A few things that I have learned from action movies in recent years: don’t take Liam Neeson’s daughter, don’t pick on Jason Statham’s kids, and, apparently, don’t kill Keanu Reeves’ dog. That last discovery comes to us courtesy of the trailer for John Wick, an action movie coming out at the end of October that has received next to no publicity until right now.
John Wick stars Reeves as the titular character, a retired hitman who is pursued by an old friend contracted by a crime boss to kill him. This apparently involves killing off Wick’s dog, the last gift his wife gave to him. Predictably, Wick is not pleased about the loss of the puppy (it’s a cute dog) and sets out to take everyone down with as many guns and one-liners as possible.
Watching the trailer for this film is perplexing. The cast is excellent, including the likes of John Leguizamo, Willem Dafoe, Ian McShane, and Bridget Moynahan, as well as Reeves himself. But the plot looks incredibly standard, with the action and dialogue of the strictly cliched variety. It’s your average “there’s this one guy you shouldn’t make mad” narrative, only this time with Reeves instead of Neeson or Nicolas Cage. Still, these kinds of films can be fun if done properly. Limited though he might be, I want Keanu Reeves to have another hit on his hands someday. Maybe John Wick will provide just that, or at least a nice, throwaway bit of entertainment.
John Wick was directed by David Leitch, the second-unit director on In Time, The Mechanic, and Conan the Barbarian, from a script by Derek Kolstad (The Package). You can check out the latest trailer below, along with some images and a poster for the film.
John Wick will hit theaters on October 24.
