Tag: john wick

Geekscape Reviews ‘John Wick Chapter 3- Parabellum’ In 4DX

by Josh Jackson

In a sea of sequels, shared universes and decades old franchises often dominating the box office, the original ‘John Wick’ seemingly came out of nowhere to become a surprising success. Focusing on an over the top approach to the action genre that relied on creative fight choreography and unapologetic brutality rather than an overabundance of special effects, its charm was in its simplicity. Building on its predecessor, ‘John Wick 2’ exchanged some of the basics for a wealth of world building that broadened the scope of this world of assassins. Picking up immediately after the conclusion of the second film, ‘John Wick 3- Parabellum’ sees the legendary hitman in a state of vulnerability. With only an hour until a massive bounty is placed on his head, John sets to dig deep into his history in order to find a way to undo the hit on him before someone cashes in on his misfortune. Of course, he does this in some of the most violent and exciting ways possible.

Death by horse is just one of many ways Wick fights off his assailants.

Oftentimes, sequels do their best to get the audience caught up on the events of the previous films in case this is the first time experiencing the series. ‘John Wick Chapter 3’ is not one of them. Literally beginning immediately after John broke a cardinal rule among assassins for the sake of revenge at the conclusion of the second movie, it might be hard for new viewers to become fully involved in the events of the third considering how very few of the previously established details of this world are explained. With that said, if you’re fully caught up, (as you should be), what we get is the third chapter of what feels like one extended movie.

If I had one criticism about the second film, it was that it focused so much on exposition that the simplistic charm of the action from the first ‘John Wick’ was not as present. ‘John Wick 3′ finds a happy medium between the two, spending time expanding on John’s past through old associates played by Halle Berry and Anjelica Huston while finding a perfect balance between story and action in between. The film’s pacing is one of its strong points, never focusing on one aspect of the film for too long while keeping the audience on its toes. In that respect, it was fun to see the reprecussions that John’s actions have had not only on himself, but on the associates that helped him along the way. Returning characters played by Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane and Lance Reddick all have expanded roles this time around, interacting with the world of assassins and the ruling High Table in ways we haven’t seen before. Yet, it’s Mark Dakascos’ as John’s main rival, Zero, who steals the show as the leader of a ninja clan who can be menacing in one scene, then laugh out loud hilarious in the next.

No action franchise is complete without a hall of mirrors fight.

More so than any one actor, the action scenes are still the star of the show. Just when you think these fights can’t get any more over the top, ‘John Wick Chapter 3′ consistently finds new ways to deliver. If the delivery of the promised pencil scene in the second film seemed incredible, John has so many more tricks up his sleeve. A horse, a book and a ball biting dog are just some of the creative ways that the hundreds of enemy assassins are taken down throughout the movie, with plenty of Wick’s trademark head shots to go around. Paying homage to Keanu Reeves’ past films, there are also plenty of winks and nods to his most popular work, showing how the fan service goes beyond the violence.

With a film that’s executed as well as this one was, it’s hard to find any glaring complaints. If there was one that I could find however, it’s how much time this movie spends setting up future events that are left as dangling threads by the time the credits roll. Much like the second film, an even wider scope is teased in terms of how much influence these assassins have on the world. For example, Said Taghmaoui’s Elder is shown briefly as someone of great influence, but that influence is hardly felt as he ultimately has no strong effect on the plot. Will we see him and the ever present High Table in future installments? Naturally, especially since the High Table’s presence has been so strong without ever being seen for two movies now. Yet, so much of the payoff isn’t resolved, making parts of the film feel inconsequential for the story being told in this particular chapter. Let’s hope the eventual delivery is worth the wait.

John Wick and dogs. Name a more iconic duo.

Experiencing John Wick is enough of a ride in and of itself, but watching it in 4DX promised to add to that. For those who are unfamiliar, 4DX is a film format, sometimes in 3D, where the theater itself moves and responds to the action on screen. Much like an interactive video ride like ‘Star Tours’ or ‘Transformers: The Ride’, each bump, gunshot, sharp turn and punch John takes is felt in the theater via rocking and moving seats. Hits in the back meant the seat would respond in kind, and scenes with water had light mist and rain coming down on the audience. This made for an even more exciting time, making it feel like the audience was in the movie at points. One problem though, is that the rides mentioned are about three to five minutes long. Will this experience hold up for a two hour film? That idea was exemplified by when the immersion was broken when the seats would sway when nothing was happening. The opening scenes when the camera would pan around landmarks or buildings, resulting in the seats rocking, was a glaring example. As the saying goes, less is more. With that said, 4DX was a great way to watch ‘John Wick’, but with the premium price tag and the chance that all the movement could distract from the film for the amount of time it’s active, this format feels more like an acquired taste. However, if you’re like me and love interactive rides, it’s definitely worth checking out. With a movie like ‘John Wick’ where there’s no shortage on action, you’ll be sure to get the most out of the experience.

On paper, ‘John Wick’ is a really basic concept. What makes the series so memorable however, is its complete willingness to lean into how over the top action movies can be and getting the most out of it. ‘John Wick Chapter 3’ knows exactly what it is and never tries to be anything more than an insane action movie. Yet, it manages to get more and more ambitious as the film progresses with its trademark violence and nearly mute hero. With plenty of setup to steer us towards the already announced fourth chapter, all of the beats it hits throughout are an absolute blast to watch. If you want to shut your brain off for two hours and watch an all-star cast fight off hundreds of goons in some of the most creative and violent ways possible, then there’s no better theater ticket to buy than one for this third film. At this point, it’s hard to imagine how much farther the envelope can be pushed. If ‘Chapter 3’ is anything to go by, it’ll be a high bar to clear.

FINAL SCORE: 4/5

Geekscape Movie Review: Deadpool 2

by MCDave

After surprising critical and box office adoration transformed Tim Miller’s risky and monumentally self-aware anti-hero comedy, Deadpool, into a record-breaking phenomenon, we all knew that the film’s immediately announced sequel would aim to be bigger, bolder and more outrageous than the original. And despite a changing of the guard, with Miller rumored to be stepping aside in favor of John Wick and Atomic Blonde director David Leitch because of a power struggle with leading star Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool 2 continues to push the envelope with more of the same vulgar, violent and over-the-top antics.

After opening with some wise cracks about Wolverine, the film immediately turns to Wade Wilson’s (Reynolds) recent selfish behavior and how it leads to an unfathomable tragedy. But rather than self-loathing like his natural instincts suggest, Wade attempts to find deeper meaning in things and finally begins to try and do what’s right. However, as Deadpool quickly finds out, old habits are hard to break when he crosses paths with a mercenary from the future named Cable (Josh Brolin) who refuses to let Wade get in the way of his mission.

Deadpool 2 doubles down with its abrasive, juvenile humor and blood-filled violence. And while the overall effect doesn’t quite grab you like its predecessor, this sequel still aptly entertains and smoothly keeps the laughs coming in impressive style. Furthermore, as if heavier doses of this winning formula aren’t enough to put you all in, Deadpool 2 throws some unexpected curveballs that are a refreshing surprise. Yet, while a whole new collection of characters, both good and bad, help occupy the screen time, this is once again Ryan Reynolds’ spotlight and he cradles the opportunity to near perfection. Wade Wilson’s evolution marks a stark contrast to the last film, one that’s a welcome change and navigates the franchise down a clearer more resolute path. But as his character so conveniently points out more than once in the film, there are spells of lazy writing that linger throughout, and even a wide-growing hokiness that looms over Wade’s modest character transformation. However, the action is on point, the characters are wildly entertaining, and the story shifts down an unpredictable road, all of which make Deadpool 2 another successful superhero tale with an immensely bright future

GRADE: 3.5/5

For more reviews, trailers and movie lists visit MCDAVE’s new host site

Geekscape Interview: John Wick 2 Director Chad Stahelski Talks Sequel, Chapter 3, and Morpheus and Neo On Set

by AllieHanley

“John Wick: Chapter 2” is headed to theaters this weekend and will be tallying up one of the largest body counts, shot for shot in cinematic history  — and that’s an incredibly awesome thing! We love action movies at Geekscape and the sequel to John Wick takes it to a new level this time out with more backstory and bigger and “badder” action scenes.

In “John Wick,” the first film, which stars Keanu Reeves, we learn about a retired hitman known as the boogeyman, who was lauded as one of the deadliest assassins ever. In a twist of fate he’s pulled out of retirement after the death of his dog (a gift from his deceased wife) and the theft of his car. In “John Wick: Chapter 2” we see him trying to be retired, even going so far as to cement in his weapons once again into the garage floor. “Trying” is the key word. A figure from his past calls in a marker that requires John to do his bidding or pay a hefty price.

A reluctant hitman is not a happy hitman. What transpires is next- level debauchery all set to some of the most breathtaking action scenes set to grace the big screen. Think “The Raid II” and “Ronin” for an idea of how big this film is! JW2 brings to mind moments of the film “Ronin” where action and tension played center stage even to actor Robert De Niro. Like that film, “John Wick Chapter 2” allows the scenes to breath and expand from quiet to spectacular crescendo’s of action but still keeps an eye on story and character development. Car chases, hand to hand, and of course gun play take center stage in the John Wick films but director Chad Stahelski knows you can’t forget about story and character motivation. Even though in a film like JW2 where you don’t have a lot of time to get in deep with characters he still pays attention to character motivation.

Before I could ask him a question he fires off to me:

Chad Stahelski: So what was your favorite part of the movie?

Allie Hanley: I liked the shot sequence of when “Gianna” took her hair down and you could see the sharp end of her hair clip and you knew something was going to happen.

CS: She is such a bad ass.

AH: I like the way she went out on her own terms and the whole sequence that leads up to that in the soaking tub.

CS: That’s my favorite scene. I am a big fan of the artist Caravaggio and the catacombs in that scene are based almost sole off of his paintings.

The actress that plays that role, Claudia Gerini, she is like 42 years old and does her own one-woman show. I went to Rome looking to cast. She invited me <to her show> because she knew I was interested in talking to her. So I went to her show which goes on for two hours and she plays seven characters, she can do the splits, she’s a black-belt in tai kwon do, she does this incredible song-and-dance introspective kind of thing; And it was one of the most entertaining things I had seen in years. I was like I gotta cast her!

“John Wick” has a mythology and a dialogue. It’s a little left of center in that it’s not really plot motivated. It’s more TV based. If you watch “Taboo” or “Ray Donovan,” you follow the guy; You really don’t care what the plot is, you want to follow the drama. That’s how we modeled JW2. We cast actors who were willingly to embrace those types of characters which is a rare thing.

That’s how we got Riccardo Scamarcio, who plays Santino. He’s goes along with everything, and he’s awesome. Then you find actors like Common and the iconic Laurence Fishburne who is larger than life. Ian McShane couldn’t be more embracive of a character than he is with “Winston” -like from the very first film and the very first page he just got it and then he just runs with it.

I challenge anyone to go take a line of dialogue from this film and go say it to yourself and not find it sort of silly, -you know what I mean? And then when you have Laurence Fishburne deliver it and you are like “Wow” and that’s a bit challenging.

AH: What was the first day on set like for you when you had Keanu and Laurence in front of your camera?

CS: That scene was the rooftop. “The man, the myth, the legend! <line from the film>” I don’t know if you know this story but The Bowery King (Fishburnes character), was written with Fishburne in mind. I worked with him for like ten years on “The Matrix,” so we became friends and he is very influential in how I see actors and acting.

Cut to a couple years later and I am in New York prepping JW2 and Keanu just walks in cold into my office and says, “Hey I talked to Fish the other night, and he says what’s up? He loved the first movie and wants to know why isn’t he in the next movie?” I was like, “ya, ha ha.” Keanu was like “No, really. He wants to be in the film.” It was that simple and the next thing you know is that he is in the movie.

Cut to a month later when we are in the scene… up on a rooftop in Brooklyn and he’s literally giving the line “John Wick, the myth… the legend” and we take the shot up to a certain point and Laurence gets to the point of “You’re not very good at retiring” and Wick is like “I’m working on it” and the set goes quiet. Then Laurence looks over and asks, “You gonna yell cut?”

I was geeking out. I was thinking Oh my God, I am directing Neo and Morpheus! So that was my Hollywood moment when I was a little embarrassed.

In answer to your question it was pretty fucking cool. To be a huge fan and part of that process of going from stunt man, to stunt double to actually directing two iconic characters in my film.

AH: So tell me about John Wick 3?

CS: Oooom um. Good question.

AH: You got a script?

CS: I don’t know. Well, when we wrote John Wick 2 it was actually a big chunk of stuff and where we ended number two felt like a very nice stopping point. We didn’t want to stuff everything into it. I’d say we have a lot of ideas, we have an outline, and I know where I want it to go, and I know where Keanu would like it to go. So we are currently in development and that’s a fancy word for we are still thinking about it.

AH: You’ve worked with Keanu over a large span of time. You must really know him. What’s he like?

CS: I can’t tell you how great it is to work with Keanu. He’s quite the human and I don’t mean that as just an actor or an action guy who is just a great guy. He has interest in… pick a topic. He loves life, he’s interested in life, and he’s a great dude to talk too. If you ever get a chance to interview him you should, he’s just such a great guy.

AH: What ideas are you entertaining next?

CS: My biggest desire in film right now is to do a female action movie. We are just trying to find the right property for it and we are talking to several great writers about that right now.

_____________

It’s just been announced that Chad is going to be directing the reboot for “Highlander” and according to Collider.com he plans to do it over three films.

Lionsgate Announces John Wick 2!

by Karson

Yeah, Keanu Reeves is back and reprising his role as the former assassin John Wick in John Wick 2. The original directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch are set to return as well as screenwriter Derek Kolstad set to script.

Check out the official Press Release below!

LIONSGATE RELOADS “JOHN WICK 2”
Keanu Reeves, Directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski Return
SANTA MONICA, Calif, May 4, 2015 – Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) has confirmed plans to produce a sequel to 2014’s critically-acclaimed breakout hit “JOHN WICK,” it was announced today by Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger, Co-Chairmen of the Theatrical Motion Pictures Group. Keanu Reeves along with directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski as well as screenwriter, Derek Kolstad are set to return for the sequel. The film will be released through Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment and will be produced by Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk, who produced the first film.
In the follow up to last year’s adrenaline-fueled revenge and redemption thriller, legendary hit man John Wick is back.
“With such tremendous fan and critical support for ‘John Wick,’ we knew that there was still so much more of this story to tell,” said Jason Constantine, President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions. “We are thrilled that Keanu, David and Chad have re-teamed with us and promise to bring audiences even more excitement the second time around.”
Jason Constantine and Eda Kowan at Lionsgate will oversee the project on behalf of the studio.
Lionsgate International will be selling the picture internationally at the upcoming Cannes Film Market.

Who else is excited? Let us know in the comments below!

Fantastic Fest Review Roundup Part Two – ‘Horsehead’, ‘The Hive’, & ‘John Wick’

by Brent Moore

Be sure to check out Part One here!

Fantastic Fest has rolled around once more and continues to be the most entertaining film festival on Earth. This year sees the festival back at its home base of the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar and the adjoining Highball bar in Austin, TX. This is my 5th time attending the festival, now celebrating it’s 10th year.

Fantastic Fest is unique among film festivals because, much like its host venue, it is more a festival of personality than one of quality. There are other genre festivals, sure, but Fantastic Fest is an experience where the campy, gorey, and outright weird films oftentimes serve as a backdrop to the chaos as opposed to the end goal. Fantastic Fest films rarely stick with me for very long, but the festival remains my most anticipated every year.

This year got off to a bit of a rough start as bad weather and inexperience with the remodeled Drafthouse led to a case of overcrowding and confusion in the lobby and bar. That didn’t stop me from having a few drinks and seeing some weird bullshit though. Here’s a roundup of my festival experience so far.

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Horsehead

This surreal French horror flick strives to follow in the footsteps of Pan’s Labyrinth with its mixture of personal drama, horrific gore, and beautiful fantasy elements. Unfortunately it falls quite a bit short and ends up being kind of a bore.

The movie follows a young women as she returns home following the death of her grandmother. She suffers nightmares and tries to overcome them by studying lucid dreaming. While at home, she falls ill and her dreams and reality start to intermingle and her dead grandmother seems to be trying to tell her something.

Horsehead has plenty of arresting imagery and is moderately successful in creating a surreal dreamlike atmosphere, but the familial mystery at the core is never that engaging and the pace is often laborious. There’s also an uncomfortable exploitative streak in the movie with plenty of unnecessary slow motion bathing scenes and taboo sexual dream imagery that never seems like its exploring anything other than mastabatory fantasy.

A horsey man fights a wolf spirit and gets stabbed with a key thingy though, so I guess it was pretty ok.

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The Hive

The Hive is essentially a zombie apocalypse film but it takes an interesting route by adding the idea of a hivemind to the mix. Once you turn, you share the thoughts and memories of every other hive zombie. The movie takes place at a summer camp and begins with our protagonist, who has already begun to turn, waking up alone in a trashed room covered with cryptic notes. His memory has been wiped by the hive zombie virus thing so he must piece together who he is and what has happened by relying on the clues in the room and the mess of memories he has, only some of which are his own.

The Hive has a lot of really great things going for it, but it is ultimately ruined by pure adolescence. This is a teenage movie masquerading as an adult one. That’s not meant to be a dig on teen movies. Movies about the teenage experience are often written by adults who can look back and make sense of that tumultuous time in their lives with the help of the life experience they’ve gained. The Hive feels like a kid writing about how he imagines adult relationships and behaviors will be, without having any experience in the matter. It’s all heightened emotion and naivete and ignorance, but presented with a confidence that makes it all the more grating.

This is a movie where our hero bumps into a pretty girl and causes her to cut her head and be sent to the nurse. He then sprains his own ankle and has to join her. Somehow these minor injuries cause them both to be bedridden and they have an extended meet cute in the camp infirmary. Their beds are a few feet apart but they can’t move out of them because of the severity of their ouchies. Over the course of what I assume to be a few hours, they go through the entire romantic experience through a montage that in a better movie would have taken place over the course of days or weeks and wouldn’t have been built on such a weak conceit.

The movie is full of silly things like this. Love, loyalty, betrayal, maturity, and a whole cavalcade of complex emotional states are just granted to characters who in no way earned them. Every big emotional moment becomes an embarrassing display of childishness. The whole movie felt like sitting at a dinner table with your 15 year old cousin as they told you about how the world was ending because that girl or guy they liked replied to their text with a “K” instead of an “Okay!”.

This immaturity makes its way into the filmmaking as well, which is overly stylized to the point of distraction. High contrast blown out lighting, dutch angles, and rapid edits all serve to distract instead of enhance. All topped off with terrible emo song signaling the end of the film.

The Hive also has an annoying tendency to over explain everything. There is a moment of revelation towards the end of movie where our protagonist finally pieces together the puzzle and remembers what happened. This scene is played as if the information should be revelatory to the audience as well, but anyone with half a brain would have figured all that stuff out within the first half hour of the movie. There really isn’t a puzzle to figure out, and the idea of a hivemind isn’t a new concept that’s hard to grasp and needs to be overly explained. Time and time again obvious concepts that can be understood instantly and visually are then explained by a man talking to himself alone in a room for no other reason than to hold an audience’s hand, and it gets really tedious.

It’s a shame because there are some nice naturalistic performances from the main actors and the hive mind zombie idea is one that hasn’t been explored all that often. There really is a good movie here, it just came out of someone who hasn’t experienced enough life to understand how to tell it.

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John Wick

A grieving ex-hitman has his car stolen and his dog killed by a mobsters punk son. Grieving ex-hitman kills everyone.

That’s all you need to know about John Wick, it’s as lean and mean of a revenge film as I’ve seen in some time and that is actually pretty refreshing. Keanu Reeves plays the titular Wick and does an admiral job of looking super cool while shooting a whole mess of dudes in the head. This movie has more visceral headshots than any I can recall, its kind of nuts. Reeves also gets opportunities to get uncharacteristically broad with his performance. It’s not often you get to see him raging and screaming, so savor it.

The thing that really elevates John Wick past its skeletal concept is that filmmakers Chad Stahelski and Derek Kolstad build out a really fun underworld of professional assassins. When Wick re-enters the fold in order to exact his revenge, we are introduced to a whole secret society with its own rules and language and secret bases and authorities. These aren’t lone wolf renegades. These are respected members of a highly organized civilization. It’s neat, and makes me want to see more films set in this world.

Wick also has a wonderful cast, with familiar and welcome faces continuing to pop up throughout the movie. I won’t name names because, despite there not being any major surprise celebrity cameos, there is a joy in seeing these character actors pop up unexpectedly and do their thing.

My one complaint is that the action could have used more variety. The film focuses exclusively on quick, visceral gunplay and even that can wear out its welcome. You will see Keanu shoot tons of people in the head, and by the end you’re really gonna wish you could see him do something different. Some hand to hand or a stealthy hide and seek sequence would have worked wonders.