John Wick

John Wick is a 2014 American action thriller, written by Derek Kolstad and made by Chad Stahelski and David Leitch. The credits name only Stahelski as director, while Leitch worked on the direction without a director credit. Both had previously worked as stunt performers and stunt coordinators and founded the action and stunt company 87Eleven. Keanu Reeves plays the lead role. John Wick, a former hitman, receives a puppy after his wife's death, sent to him by her. Russian gangsters break into his house, kill the puppy and steal his car. John comes out of retirement to take revenge. The film's fighting style combines grappling martial arts with firing a firearm. It focuses on restricting the opponent's limbs with the left hand so that the right stays free for the gun. Reeves prepared for the role for four months, several hours a day, training judo, Japanese jujutsu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and arnis, plus tactical shooting with the Los Angeles SWAT and Navy SEALs. Michael Nyqvist learned sambo for the role of Viggo Tarasov, which fits the character's background as a street brawler. Gun-fu, a style that combines martial arts with firearms and whose beginnings are attributed to John Woo's 1986 Hong Kong film A Better Tomorrow, is strongly represented in John Wick. The film started a series with three sequels from 2017, 2019 and 2023, the prequel series The Continental (2023) and the spin-off Ballerina (2025).

Martial arts in this work

Origin

Derek Kolstad wrote the script under the working title Scorn. Bruce Willis was attached to it first, then Keanu Reeves, who rewrote the script with Kolstad. Reeves recommended Chad Stahelski and David Leitch as action choreographers or directors, whom he knew from the filming of the first three Matrix films. They insisted that they would direct the whole film. As their vision they presented the story of a hitman in a realistic tone, set in an unusual world in which John is an urban legend. The credits name only Stahelski as director. Leitch has a producer credit because the rules of the Directors Guild of America prevent two directors from being credited.

Fight choreography

The film's fighting style was developed by J. J. Perry, the stunt coordinator who supervised an earlier film and also choreographed the Red Circle nightclub sequence. For John Wick it was developed further by 87Eleven collaborators, among them Jonathan Eusebio and Jon Valera. Training took place at the 87Eleven Productions facility, which also had obstacle courses for the home-invasion scenes. Adrianne Palicki trained judo and jujutsu for several months and spent two weeks learning the choreography of her fight with Reeves. The directors chose long takes with a wide view of the action instead of quick cuts and close-ups, and used editing mainly to hide mistakes. The budget led to this as well: one camera and no time for wire tricks. The fight during the break-in at John's home won the 2015 Taurus World Stunt Award for Best Fight. According to Variety, the action sequences are praised for their skill, and The Atlantic and The New York Times praised the long takes.

People and martial arts

• Chad StahelskiDirector
• David LeitchDirector
• 87ElevenFight choreographer
• Jonathan EusebioFight choreographer
• Jon ValeraFight choreographer
• Keanu ReevesActor — as John Wick· Judo (portrays the art on screen)
• Michael NyqvistActor — as Viggo Tarasov· Sambo (portrays the art on screen)
• Adrianne PalickiActor — as Ms. Perkins· Judo (portrays the art on screen)
• J. J. PerryStunt coordinator
• Darrin PrescottStunt coordinator

Awards

• Won · Taurus World Stunt Awards, Best Fight (2015)