John Wick (2014)
Released: 24 Oct 2014
Summary:
John Wick, who just lost his wife Helen to an undisclosed illness, receives a gift from her posthumously in the form of a puppy named Daisy, along with a letter from her saying she arranged for him to have Daisy to help him cope with her demise. Initially indifferent to Daisy, he eventually connects to the puppy as they spend the day driving around in his vintage '69 Mustang. He encounters a trio of Russian gang members at a gas station and their leader Iosef insists on buying his car, but John refuses to sell and makes a snide remark at Iosef before leaving. The three follow John to his home, break in at night, and attack John, who watches defenselessly as they kill Daisy before stealing his car. The following day, Iosef attempts to have the car modified by Aurelio, the owner of a chop shop who refuses to take it and hits Iosef when realizing who it belonged to and what Iosef did to steal it. John subsequently visits Aurelio, who tells him Iosef is the son of Viggo Tarasov, head of the Russian crime syndicate in New York and John's former employer, before lending him another car. Aurelio, who works with Viggo, is forced to explain what happened to Viggo, who berates Iosef and explains who John Wick is: his best assassin, nicknamed Baba Yaga (or "the Boogeyman"), who retired after falling in love with a woman, had helped Viggo gain control of his syndicate by single-handedly eliminating all competition, a task he considered "impossible".
Viggo, wanting to protect his son, attempts to talk John out of seeking retribution, to which John abruptly disregards, prompting Viggo to send a hit squad to John's house to execute him, only for John to dispatch swiftly. Viggo then puts a $2 million bounty on John and first gives the offer to Marcus, a veteran assassin and John's mentor, who begrudgingly accepts. John subsequently seeks refuge at the Continental, a hotel that exclusively caters to assassins, with the rule that no business can be conducted on premises. When Viggo learns of this, he doubles the bounty. John learns from Winston, the owner of the Continental, that Viggo has Iosef protected at his night club the Red Circle. John goes to the club and kills Iosef's friend Victor before dispatching most of the security staff, but Iosef escapes after John is subdued by Viggo's henchman Kirill. John escapes back to the Continental to treat his wounds before being attacked by Ms. Perkins, an assassin and former acquaintance of John's who had taken the contract to kill him. John eventually subdues Perkins and forces her to reveal the location of Viggo's cash stash before leaving her with a neighbor and friend Harry to await her punishment for breaking the hotel rules. Perkins eventually breaks free and kills Harry.
John goes to a church, which is a front for the cash stash, eliminates all the guards, and burns Viggo's money, as well as various intelligence against the police and government officials that Viggo uses as leverage over the city. When Viggo arrives at the church, John ambushes them, eliminating more henchmen before being subdued by Kirill, who slams into John with an SUV. John is tied up and Viggo taunts him for causing trouble over a dog and thinking he could leave his old life behind. He leaves John to be tortured and killed by Kirill and another henchman, but Marcus, having chosen to protect John, kills the other henchman, allowing John to break free and kill Kirill. John then intercepts Viggo's car and forces him to reveal Iosef's location and pull the bounty, which Viggo begrudgingly does. John goes to the safe house where Iosef is hiding and kills all of the guards before killing a remorseless Iosef.
Perkins sees that John and Marcus have been in contact and tells Viggo, who has Marcus tortured and killed in his home over his betrayal. Viggo contacts John about Marcus's death, luring John to his home where Perkins is waiting to ambush him. Before she can, she gets called to a secret meeting with Winston, who revokes her membership to the Continental for breaking the rules and has her executed. Winston calls John to inform him of a helicopter coming to the harbor to transport Viggo away. John races to the harbor and executes Viggo's remaining henchmen before getting into a fistfight with Viggo on the dock. Viggo pulls out a knife on John and as they fight, stabs John in his already wounded abdomen. John is wounded, but is able to gain the upper hand by taking Viggo's knife and stabbing him in the side of the neck. Viggo, mortally wounded, slumps over and dies, and John, wounded, but still able-bodied, stops to re-watch a video of him and his wife on his phone. After gaining strength, John ends up at a veterinary hospital to treat his wound before taking a pit-bull out from one of the cages for a walk on the boardwalk, where he had his last date with Helen.
Cast:
Keanu Reeves as John Wick
An ex-hitman who returns to the underworld he fought so hard to leave behind. On accepting the role of Wick, Reeves explained, "Basil and Peter Lawson of Thunder Road brought the script to me with the idea that I would be a part of such a great collaboration. We all agreed on the potential of the project. I love the role, but you want the whole story, the whole ensemble to come to life."On the character of John Wick, Reeves stated, "When we first see him, he’s a guy grieving for his lost wife. But it turns out he has lived lives in two worlds: one in which he’s a happily married man and one in which he’s an assassin. He has tried to bury his past, but without his wife, he is lost." Reeves also compared Wick's story to " a kind of Old Testament revenge story" adding that, "When someone takes the things he cherishes, violence erupts and John can’t temper it." In the original script, the character of John Wick was written with "a man in his mid-sixties" to play the role, given the title character’s fabled reputation, ergo, the filmmakers had initially imagined an older actor. However, head of Thunder Road Pictures Basil Iwanyk decided against this, stating, "Instead, we decided to look for someone who is not literally older, but who has a seasoned history in the film world." Both Stahelski and Leitch were adamant that Reeves wouldn't learn any forms of martial arts to which he'd learnt before; for the role, Reeves spent four months learning Judo, Japanese ju-jitsu, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu from "some of the toughest guys" both Stahelski and Leitch have encountered, which included their "LA SWAT and Navy Seal friends". due to willingly wishing to undergo intense training regiments. Of Reeves' training, Stahelski spoke of developing a new style of close-quarter combat due to the need and wish of using and utilising practical grappling martial art forms with guns. The name John Wick is a name Kolstad had used as a reference to his grandfather, the founder of Wick Building Systems. Wick stated, "I was tickled by Derek using my name for a movie, and the hit man character was frosting on the cake." The character was written with Paul Newman in mind.
Michael Nyqvist as Viggo Tarasov
The head of the Tarasov family and and an enterprising businessman with questionable roots. On taking the role of Viggo, Nyqvist mentioned, "I found the relationship between John and Viggo to be interesting. Viggo has always liked John because he was brilliant at his job. They have the kind of love and respect you might see between a father and son, but it breaks down when John comes for Iosef." Stahelski stated that the role of Viggo had been decided after a great many meetings due to the importance and complexity of the character and that Nyqvist brought both odd and interesting qualities to the character, also adding that "[Nyqvist's] quirkiness is a good match for Keanu’s stoicism." The filmmakers were were most determined to attempt bypass the stereotypical Russian mobster characterisation. Iwanyk stated that Viggo needed to be played by someone who would be "believable as this ultra-bad guy, but was still very, very charming." adding that, " [Michael brought the character a kind of humanity." For the role of Viggo, Nyqvist was given a style of fighting based on the Russian martial art of Sambo to which he started training in Stockholm, Sweden at the request of Stahelski and Leitch, as he stated, "I did this Russian style of jiu-jitsu called Sambo a lot. I did Brazilian jiu-jitsu and boxing a lot. [...] to get closer to the character. [...] the guys I worked with, back home in Stockholm, were Russians, so [I] got closer to them. It was a little bit like [method acting]." Of Viggo's background, Kolstad revealed, "A street brawler raised in the slums of Kiev, Viggo has worked his way up the underworld food chain. Now, he is in the process of transitioning to respectability."Director Stahelski stated of Nyqvist, "[Michael], he is not your stereotypical Russian bad guy. He is a quirky guy, how he gives his reads." With David Leitch stating, "We had great performances and input from Michael Nyqvist who played it straight and he was excellent. He was a quirky villain. And we took time with the script and found those humorous moments and made sure we paced them correctly with the ultra-violence."
Alfie Allen as Iosef Tarasov
The arrogant, entitled and foolish son of Viggo Tarasov. Allen found it "invigorating" to play a Russian villain and shoot outside of Game of Thrones's Belfast set, and on accepting the role of Iosef, he was attracted by the idea of speaking with a different accent, i.e. the New York accent, as well as citing both Stahelski and Leitch's involvement as an incentive for drawing him to the piece. While in New York, Allen visited Russian public baths to develop and hone the Russian accent which he developed for the film. And speaking in terms of inspiriations drawn on for Iosef, Allen stated, "I guess, I found the relationship between [my character] and his father, and there was a backstory about the mother that I found quite interesting [...] And too added that the challenges he faces involved learning the Russian language to which he remarked, "learning the Russian was pretty tough". On the character of Iosef, Kolstad described him as, "a dinner-theater version of his father. Iosef is a rich kid who imagines himself a tough guy; but without his father’s muscle, he’s a punk. In his mind, he has the scars of battle. But the reality is he's one spoiled kid." Kolstad too spoke of Allen's admiration for his to-be colleagues, which charmed the writer, stating as follows, "When we had the first cast-and-crew dinner, I was talking with Alfie and suddenly he just froze. He just said, 'Oh my god! It's Willem Dafoe.' He's a great actor, but he's also a fan like everybody else." Allen spoke of his fellow actor Reeves with both respect and praise, stating, "He's amazing. He's such a great guy. He's a very giving, generous actor as well and just kind of relaxes you on set. If you're nervous, he just kind of chills you out. You know I didn't know that he was a director before I started this. He's made a documentary about encouraging people to make films. I think that's fantastic." Asked on what he hopes the audience take away from the film, Allen said, "It's kind of a crazy love story in there somewhere. It’s not like any other love story I've seen. I think the theme [...], is that, all men can change. And who is the bad guy in it, really?"
Adrianne Palicki as Ms. Perkins
A distinguished female contract killer in the world of assassins, and a former acquaintance of John. About the character of Ms. Perkins, Palicki said, "Ms. Perkins is what you think the quintessential assassin would be. She’s cold, heartless, conniving, badass and I think that she has fun with what she does. She enjoys it. I think that she’d clearly do it for a dollar. Ultimately in the film she’s doing it for four million, so it's a little different." Originally the character of Perkins was envisioned as a man in original scenario, but the decision was reversed during a brainstorming session and the desire to create "an authentic female action character". Leitch stated, "You believe this woman could come in and give John Wick a run for his money.", so Stahelski, Leitch and Iwanyk changed it and offered the role to Adrianne. Palicki spoke most highly of working with Reeves and the inclusion of stunt work on her part, to which he stated, "Chad wanted to make sure I would be willing to do my own stuff in the huge fight sequence that I have with Keanu—and I was all game." Palicki spent months of training learning Judo and Jujutsu. After the film's release Palicki revealed background information, "I also think we talked about a backstory. It's likely [Ms. Perkins and Wick] had a history as well, before his marriage. She may have a personal vendetta as well as the money. I think there's an enjoyment on multiple levels." On what she hopes for with regard to the fan response, "It's a lot of fun. They're going to want to see what happens next. Most importantly, I hope they’re rooting for John Wick the way that I did when I read the script."
Bridget Moynahan as Helen Wick
The beautiful wife of John Wick. On the character of Helen, Leitch stated, "Helen’s the crux of the movie, so to have an actress like Bridget come on board in such an important role was gratifying. She’s got an elegance that is captivating." Leitch spoke very highly of Bridget's acting talents. When cast in the role of John's wife, she decided not to read the screenplay, believing that the limited amount of information would serve the story well. Moynahan stated, "There was a large portion of the story that I didn’t want to be informed about. I didn’t want or need to know that side of John. Helen brought love and light and joy into his life. Knowing the other side of it would make it a different story for me." Iwanyk shared Moynahan's sentiments, adding, "Helen probably thought John had some skeletons in his closet, but it wasn’t important. All we know as an audience is that the moment he met her, he became a different person. Love changed him."
Dean Winters as Avi
Viggo's right hand, the second in command and has been Viggo's lawyer for many years. On the role of Avi, Stahelski stated, "As the part was written, he was just Viggo’s lawyer. But then Dean came in and made it funny and edgy. The scenes between him and Michael Nyqvist are some of my favorites." Winters spoke most highly of his colleagues on set, stating, "I got to work with Willem Dafoe and Keanu Reeves. We’ve got John Leguizamo, Michael Nyqvist and Bridget Moynahan. I mean, it's a really good cast and I got a front-row seat." Additionally Winters praised Stahelski and Leitch's usage practical sets of reality to action sequences sans the involvement of green screen and special effects, adding, "Their stunt and action experience paid off." Winters too stated, "It was like a front row seat to watching just incredible, incredible filmmaking," adding, "This was just straight up in your face, not computerized, old school stunts. I really felt like I was in the front row of like a master class."
Ian McShane as Winston
The enigmatic owner of the Continential Hotel. About the character of Winston, McShane said, "Winston is mysterious and enigmatic." He took the role due to his curiosity on the possibilities of the character, as well as his fondness for modern noir films. Writer Kolstad stated, "[Winston] doesn’t say a lot, but when he does, the earth moves. If John and Viggo are the gods of New York, Winston is the titan." On the film itself, McShane added, "The writing, the acting and the visuals all have a mythical quality. And every character has an important part to play in a puzzle that comes together gradually."
John Leguizamo as Aurelio
The proud business owner of Aurelio's Garage, a high-end chop shop. About the character Aurelio, Leguizamo stated, "When a Russian mobster’s son shows up with John Wick’s car, I know there's going to be trouble. I'm going to have a problem either with the Russian mobster or with John Wick, but I’m not going to win either way." Leguizamo believed that the costume design of the character created a big boost, and had a great impression on the actor, with him stating, "Mine is pretty slick, and that adds a lot of character. I’m walking through the set and all of a sudden I start feeling a little cocky, like I’m somebody. It all helps."
Willem Dafoe as Marcus
A member of the old guard of assassins who is battle hardened, reliable and amongst the elite. About the character of Marcus, Dafoe said, "Marcus is an assassin on a very high level. It's clear that he and [John] have a history and he's something of a mentor to him. They’re friends, but it's a friendship that was made in a very dark world." Of Marcus' psychology he too added that, "He seems pragmatic; he seems fatalistic, which you would have to be in that line of work. " Writer Kolstad stated, "Marcus is a father figure. But he’s a father in the sense that he’s the king of the pride. When a new lion takes over a pride, he slaughters all the cubs. Marcus is that guy." On taking the role, Dafoe was very impressed with "leanness" of Kolstad's original screenplay, to which he stated, "The story is expressed mostly in action. That seemed to work well with Chad and David’s history." He too praised the "enthusiasm, freshness and eagerness" displayed by both Stahelski and Leitch within the filmmaking process. Dafoe too added that the screenplay and overall project caters to his "particularity that makes them feel special" and the character-driven nature within the setting of New York City wasn't "something that I haven’t really experienced." and additionally the chance of working with Keanu on the piece. On the style of directors Stahelski and Leitch, Dafoe stated, "[...] style is reminiscent of John Woo's signature gun fu combat. The action is a real nice mix of martial arts and gunplay — you have the grace of martial arts, but then the bang of the gun." as well adding, "The choreography isn't the same old, same old, or built around set pieces or a gag. It's really integrated into the story. [Stahelski and Leitch], they aren't just stunt people, they're filmmakers."
David Patrick Kelly as Charlie, the “cleaner”; Randall Duk Kim, playing a doctor with a select clientele; Lance Reddick, Charon, a concierge at The Continental Hotel, who always seems to know what the client needs. Munro M. Bonnell as a Russian Orthodox priest who protects the vault where Viggo stores his valuables. Omer Barnea playing Gregori and Toby Leonard Moore playing Victor, Iosef's friends and bodyguards; Daniel Bernhardt as Kirill, Viggo's henchman; Bridget Regan as Addy; Keith Jardine as Kuzma; Tait Fletcher as Nicholai; Thomas Sadoski as Jimmy; Clarke Peters as Harry; Kevin Nash as Francis, a bouncer at the Red Circle night club; Gameela Wright as a delivery woman; Vladislav Koulikov as Pavel; Pat Squire as an elderly woman; Vladimir Troitsky as a Team Leader; and Scott Tixier as a Violinist.
Box Office:
World Wide:
John Wick earned $14,415,922 across 2,589 locations, which was the second highest opening of that weekend, at an average of $5,465 per theatre compared to the $7 million to $8 million opening most analysts projected the revenge thriller would make. As of December 10, 2014 the film had grossed $42,209,393 in North America and $23,998,207 outside North America for a worldwide total of $66,207,600.
North America:
The film had a wide release in the United States and Canada in selected theatres on October 24. The film earned $5.45 million on its opening day,[188] including an estimated $0.87 million from late night Thursday, which was the second highest opening of that weekend, at an average of $5,465 per theatre.The film grossed $2.5 million from 347 IMAX locations that weekend, which represented 17.7 percent of the film's overall gross for its opening weekend. The audience was 60% male and 77% were older than 25.
Other territories:
Outside North America, the film took $1,377,305 during its international opening weekend.The film's highest-grossing debuts were in France, Australia, Thailand, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates. On its second week, it added $6.7 million from 33 territories. The film went number one in France ($1.2M) from 300 screens, number three in Australia ($961,000) from 177 screens, and number ten in the Middle East ($1M) from a total of 80 screens. The next major market for John Wick is Brazil on November 27.
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