and the cop cracks me up
This video gave me another perspective of a character i already loved for years, this is one of the best videos i saw. Amazing work man congrats!!
If the villains had just bashed John and stole his car, everyone probably would have been like "whoa guy, it was just a car. Calm down, and think this about your actions". But the MOMENT they beat the dog to death? EVERYONE collectively went "aw H*LL no, f*ckin kill'em, john!"
The stair fall is allegedly so they could do the longest possible stair fall that could ever exist. No other move can ever top it, now they can only ever match John Wick. At least, until someone builds a bigger stairway in the world somewhere
"Why don't you take the night off?"
Man was instantly relieved and left
Leaving an 🌟 to this gigachad. Amazing analysis!
I absolutely love that Reeves is the one that came up with the whip of the gun handle to flick out the mag faster. Such a finesse filled move... It was smooth AF.
I like how the first John Wick movie opens. You see him wounded, not knowing what he did or how he got there. It makes you want to know how he got there and his story.
I really like how John Wick isn't like superhuman, he is essentially like going through a Souls game: cautiously and taking enemies out individually. He is also not known as like evasive ninja where nobody can land a hit, nor an invincible juggernaut, but someone with "sheer fucking will" to make anything happen.
He isn't invincible, it is his will that made him look like The Ancient Demon from Fear and Hunger from the POV of the antagonist.
John wick : "Dont"
Cool lady : "He shot my dog"
John wick : "I get it"
Yeah we do John, we do 😅
i think the bulletproof suite took away the sense of danger that the first movie had. he was basically invincible and there was less of a sense of risk to me.
Me and my boyfriend always joke about their bulletproof suits being made with a middle layer of cornstarch
"John is the dragon" and unfortunately for everyone that stands in his way there doesn't exist a knight with shiny enough armor no sharp enough sword to face that dragon
0:36 Now I want a story of an actual dragon attacking those in its way.
Skyrim
@Vergil_Spardas_Strongest_Son XD
That works I guess, but I'd like a full dragon too.
John Wick character is build on a basis that its not the man who is cruel and violent that should be feared. Its the one that used to be like that and can be like that, but chooses not to. The whole 1st and 2nd movie are basically movies made out of a short poem/quote "Demons run when a good man goes to war". If anyone seen ie. a family member or a friend that usually has this demeanor of being very kind, loving etc, being pushed to violence, they know.
People like that can be terrifying when pushed over the edge. Its not that they "snap". They will calmly walk close and pummel the oponent into the ground. Sometimes not even changing their expression. There wont be hate, there wont be anger. Opponent is just an obstacle, a threat, a problem to solve.
Thats why John Wick of first 2 movies is scary. In every other movie or universe, he would be the antagonist, or at least that one very efficient killer that will come for you no matter what, and cant be persuaded or reasoned with. Not because he is insane or anything. He simply... IS. There is a target and a way to eliminate it, nothing else matters.