You know him as Neo from The Matrix and as Ted from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. But did you know Keanu Reeves has a strange habit of playing guys named John? He was Johnny Utah in the original Point Break, Johnny Mnemonic in, uh, Johnny Mnemonic, and John Wick in John Wick and the new John Wick: Chapter 2. And there are lots more examples. The dude likes playing Johns. As Keanu himself might say: Whoa. That’s just one of the facts featured in the newest episode of You Think You Know Movies!
There are a lot of things to love about what is now the John Wick series — the fighting choreography, the colors, the cast, the story — but the movies also have some very cool posters. While most action movie posters all look like a Star Wars DVD cover these days, John Wick: Chapter 2 has rolled out a few very neat, minimalist images to advertise their film.
John Wick fans have yet to take in the majesty of Keanu Reeves’ return to the role for Chapter 2, but it’s safe to say the eternally un-retiring hitman isn’t saying goodnight after one sequel. So it is, that franchise helmers Chad Stahelski and Derek Kolstad have an eye toward a John Wick TV series, potentially exploring the character’s early days.
There’s nothing quite as much fun as a perfectly conceived and executed supercut. Whether it’s a compilation of movie scenes where Nic Cage loses his mind or a movie dialogue version of one of Lionel Richie’s classic songs, a good supercut is the perfect piece of digital ephemera for movie lovers everywhere. And while most supercuts are fan-made labors of love, at least one studio has noticed the attention given to them and planned its marketing accordingly. So it was that the John Wick ‘Symphony of Violence’ supercut was given unto us, and it was very, very good.
2016 is almost over! Hallelujah! With everything that’s happened in the last 12 months, we can’t wait to rip the last page of our 2016 Spider-Man wall calendar and hang up our 2017 Spider-Man wall calendar.
Sometimes, the best films are the ones with the simplest concepts. For instance, “just 100 minutes of Keanu Reeves beating the pus out of Russian gangsters” turned out to be a premise worth its weight in gold, as if cinema has never really needed more than Keanu in an all-black suit delivering beatdown after beatdown. In 2014, John Wick effortlessly reminded audiences of how competent, how brutal, how downright fun action cinema could and should be, and the studios responded in kind with news of a sequel. But all dogs would do well to watch their little doggy backs in the months to come, because Wick’s got more than a movie on the horizon.
“How good to see you again so soon, Mr. Wick.” Well, not that soon, but soon enough after his first outing to have us properly stoked for John Wick: Chapter 2. The latest trailer for Keanu Reeves’ shoot ’em up follow-up has arrived online, promising bigger and badder things for our favorite would-be-retired assassin — including a canine upgrade.
Our ongoing celebration of the best from the world of film in 2016 continues with our ranking of the finest movie posters of the year. In the gallery above you’ll see our picks for the 25 best. They range from massive hits to to tiny indie releases; we decided not to limit our list just to huge commercial successes. We don’t determine a movie’s quality by its box office totals. Why should we determine a poster’s quality that way?