As far as revenge movies go, I have to say that John Wick is really high on my list. I like that it has a cool backstory for the protagonist and this entire world of assassins fleshed out with their unique customs and rules. I was really ecstatic when I heard a second movie is on the way.

One of the intriguing things on this movie is how the fight scenes, or gun battles, are choreographed. If you’re tired of the usual trope where the hero keeps shooting at the bad guys without seemingly running out of bullets, then I assure you that John Wick is a refreshing change of pace. He combines shooting with up-close fighting, which I later learned was Judo, whenever he has to reload for bullets. There’s this particular scene where he’s engaged in a shootout with a lot of badguys. During the gun battle he shoots this random flunkie on the shoulder before hitting him on the throat with a gun. On other action flicks that would have been enough but Wick tries to finish him off with a bullet to the head. He learns that he’s out of bullets so he quickly pulls a clip from his side and reloads in front of the dazed flunkie before finishing him. It’s a really small thing, but it adds realism to the whole scene. He could have hit the flunkie on the head and move on but no, he has to finish the job and make sure he’s dead.

And speaking of headshots, there’s a lot of those in the movie. I’m annoyed at the movies where a single bullet in the body means they’re dead. Not so in the John Wick universe! He’s a professional and anything worth shooting is worth shooting in the head to make sure they’re down!