Hollywood Has a John Wick Problem

The John Wick film series debuted in 2014 to high praise and full on meme status. The film stars Keanu Reeves, who will soon return to his role as Neo in The Matrix: Resurrections, and centers around retired assassin John Wick. John is mourning the loss of his wife, with his dog (as you do), when he becomes the subject of a break-in, which leads to the death of said dog. This sends him on a rampage, fighting an entire mob and giving us the background of the infamous “John Wick”.

The idea of a highly skilled assassin is nothing new in Hollywood. It’s the same basis for characters like James Bond: the cool, suave person who is badass and kills people proficiently. But since John Wick came on the scene we’ve seen LOTS of John Wick-esque copies. I’m starting to see “It’s like John Wick but with _____” as loglines.

And that’s a problem.

Enter Netflix’s newest film, Kate. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fun movie, although flawed. Entertaining, exciting, great actors (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Woody Harrelson). But it has been pitched as “John Wick, but a woman”. Which coincidentally was also the same pitch for films like Gunpowder Milkshake, Peppermint, Anna, Atomic Blonde, etc. All fun films in their own right, but they definitely suffer from the comparison. Kate is pretty spot on to the plot of a lot of these assassin films. Her company turns on her because she wanted out or wouldn’t do a job she morally disagreed with, and she’s now on the run to hunt down those who try to kill her. The film is getting some comparisons to Tarantino’s Kill Bill, which, aside from the geographic setting (Tokyo), I only see it in the strong female lead. The biggest difference between them is that in this film, Kate is gonna die. Of course you hold out hope for her to not die, and you’ll have to watch to see if it plays out that way. But that’s the plot. She has 24 hours to live and goes on a killing spree to get revenge.

Still from the film Kate, Mary Elizabeth Winstead smoking a cigarette.

This isn’t even exclusive to female-led films either. The Matrix: Resurrections trailer features Keanu Reeves sporting his usual John Wick attire, long hair, beard, black suit. Which in all fairness is basically just Keanu Reeves attire. But the John Wick persona lends a lot to the look and feel of Reeves’ performance. Reeves has a history of being the somewhat stoic hero. From way back (post Bill & Ted) to the Point Break days. Even in his stint in the Drama/Rom-Com era (The Lake House). It’s just the character he plays. (For those of you who are huge Rom-Com fans I highly recommend Always Be My Maybe which stars Ali Wong (Birds of Prey) and Randall Park (WandaVision) who are both absolutely hilarious. Reeves plays “himself” in this and it’s just…*chefs kiss*.)

So where did the obsession with the John Wick plot come from? It isn't an entirely new idea. La Femme Nikkita did the female version long before Reeves. To an extent, we even saw it with Leon: The Professional. And of course I would take lots of flak from cinephiles if I didn’t mention Soderbergh's The Limey. Hollywood has long been obsessed with the machismo and suave nature of the good guy assassin. Everyone loves an anti-hero. The reluctant “I’m a bad guy but I still have morals”. Unfortunately, recently we’ve seen it turn into just emulating the bad guy without understanding why they are the bad guy (cc: The Joker).

Here’s the other thing. From a purely financial perspective, John Wick wasn’t a crazy box office hit. With an estimated budget of $20m, it only took in roughly $14m opening weekend. Most would consider that a bomb. Of course it went on to earn $86m worldwide and untold VOD monies as well. Which in retrospect seems odd given the huge buzz and meme status of the whole film. I mean, he has his own Fortnite skin for crying out loud. John Wick 2 went roughly the same path. Getting double the budget at $40m and only pulling in $30m opening weekend. However, it saw a total gross of $171m worldwide at the end of its theatrical release, which is impressive. From a producer standpoint, it’s apparent this is a money maker.

But this is the current fad among action films (ex: zombies when The Walking Dead came out). Comic book-based films have definitely dominated the box office the past 12+ years and likely will for the foreseeable future. And while I know I’ll be lined up for John Wick 4, we should have more to choose from than a high speed car chase, a superhero, or a John Wick clone to get some satisfying action. Here’s hoping The Matrix: Resurrections brings back the era of sci-fi action.

Will you be lining up with me for John Wick 4, or are you tired of our favorite assassin?

Films to check out if this genre is your jam: Lady Vengeance, The Limey, Gunpowder Milkshake, Hotel Artemis, Leon: The Professional, Hannah, and a Never Heard Of It fav, The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot.

ALSO YOU HAVE TO WATCH POLAR.

For a lighthearted version: Mr. Right, The Spy Who Dumped Me, The Hitman’s Bodyguard

Michael Fight is the host of Never Heard Of It and The Storyteller Series. You can also follow him Twitter. Check out his IMDb page here.

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