John Wick

The title character in John Wick rarely raises his voice, preferring to let his fists and vast array of weaponry get his point across.

Even if that sort of macho posturing seems to be right off the action-hero assembly line, it’s given a fresh spin in this stylish vigilante thriller.

Keanu Reeves plays Wick, who is haunted by nightmares of a tragedy involving his wife (Bridget Moynahan) before his coveted 1967 Mustang is stolen by a young Russian thug (Alfie Allen) trying to turn a quick buck on the black market.

The thief is later informed — first by a small-time parts dealer (John Leguizamo) and later by his mobster father (Michael Nyqvist) — that he’s stolen from the wrong man, namely a ruthless former assassin who “once killed three men with a pencil.” Thus begins Wick’s methodical quest for revenge, which causes him to revisit several relationships from his past, with allies and enemies and some who might be a little of each.

Rookie director Chad Stahelski is a veteran stuntman who has doubled for Reeves throughout his career, although the 50-year-old Reeves proves plenty capable of handling the physicality of the role.

There’s nothing especially groundbreaking going on here. Yet Stahelski’s appreciation for action scenes and stunt work comes across in a well-paced and visually striking series of confrontations and fight sequences, including a particularly brutal episode in a nightclub that’s certain to please genre aficionados.

The film manages to avoid a common pitfall of these sorts of urban revenge flicks by not taking itself too seriously. It earns a demerit, however, for the distracting use of stylized subtitles.

In terms of emotional complexity, the screenplay by Derek Kolstad — this is his first film that’s not a direct-to-DVD release starring Dolph Lundgren — is pretty shallow and manipulative, especially in the first reel, when it transparently tries to generate sympathy for its hero using a cute beagle puppy.

But things pick up after that, once the film realizes that character development isn’t as important as the ensuing nocturnal game of cat-and-mouse involving abundant chases, explosions, and shootouts. That’s where John Wick really packs a punch.

Rated R, 101 minutes.