Perhaps the pinnacle of Reeves’ fame came with 1999’s The Matrix, a sci-fi blockbuster that had a huge influence on popular culture. Reeves’ career has had its highs and lows and he has faced criticism over his acting ability (most recently and bizarrely Matthew Perry’s autobiography) but has always been a popular actor.

Yeah…I’m Thinking I’m Back – John Wick

Reeves consistently worked through the 2000s but it was clear he wasn’t the box office draw that he once was; that all changed with John Wick. This was a film with an anonymous title, a first-time director Chad Stahelski primarily known as a stunt coordinator and whatever star power Keanu Reeves had. The film was a huge success. Reeves played hitman-extraordinaire John Wick, who retired but was provoked into work again by Russian mobsters killing his pet dog. In terms of action and fighting it would rank as one of the greatest action films of all time, with spectacularly choreographed fight scenes and a fantastic central performance by Reeves. On a budget of $20,000,000 it made around $86,000,000. On top of that, it was a cultural phenomenon. There have been three sequels, a tv show in production and probably a lot more to come from this world. While none of the sequels have quite captured the magic of the first film they have all been enjoyable and interesting films.

I Admit It…I Didn’t Expect That – Cyberpunk 2077

Another big project for Reeves has been his involvement in Cyberpunk 2077, one of the most anticipated video games of recent years, and while the game was a little disappointing, it wasn’t because of Reeves. In Cyberpunk 2077 Reeves played Johnny Silverhand a huge figure in the Cyberpunk world, a famous musician and rebel activist. To cut a long story short, your character downloads Johnny Silverhand into his mind, and he appears to you, perhaps slowly taking over your body or a helpful ally. It is slowly becoming more acceptable for A-List actors to take on roles in video games where acting is important, and not just their star power (important note – the video game industry is made up of many talented actors who put in great performances, but they are not household names), Elliot Page and Willem Defoe starred in Beyond: Two souls.

This Is The Story Of Our Most Excellent Dads – Bill & Ted Face The Music

Far more important than the latest Matrix sequel was that another Bill and Ted film was recently released with Reeves taking up his familiar role of Ted. Many years have passed and Wyld Stallyns have still not written the song that creates the utopic future they were told about. Reeves seemed delighted to return to the character and world that made him famous, throwing himself into the oddity of the film wholeheartedly. There are a number of very odd pairings of various “Bill and Teds” from different time periods, with usually the future versions being awful ridiculous people. The pair have also had children with their respective princess wives, each having a daughter who is very much after their respective fathers.

One thing that has helped Keanu Reeves over the years is that he seems like a nice guy, known for being relaxed and friendly and coming out with statements like, “I don’t want to live in a world where kindness is seen as a weakness,” and being declared the “internet’s boyfriend” due to his good looks, niceness and plentiful anecdotes of behaving like a lovely and humble person.

Looking on IMDb as for what Reeves has in the future, more John Wick and more Cyberpunk but also Constantine 2 (sequel to the poorly received comic book movie that has since gained a lot of fans over the years) and it’s good to have that the combination of nice guy and action movie megastar will continue for years to come.

Also Read: The Red Pill or the Blue Pill: Matrix Philosophy

The post Keanu Reeves: From ‘Bill and Ted’ to ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ – A Cinematic Journey appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

The Matrix (1999) established itself as the definitive movie of the 1990’s CyberPunk culture. Building on concepts shown in movies such as The Lawnmower Man (1992) and Johnny Mnemonic (1995), The Wachowskis told a surreal story that was different to anything the world had seen before.

What is The Matrix?

The story was written and directed by The Wachowskis. 2 Americans of Polish descent born in 1965 and 1967. The siblings grew up in Chicago, went to separate Colleges in New York and Boston, but both of them dropped out and returned home to run a business together. In 1993 the Wachowskis became writers for the Ectokid comic. By the mid 1990s their first movie script had been purchased and the writers became Directors. Their first movie was Bound (1996), a Mafia inspired crime thriller. Their second movie turned out to be a movie that won them the Saturn Award for best Director, picked up 4 Academy Awards and made over $450 million in the Box Office – The Matrix.

The Matrix is a story set in a distant future where mankind is at war with machines. Unlike the war we saw in The Terminator movies released prior to The Matrix, this war is being waged on 2 planes. One is the real world and the other is a virtual world. By the time the first movie starts, the war had gotten so bad, mankind had been forced underground due to inhospitable conditions on the surface. The machines became desperate for a power source and decided to capture humans to harvest them as a source of bioenergy. Captured humans had their minds thrust into a simulation of the real world. This virtual world is known as The Matrix – The place where the story begins and where we encounter the main characters Neo, Trinity and Morpheus.

The Matrix mythology is vast. So much rich subject matter to explore that the story could be told over various forms of media: A trilogy of movies, video games and a web-based comic series (later condensed into two physical volumes). There is also an animated series. All the forms of media added something new to The Matrix mythology. The Animatrix gave us the backstory before the movies started – The story of how the war between Humans and machines began. That backstory alone made the Animatrix my personal favourite non-movie Matrix media. Check out the following link for a glimpse at the official licensed book which includes incredible storyboards that formed the basis of the mythology: The Art of The Matrix.

Follow the White Rabbit

The Filmmakers are very open about their numerous influences. Alice in Wonderland is an obvious one that likens Neo to Alice – someone going down a rabbit hole to a whole new world. Actors were instructed to read Simulacra and Simulation (1994) by Jean Baudrillard. Amazon’s #1 best seller in Academic Philosophy even appears in the movie.

In a 2013 discussion at DePaul University, The Wachowskis mentioned books by William Gibson had a huge influence on them. Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984) is widely regarded as a pioneering book in the CyberPunk genre.

Blade Runner (1982) vs ET (1982) was an interesting talking point at DePaul. ET was the hugely popular family-friendly movie of the time. Blade Runner was a darker, more niche adult movie. The Wachowskis tell us Blade Runner was initially criticised due to having a completely different aesthetic to what was currently popular. However, it went on to change the happy and family-friendly narrative of Science Fiction movies in the 1980’s. The popularity of movies such as The Terminator (1984) and Robocop (1987) attest to the post Blade Runner shift in Sci-Fi aesthetics.

The Directors continue to talk of how important aesthetics are in their movies. Lana tells us the goal of The Matrix is to be a framework of meaning and the audience is meant to decipher this meaning.

Lilly speaks of ‘genre bending’ in her 2020 Netflix interview. Reflecting on the Matrix, she ponders on possible Trans influences and the character ‘Switch’. A Wiki page has an insight into why Lilly’s character didn’t quite play out with the residual self-image she might have wanted. She also touches on wanting to have moments in the movie that felt like an Anime, a Western, or a Kung Fu movie. John Woo and Hong Kong action movie wire work can also be added to the list of Matrix influences.

The Red Pill or the Blue Pill?

Amongst the numerous other themes, The Matrix addresses the problem with VR and the potential pitfalls facing an entire society plugged into a simulation. Going back to their 2013 interview, the filmmakers talked about an ‘aesthetic genealogy’, which I interpret as a philosophy that builds on other philosophies. So what are these other philosophies?

Should a person have the right to choose or should a person be given orders? Dictatorship or Democracy? Fascism or Socialism? Choice is a continuous theme throughout the Trilogy. A theme highlighted in the iconic scene where Morpheus asks Neo to choose his destiny. The Architect reveals the importance of choice when he tells Neo that previous versions of the Matrix failed until Humans were given a choice. If you think about it, would you like to live in a world where all outcomes were predetermined? Or do you want the ability to choose how things turn out? Choice is important, even if we only have the illusion of choice.

The Merivignan’s conversation with Morpheus delves into the topic of Causality – cause and effect. The Oracle tells Neo not to worry about breaking the vase. This information startles Neo causing him to react. His reaction knocks the vase over causing it to break. After Neo breaks the vase, The Oracle asks him to ponder if he would have broken it if she didn’t say anything. Causality has been accredited to Aristotle. A philosophy that lies in the realm of metaphysics.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is woven into this story. Cypher chose the red pill but regrets his choice and wants to return to the Matrix. He is akin to the prisoners in Plato’s Cave. The prisoners do not desire to leave their prison even after one of them breaks free and returns with news of their deception. Adam Curtis’ documentary HyperNormalisation (2016) applies the Allegory of the Cave to modern-day life and discusses how the real world can be hidden away from us. An artificial world can be constructed to keep us compliant. Much like in The Matrix.

From Greek philosophy to Greek Mythology, the subtleties are no accident. In Greek Mythology, Morpheus is a God who takes human form when appearing in dreams. A fitting name for Laurence Fishburne’s character. Rama Kandra (the exiled program) speaks of Karma in his conversation with Neo at the train station. Rama is a Hindu deity known for chivalry and virtue.

Matrix Explained has a great series that takes a deep dive and reveals more philosophical meanings in the movie that casual viewers may have missed. They uncover Hermetic principles from The Kybalion like ‘As above, so below’. This can be tied to the duality between The Matrix and the physical world. Another interesting find is their explanation of the child program with no purpose, whose parents try to save her. That story showcases the themes of love and consciousness.

Reloaded

Neo’s death and resurrection with superpowers draw inspiration from Christianity. It was only through death that Neo could be resurrected with so much power that he could fly. Much like the resurrection of Jesus Christ allowed him to ascend to the Heavens. Christ the Redeemer, the Saviour and Messiah. He died and was resurrected.

The main protagonists Neo, Morpheus and Trinity have similarities to the Holy Trinity of Christianity. The Son (Neo), The Father (Morpheus) and the Holy Spirit (literally named Trinity). Salvation would not have been possible without the miraculous acts of all three characters. The Telekinetic child monks allude to an influence from Buddhism. The link to religious symbolism is a clear and obvious one.

The Desert of the Real

The phrase was coined by Sociologist Jean Baudrillard and quoted by Morpheus in the movie. Fishburne’s character used it to describe the real world, as it has become a post-apocalyptic desert but was also alluding to Baudrillard. However, the Sociologist might use this term in a different context.

You could say there is a dearth of reality on Social Media where people use filters, photoshop images and create a facade – The desert of the real. I believe this is closer to Baudrillard’s original concept.

However, the desert of the real could also be describing The Matrix. A place where nothing is physically real. But of course, Morpheus questions Neo on what real means. The Captain of the Nebuchadnezzar states that the electrical impulses experienced by your brain are what makes The Matrix real and if you die in The Matrix then you do die for real. If nobody lives on the surface of the Earth in the real world and they live in The Matrix, then The Matrix is real and the physical world is the desert of the real.

Simulacra

As revealing as it is, dialogue only contains a fraction of the film’s messages. The team behind Matrix Explained dissect the trilogy and reveal the abundance of visual symbolism. From hand gestures to numerology, lighting, colours and props. Anything and everything can have a hidden meaning in these movies. Even the music.

In his article Simulcara, Simulation and the Matrix (2006), Sven Lutzka wrote ‘The Matrix has triggered off an avalanche of studies focussing on different aspects of the movie’. Some of those studies can be found in Jacking In To The Matrix Franchise (2004). This is an anthology of Matrix writings from a number of contributors. In this book, Matthew Kapell discusses a number of themes that the film trilogy and multimedia story encompasses: Gender, Race, Philosophy, Epistemology, Ontology, Ethics, Post-Humanism, Mythological and Religious Studies, Feminism, Radicalism, Cosmology and Theology. This is not a definitive list of all the themes covered either. One could easily add war, peace, control and rebellion too. The subject matters covered are broad and complex.

Kapell writes of the dark overtone encompassing the Matrix franchise – Human beings being subjugated to a programme of exploitation, treated as commodities and drained of their natural resources by an elaborate system. One could liken this fantasy theme to how citizens feel they are exploited by governments and corporations in the real world today. The Matrix attempts to connect with the audience in this way.

Jean Baudrillard wrote of simulation theory. The Matrix adapts his ideas and asks us the question – is everything as it seems? I remember watching the Matrix in 1999. The movie blew my mind. As I left the cinema I was looking around and questioning reality. Are we in a simulation?

The Architect

In Making of The Matrix (1999) Andy shared his belief that their biggest visual effect came from having Hollywood stars perform authentic Kung Fu like in a Hong Kong Kung Fu movie. Before The Matrix, the norm was to use a stunt man for fight scenes. The Wachowskis actually made the stars learn Kung Fu and perform the fight scenes themselves.

Making of The Matrix is a fascinating watch that gives you the complex ideas of the movie from various people involved in the production. The shots on set give you a sense of the camaraderie they shared. Recruiting John Gaeta to be the Special Effects Supervisor and create the Bullet Time VFX proved to be a wise decision. As was Hiring Yuen Wo Ping to do the Fight Choreography and Gun Fu. Illustrated storyboards cut to narration from the cast and crew help to complete the understanding that a lot of thought went into these movies and everyone felt like they were doing something exceptional.

Laurence Fishburne said they trained in Kung Fu daily for around 6 months. The directors revealed they saw CyberPunk as a way to convey a sense of disconnection or alienation. Such was the mood of the CyberPunk culture. One of the narrators notes how he thought the Wachowskis were unusually meticulous and unlike most Directors, they knew exactly how they wanted things to be.

According to Jonas Ceika, Jean Baudrillard declined the opportunity to work on the Matrix sequels. His involvement could have drastically impacted the final cut of Reloaded and Revolutions. In contrast, Laurence Fishburne said he signed up for Reloaded without even reading the script. Everyone from the first movie signed up again for the sequel and the filmmakers tried to outdo what they did in the original. Sets were bigger and more extravagant than before. Stunts were more ambitious than before. Carrie-Ann Moss said she broke her leg in the 2nd week of training.

The actress who played the Oracle (Gloria Foster) passed away during the production of the 3rd Matrix movie. The script had to be rewritten and another actress (Mary Alice) was brought in to replace her. The 3rd movie in the trilogy contained an epic fight scene between Neo and Agent Smith. They were fighting in mid-air like something you’ll see in Dragonball Z. This was no easy feat. In order to replicate Z fighting in real life, the actors were filmed in a zero-gravity device used to train astronauts.

Resurrection

As mentioned earlier, the Wachowskis were inspired by William Gibson books when they made The Matrix. Gibson is said to believe that The Matrix is the ultimate Cyber Punk artefact. It’s no coincidence that a CyberPunk video game starring Keanu Reeves (CyberPunk 2077) went on to win various awards and became the highest selling digital game launch at the time. This is the legacy of The Matrix. With such a strong legacy in place, why would they need another movie?

In a discussion at the International Literature Festival of Berlin, Lana shares her story of a personal tragedy that inspired the continuation of a once concluded masterpiece. It was the demise of her parents that brought back her connection to Neo and Trinity. Lilly felt like she was done with the Franchise so for the first time, we will see a Matrix movie made by just one of the Wachowskis.

At the time of writing, two Matrix Resurrections trailers have been released. In trailer 1 Neo appears to be back in the Matrix and seeking therapy for bad dreams that he thinks are real. The black cat appears at the start of the trailer. Neo thought he was experiencing Deja Vu in the first movie when he saw a black cat. He meets with Trinity and they appear to not know each other. Have they lost their memories? He meets a younger-looking Morpheus and seems to go through the awakening process all over again.

If it was only a hint in the first trailer, It’s unmistakable that Agent Smith has returned in the second trailer, except he doesn’t look how we remember him. Neo starts to recollect being in the training simulation. We get a glimpse of an aged Niobe looking like she’s been in a war and also speaking of war! Neo displays an ability to manipulate force and Trinity displays powers of her own. It definitely looks like Neo is on a journey to find his memory. Some old characters have new faces and brand new characters appear too. From what I saw in the trailers it looks like Resurrection will introduce new elements but also have a continuity of the old story.

Awaken

In fine Matrix tradition, another form of media has been utilised to give participants an interactive Matrix experience. The Matrix Awakens is a brief and free to play open-world game exclusively available to owners of a Playstation 5 or XBox Series X. Fans of the franchise will be treated to a cinematic intro before they are thrust into some frantic Arcade style action. After completing the mission the open world is yours to explore and it looks fantastic. You can download The Matrix Awakens here.

Keanu and Carrie-Ann discuss a number of topics in a post Resurrections interview by The Verge: The plasticity of images and Intellectual Property, Cryptocurrencies and NFTs, even the use of their likeness in Virtual Reality and Pornography. They also share their thoughts on The Matrix trilogy and the new movie too.

Revelation

More than a movie, The Matrix is a philosophical story told across various forms of media. I found it transformative in the same way a good book can be. I was not the same afterwards. The journey through multimedia is a unique and interactive experience. The story covers thought-provoking themes like reality, faith and the very ideas that societies are built on. We explore consciousness, examine Humanity, Artificial Intelligence and see there may not be that much difference between us.

The Matrix tells a tale that peaks into the future of Transhumanism. Elon Musk’s Neuralink is currently developing Brain Interface technology. Will this tech allow us to download a program to learn Kung Fu, or fly a helicopter like the movie showed us 20 years ago? The timing of the latest instalment in the franchise couldn’t be better. The biggest Social Media company in the world have transitioned into a Metaverse company. The Matrix is a movie about a Metaverse from 20 years ago, resurrected for release in UK cinemas on December 22nd.

Also Read: NFTs For “The Matrix” & “Pulp Fiction” Announced As The Film Industry Embraces Blockchain

The post The Red Pill or the Blue Pill: Matrix Philosophy appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

John was living a quiet life. Still in mourning for his recently deceased wife he spends his time caring for the dog she bought him and driving his classic car. After refusing to sell his car to Russian mobsters they decide to steal it and end up killing John’s dog. This was a huge mistake as John was actually a retired legendary assassin and was very upset about his dog. Before John can do anything the Russian mobsters decide to strike first and send people to kill him – who utterly fail.

Hutch was living a quiet life in the suburbs. He had a wife and two children and a good job at his father-in-law’s company. One night people break into Hutch’s house and steal a few things during which he complies with their demands. People mock Hutch for his perceived cowardice. This event seems to rekindle something within Hutch and while ultimately taking no revenge on the burglars instead looks for opportunities to get involved in a confrontation which he quickly finds, beating some thoroughly unpleasant people to a pulp. These people, however, were Russian mobsters who come looking for revenge. This was a huge mistake as it turns out Hutch is a retired legendary assassin and was very upset that they came to his family home.

These are the respective storylines of John Wick and Nobody – both enjoyable action films with a lot of similarities (both are written by the same person). However, there seemed a crucial difference between the two films. John Wick seemed to be genuinely retired and had no interest in killing sprees whereas Hutch is perhaps a little bored. At one point Hutch says perhaps after retiring from an action-packed life of a government assassin he went too far the other way in the incredibly quiet and docile life he made.

In both films, the villains are in organised crime which is a shorthand for saying are very bad people that we shouldn’t feel too much pity for as John and Hutch wipe them out. The spark of revenge for Wick that they kill his dog was rather inspired, I feel in many films it would have been Wick’s wife (who died of an illness) but in many ways killing a dog feels worse. As Billy points out in Seven Psychopaths “you can’t let the animals die in the movie. Only the women.” Already we feel sorry for Wick and angry with the mobsters and before Wick can do anything they try and kill him, so not only is it revenge but Wick is fighting for survival. In Nobody Hutch holds back from the people breaking into his house – he recognises them as desperate people who don’t want to hurt anyone. Hutch’s return to his old ways is later – when awful people get on a bus and start harassing a woman and he intervenes. It’s great that Hutch helped her but when he saw the people outside the bus he wanted them to get on, he wanted the confrontation, he wanted them to do something bad so he would have an excuse to attack them.

You are still on Hutch’s side as a viewer but I know for me it flagged something up – John Wick is reactive whereas Hutch is proactive and it subtly changed what was happening for me. For all of their similarities to me, this was a crucial difference between John Wick and Nobody. There are other “revenge” films with complicated protagonists, Prevenge is about a pregnant woman killing the people she blames for the death of her partner – importantly it is pointed out repeatedly that her partner’s death was an accident, even judged so by a court, so her revenge seems unjustified. While I feel Prevenge is well aware of this and deals with the problem that the viewer may turn against the protagonist I’m not sure Nobody ever does. Tarantino’s Kill Bill films are an epic revenge story and again, someone who had given up their dangerous life for peace (although the Bride essentially admits it wouldn’t have lasted) – a line from Bud “That woman, deserves her revenge and… we deserve to die. But then again, so does she.” points out that she may well be warranted in killing them but other people would feel the same about her.

Ultimately what may make Nobody work is Bob Odenkirk, a fantastic actor who has spent years playing Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill the morally corrupt lawyer from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. It’s hard to dislike Odenkirk and so it’s easy to root for Hutch especially as unlike the always impeccably cool John Wick/Keanu Reeves both he and his character seem more ordinary. Perhaps the problem with Nobody is that you could turn the premise of the story around – Yulian (the main villain of Nobody) seeks revenge after a former government hitman who rides around on buses looking for trouble brutalises his younger brother – although you’d probably have to make the younger brother a more sympathetic character.

Also Read: 7 Reasons Characters Die In Horror Films

The post John Wick Vs Nobody – The Revenge of Incredible Assassins appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

The Plot

For those who don’t know, I shall briefly explain the plot – Thomas Anderson lived in late 90s America, working as a computer programmer but is secretly the hacker “Neo”. He was approached by sinister government agents asked him to work as a spy. Neo refused and is quickly picked up by the people he was asked to spy against. Their leader Morpheus explained to Neo that what he thought was reality was actually only a computer programme, in reality, AI robots were draining his energy to survive. What follows is a spectacular two hours of gunfights, fistfights and metaphysical pondering on the nature of reality and destiny.

Great Expectations

There was a huge amount of hype surrounding the film especially with the talk of unprecedented special effects – what became known as “bullet time”. The famous “bullet time”. The Matrix was not the first film to use this technique but undoubtedly popularised it. Bullet time is a form of slow-motion photography that will often have the camera moving around the target. In The Matrix, this was used as characters dodged bullets using what would be super-human reflexes. While the technology has moved on a lot since the effects still look great to this day.

The film wasn’t stunning just because of bullet time. The hand to hand fight scenes, such as Neo and Morpheus fighting or the climactic fight between Agent Smith and Neo were amongst the first of the extremely choreographed fights that are the mainstay amongst recent action-films (with perhaps the most relevant example of this being in the John Wick films – starring Keanu Reeves).

The Internet, Computers & Technology

The Matrix capitalised on computers and the Internet in a way few films had before. Neo was a computer programmer by day and hacker by night and you got the feeling that not only Neo understood computers but so did the Wachowskis. The fact that Neo goes by that name, his hacker alias, seemed to reflect an understanding of the Internet, a place where you could be whatever you wanted to be.

Storytelling

In many ways, the storytelling aspects of The Matrix were rooted in old ideas. Robot tyranny, virtual reality, sinister but vague government agencies had all been done before. The idea of Neo being The Chosen One again is nothing new but perhaps they made it their own, in an episode of South Park there is a search for a chosen one they refer to as “The Keanu Reeves child”. By the Wachowskis’ own admission the film is heavily indebted to Japanese anime and Hong Kong action films. But I think the Wachowskis deserve huge plaudits for pulling all of these aspects into one film whilst at the same time combining an over-the-top action-sci-fi blockbuster with an intelligent hard sci-fi drama. Apparently, the Wachowskis had the main actors read relevant books on philosophy and science so they could comfortably explain the ideas thrown around in the film.

Culture

The cultural impact was huge. Like A New Hope or The Dark Knight, The Matrix launched a thousand copycats and its influence can be felt in many more. The Simpsons and Spaced both parodied it while The Onion could write about something being “Matrix-y” and people knew what you meant. Anyone who wore a long black leather coat was imitating Neo. The term “matrix” has been used a lot in sci-fi (in Doctor Who it’s the repository of Time Lord knowledge, it’s the name of a DC superhero and is the name of a 90s fantasy tv show) but if used today would only refer to the film. The choice of red pill or blue pill has become synonymous with choosing fantasy over – an often painful – reality and people can talk about odd events and coincidences as “glitches” in the Matrix, a moment where a person can see something is not right in reality. One such glitch is that the aforementioned Matrix tv show starred Carrie-Ann Moss, one of the stars of the film The Matrix. Weird.

The Matrix 4

The world recently learned that there will be a fourth film in The Matrix franchise. After the huge success of the first film, the two sequels were not well-received but there is already a lot of interest in this new film. Crucially Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Ann Moss and Lana Wachowski are all part of the film. I think the years have been kind to The Matrix, with the sequels being forgotten about and the delight of the original still has a hold over people. I recently rewatched the film and despite knowing every twist, betrayal and cliffhanger still thoroughly enjoyed it, immersed in an interesting world that was glorious to watch.

Also Read: Horror-ibly Funny Movie Titles

The post The Matrix: Twenty Years On appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

What’s Going On?

Super-assassin John Wick has a $14,000,000 bounty placed on his head after breaking one of the cardinal rules of the Continental Hotel – no business is conducted on hotel grounds. As this is a hotel for assassins, “business” means killing people. In the world of this film, assassins lurk around every corner and John is set upon by an endless array of killers. Eager to get out from under this death sentence, John delves deeper into the mysterious world of assassins to find a solution to his problem.

Behind The Scenes

John Wick was directed by Chad Stahelski who, famously, before that film had been a stunt co-ordinator and as such was incredibly focused on the fight scenes. Stahelski stayed on to direct Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 and the fight scenes are still amazing, at times truly dazzling and clearly directed by a world-class expert. I am something of a connoisseur of good fight scenes and I still winced at how real some of the blows felt while marvelling at the technical capabilities of all involved.

In Front Of The Camera

Keanu Reeves obviously dominates the film as he plays John Wick and continues to bring an almost stoic sensibility to non-stop life and death fights. Alongside Reeves’ acting talent is sheer ability to be in this film, I am unaware exactly how much of Reeves’ fighting is done by a double but he certainly seems to be taking on a lot. Ian McShane reprises his role as Winston, manager of the Continental Hotel (the assassin hotel that has placed the bounty on Wick for breaking their rules) and with him also returns Lance Riddick as the ever helpful concierge, Charon. Lawrence Fishburne is also back as the unnamed Bowery King – the ruler of another mysterious group of criminals who pose as homeless New Yorkers. There are newcomers – the primary antagonist is the Adjuciator, a representative of the High Table, the rulers of this world of assassins played by Asia Kate Dillon, who not only wants Wick dead also wants New York shaken up a bit. Perhaps more important is the addition of Mark Dacascos, an assassin and sushi chef billed as someone actually capable of taking on John Wick. Real star power is brought by Oscar winner Halle Berry, who operates a similar hotel as that managed by Winston but in Casablanca. Angelica Houston pops up playing The Director, who doubles as ballet director and crimelord whose help John Wick seeks and provides a little more backstory to the character of John Wick.

Does It Work?

I consider John Wick a great action film, a twist on a simple revenge story, driven by Keanu Reeves’ performance and some of the best fight choreography ever. John Wick 2 was entertaining, and again, had amazing fight scenes, but it wasn’t quite the same and I feel much the same with John Wick 3. It’s certainly an enjoyable film and I was never bored but the more it’s delved into this world the less I get out of it. It somehow lacked the magic of the original and this might be as simple as I knew what to expect, whereas Chapter 1 was a surprise. I do think that there is a problem with John Wick’s motivation, in the first film it was revenge but in the other two there is something more complicated going on – debts owed, rules broken and the schemes of powerful people.

The more that is revealed about the Continental, the High Table, the Bowery and so on the more convoluted and less satisfying it becomes. The sheer number of assassins that exists not just in New York but seemingly any spot on the globe is astounding and stretches credulity. The thing that seems most unbelievable is that surely there aren’t this many assassinations to support such a huge number of assassins.

Whereas the first chapter was based entirely in New York, Chapter 2 took us to Rome and Chapter 3 continues with this international perspective. John Wick felt very contained, everything happened in a couple of days in a couple of locations but increasingly the franchise is eager to spread its wings. Doing this does allow for a bit of variety but personally, I would have preferred a more claustrophobic setting.

There was a cool touch in John Wick where after one fight scene early in the movie the police turn up. They know John who is, simply ask if he’s working again and then stay out of his way but you can’t help but think the level of carnage caused in this film would warrant some kind of police response. There are even suggestions of supernatural powers or mystical techniques possessed by some of the assassins, that to me, make John Wick’s phenomenal killing abilities less impressive.

Of course, John Wick was never supposed to be set in the real world, this hyper-violent world of secret assassins and globe-spanning criminal syndicates was supposed to be escapist fun but I think after the first film the balance between reality and fantasy has moved too far to the latter.

But really most of these complaints and minor gripes and is just what separates a good film from being a great film. If you enjoyed the previous John Wick films you will almost certainly love this. The fight scenes continue to offer something new, whether it’s drafting in Boban Marjanovic, a seven foot three inches tall basketball star, to serve as an early opponent or adding horses and dogs to the weapons John Wick utilises. While I feel the story has become a little bogged down with secret organisations the core of the film remains the same- John Wick having to fight a seemingly impossible number of people.

The biggest plus in the film is certainly Mark Dacascos. In the two previous chapters, there was no one who, individually, was thought to be John Wick’s equal when it came to killing people. There wasn’t one bad guy for him to fight there would be a couple of dozen. Of course, John Wick still has to fight through dozens of opponents but it all leads to a showdown with Dacascos.

Overall this is a very enjoyable action film that doesn’t quite capture the magic of the first instalment but compared to other franchises on their second sequel this is amazing stuff.

Verdict (3.5 / 5)

Also Read: Ten Movies Turning 20 in 2019!

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