Movie Analysis Essay on John Wick

Introduction

John Wick is an American action, crime, and thriller movie franchise written by Derek Kolstad, directed by Chad Stahelski, and distributed by Summit Entertainment. The franchise stars Keanu Reeves as John Wick - a former renowned expert assassin, who comes out of retirement to seek vengeance for his killed dog and a stolen car, after the death of his wife. So far, three movies have been released: John Wick (2014), John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), and John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019); they are all Rated R for brief drug use, language, and violence.

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The Character

Johnathan "John" Wick is a male ex-assassin whose birth name is Jardani Jovanovich; his aliases are The Legendary Hitman, Baba Yaga, The Boogeyman, The Reaper, and The Devil. John Wick worked for Tarasov Mob until he retired to spend time with his wife, Helen Wick; unfortunately, she later died of cancer.

Judging from his tattoos, John once served in the US Marine Corps; after leaving the military, he joined the Continental - a hotel exclusive to criminals - as a hitman. Gradually, John became one of the most feared and highly respected assassins at the Continental due to his efficiency in terminating targets. Later, John associated himself with Viggo Tarasov, an assassin from the Russian mobster. John met Helen and deeply fell in love with her; he wanted to leave the league of assassins to be with her. However, after asking Viggo for permission to retire, John was given an impossible assignment; to kill all of Viggo's enemies, to be released. John completed the task in a single night, after getting help from Santino D'Antonio for weapons and human resources; in return, they made a blood oath.

John Wick (2014)

After the death of his wife, John (Keanu Reeves) lives with the final gift his wife sent to him to help find the meaning of life, a dog named Daisy. John is forced to come out of retirement after Iosef Tarasov, a Russian mobster steals his 1969 Mustang and kills Daisy. Aware of John's lethal assassination skills, Viggo sends several hitmen to murder him; however, John retaliates, killing them all.

Derek Kolstad wrote John Wick (2014); it was directed by Chad Stahelski, and David Leitch; it was released on October 24th, 2014. According to IMDb, the movie scored an average rating of 7.4/10. Its budgeted cost was $20,000,000; nevertheless, the movie made $14,150,000 on the release day in the US, $43,037,835, 21 in the USA by February 2015, and a cumulative worldwide gross of $130,888,901 (IMDb).

John Wick: Chapter 2

John recovers his Mustang from Abram Tarasov but calls a truce with him instead of taking his life. Wanting peace, John (Keanu Reeves) returns to his retirements and gets a new dog and a house. Later, Santino D'Antonio visits him at his house requesting a favor, to honor their blood oath. However, he refuses to keep his end of the bargain, making Santino destroy his house with a grenade launcher. After visiting the Continental Hotel, the owner, Winston, advises John to honor his debt, else he would be killed. Santino asks John to kill his sister Gianna D'Antonio; John travels to Rome and completes the task but vows to kill Santino. Santino tries to make peace, but John ignores his attempts, making him place a $7,000,000 bounty on him. Several assassins try to kill John, but instead, he kills them. John kills Santino at the Continental, but the High Table doubles the bounty on his head.

The second chapter had a higher budget than the previous movie in the sequel, and it made more money both in the US and internationally. According to IMDb, the movie has an average rating of 7.5/10. Its estimated budget cost was $40,000,000; it made $30,436,123 in the US by the release date, $92,029,184 by April 27th, 2017, and a cumulative worldwide gross of $158,216,655 by March 20th, 2017 (IMDb).

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

With a $14 million bounty on him placed by the High Table for killing a member of the shadowy international assassin's guild, John (Keanu Reeves) tries to saves his life from assassins from different nations in the world.

The third chapter was more successful than its predecessors; its budget was larger, but so were the profits made. Moreover, according to IMDb, the movie has an average rating of 7.9/10. The estimated budget was $55,000,000; by its release date, it made $56,818,067, and $169,687,711 by July 28th, 2019 (IMDb). By July 21st, 2019, the movie had a cumulative worldwide gross of $318,261,620 (IMDb).

Conclusion

The John Wick franchise gradually gained popularity; its plot continually developed, and every movie improved in ratings; in the order of their release, the movies scored 7.4, 7.5, and 7.9 on a scale of ten. Also, more funds were used for the development of each movie, than its predecessor in the sequel; consequently, each generated higher revenue.

Works Cited

IMDb. "John Wick (2014)." IMDb, 23 Oct. 2014, www.imdb.com/title/tt2911666/.

IMDb. "John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)." IMDb, 8 Feb. 2017, www.imdb.com/title/tt4425200/

IMDb. "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)." IMDb, 15 May 2019, www.imdb.com/title/tt6146586/.