Who the Hell is John Wick?: Leitch & Stahelski’s Revenge Flick Energetically Entertaining

Against the general mediocre trend of stuntmen turned directors, Chad Stahelski’s unassumingly titled John Wick is a surprisingly adept action thriller, resurrecting Keanu Reeves for his most enjoyable screen persona in years. Though its premise is pure pulpy amalgamation of basic revenge tropes forcing a criminal mastermind’s return to his lethal expertise (something we’ve seen a variety of grizzled visages return to this year alone, including Pierce Brosnan and Kevin Costner), the Stahelski strikes the kind of entertaining tone that many of these mind numbingly violent films are often unable to capture. Fast, fun, and with care taken on elements outside of the requisite action sequences, it’s a film that succeeds in generally conquering the fatigue of its own familiarity.

A retired and happily married hit man, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) loses...