WHAT MAKES ‘JOHN WICK’ WORK SO WELL?

By Amery Atinon (G11) The movie franchise “John Wick” has been described by critics as one of the best action films ever produced. The experience of seeing Keanu Reeves’s character, the eponymous assassin, in violent action scenes against people who have wronged him is simply unmatched by anything else.

On the surface, however, it seems that nothing really separates “John Wick” from the thousands of other mindless action films. It is very clear, though, that Chad Stahelski, Keanu’s former stunt double, and David Leitch, the directors of all three installments, have done something very well in creating their masterpiece. Through its subtle worldbuilding, mysterious characters, and expertly done fight scenes, ‘John Wick’ became a franchise rivalling the greatest movies ever made.

This review does not contain spoilers.

Worldbuilding Without Words

Typical stories create their worlds by having a character who is the stand-in for the audience or through flashbacks. “John Wick” does both, but strays far from other films in its subtlety.

An “audience surrogate” is a character in the film who experiences events that give the viewer context behind what the story is truly about. In the original “Star Wars” trilogy, Luke Skywalker’s point of view in the story gives the audience clues about George Lucas’ envisioned world. His adventures show the power struggle between the Rebels and the Empire. In ‘John Wick,’ the Boogeyman himself, John Wick, acts as the audience surrogate. Despite this, he does not speak to the audience to explain exposition; his actions, such as giving a police officer a gold coin as hush money, show that he is part of a system where respected “criminals” are allowed impunity. The franchise is a prime example of “Show, don’t tell,” due to its effective low-key way of telling a story.

More than worldbuilding, the “John Wick” series is able to create subtle, yet interesting, exposition. Over the entire three movies, there is only one major flashback which involves John and his wife. Right before his wife died of a terminal illness, she arranged a dog to be given to John Wick as somewhat of a surrogate of her. When, as a major plot point for the first film, Russian gangsters murder that dog, viewers would remember the flashbacks, making the action of the villains a lot more impactful and gives a motivation for John Wick’s actions throughout the rest of the film. As a heavy neo-noir film akin to “Sin City,” the creators of “John Wick” must have realized the importance of worldbuilding without words.

Simple, Yet Memorable, Characters

The franchise’s characters are not exactly complex. A lot of them can be summed up in a single thought or idea, yet this simplicity can also create some of the most memorable characters.

The secondary villain of the first movie is Iosef Tarasov, played by Alfie Allen. His entire character can be summarized as a rich mobster kid. He is the one who killed John Wick’s dog over a minor dispute. Given the popularity of dogs, killing one, especially in today’s society, is a despicable and outrageous move. This simple act is pretty jarring to the viewer, which helps the viewer remember Tarasov more vividly.

The movie does not give any backstory to Tarasov’s character, but he still remains an unforgettable part of the first film. For a decently long film, Tarasov is one of the many characters who barely get exposition or depth in any part of the movie. Viewers would see him as just a stereotypically evil villain, and yet it seems that Tarasov remains one of the movie’s many memorable characters.

Other characters such as John’s friend, Marcus, played by Willem Dafoe, Winston, the hotel manager played by Ian McShane, and even the main villain, Viggo Tarasov, played by the deceased Michael Nyqvist, remain as memorable as they are even if many of them do not get a last name for reasons similar to Tarasov’s own character. Most action movies try to add depth to their characters by giving long stretches of exposition, but the creators of “John Wick” seem to have realized through the use of subtle details to tell stories, it is possible to make simple, yet memorable, characters.

The clear implications these characters have in the story, adding onto the subtle storytelling that makes these characters interesting without much exposition, makes these characters simply memorable. Viggo, in particular, is seen becoming more unhinged as he starts smoking, drinking, and taking drugs to cope with the movie’s events.

Blue Light, Red Light

The “John Wick” series is littered with many subtle, but impactful, details that serve to make the films as pleasing to watch as they are. An iconic part of the series is its color palette. This is most evident in scenes where John “wins” having a blue color palette, with scenes where he “loses” having a red palette. This appears almost constantly, with mixed colors for uncertain events. Color palettes are just one of many cinematic techniques the directors have used to enhance the movies’ plot.

More prominently seen in the second and third iterations of the franchise, many shots would show the reflections of characters instead of themselves. For example, if John was standing next to a puddle, the cinematography opts to show his face reflecting off of the puddle rather than a normal shot of him. As noted by CinemaWins in his video series about the film series, having to edit out the cameramen from the shot would have been extremely difficult.

These shots are unique and set the series apart from other action films, showing a high degree of effort and care from the filmmakers.

In the actual fight scenes, John uses several martial arts techniques, with the bonus of straight-up shooting people. Keanu Reeves, who plays John Wick, is no stranger to doing his own stunts. He has starred in action films such as “The Matrix” and clearly has the experience to improve a movie’s quality, even undergoing military-esque training for his stunts at the age of 50. One of the main features attracting audience members is the series’ amazing choreography, involving several fighting styles such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Japanese jiu-jitsu, and Judo.

The unfiltered, and even uncut, fights have become characteristic of the “John Wick” series. In the second movie, a particular fight with a fellow assassin ends with the assassin getting a knife in his aorta, with John claiming that had he pulled the knife out, the assassin would have bled out and died. This is definitely violent, but the realism that is still apparent among all these insane action stunts makes the film more enjoyable for viewers.

In the third movie, John fights Japanese ninja-assassins and ends up using melee weapons. One of them gets blades thrown into his torso, while the other has his eye stabbed. Gruesome and violent, these scenes have raised the movies’ age rating to R-16, but have become an iconic part of the series.

These characteristics are a testament to the effort that the film’s creators have put into making the movie stand out among an oversaturated genre. It has become apparent that “John Wick” has a lot of important cinematic qualities going for it, from its worldbuilding, to its unspoken character details, to its cinematography and choreography.

“John Wick” is not just another brainless action film; it is a series that is beloved, not just by fans, but by everyone involved in its production. When one stops to appreciate how much love and detail was poured into every individual scene, the word “masterpiece” does not seem so far off.

Tour’e De force:

A STROKE OF GENIUS

By Andrei Ledesma (G11)

From the depths of Xavier School’s indie-dominated music scene, Tour’e De Force is able to bring something new to the table. By bridging elements of rock with the distinct groove of funk music, the members are able to come up with their own unique sound that never fails to get the audience going. In an interview conducted over the summer, they sat down to talk about their creative direction, their experiences as a band, and prove themselves to be a force to be reckoned with.

It all goes back to 2017, when guitarist John Pena met his future bandmate, Mitchell Lu, in the school guitar club. Given that they had similar tastes in music, John says they, “got along pretty quickly.”

The duo began making music together and eventually considered the possibility of forming a band. The next person who joined their group was Joshua Chung, the sole bassist in the guitar club. Mitchell then invited drummer Berton Baladad, who in turn found their main vocalist, Gian Marcorde.

Initially known as The Firm in their earlier days, the band was heavily influenced by classic rock music. The group took inspiration from the likes of Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and Pink Floyd.

They eventually rebranded themselves as “Tour’e De Force,” a French phrase that refers to an outstanding feat accomplished with a high degree of ability. According to John, the band’s name was derived from the Al Di Meola album of the same title. When they pitched the idea to Mr. James Rivera-- one of the teachers supportive of the band’s efforts, he suggested that they add the letter “E” to their name to make it sound more unique— just like the music the band has to offer.

Tour’e De Force has been known to go against the grain-- expanding their work to different genres and experimenting with various styles. The members familiarized themselves with the strong bass lines and complex rhythms funk music has to offer and incorporated these elements into their rock-oriented playing style. Their versatility as a funk-rock band is clearly demonstrated in their covers of “Radio Shack’’ by Vulpeck and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen, songs by artists the band considers major influences. This versatility is something that the band takes pride in, especially since it is one of the few bands in Xavier-- if not the only-- that plays with this unique style.

This distinctiveness is what propelled the band to play on the stage of many school events. Tour’e De Force has a long list of performances under its belt, including A-Day and the annual school fair. It was also supposed to play at the cancelled XS-ICA Interaction of 2019. As a matter of fact, the earthquake which led to the event being cancelled took place while the band was conducting a soundcheck for its show the following day.

But among all its performances, the band considers their Graduation Ball 2019 gig to be the most memorable-- and also the most nerve-wracking. Joshua explained that unlike their

TOUR’E DE FORCE PERFORMING AT THE XAVIER SCHOOL FAIR

previous sets where they would just play in the background while everyone’s attention was diverted someplace else, they were put under the spotlight. It was the largest audience they have ever had packed into a single room and all eyes were on them. There was no room for mistakes.

To prepare for this, they rented out a studio for them to practice the same three songs they would perform two weeks prior to the event. It was moments like this that brought the group closer together despite its very busy schedules.

The members of the band all agree that the Graduation Ball was a night to remember. Aside from delivering a powerful performance, they were able to solidify their friendships by making even more memories in each other’s company. Joshua even narrated how he almost broke a glass door at the events place and was scolded by a guard for doing so, evoking laughter from the rest of the band with the recollection.

Tour’e De Force is known for its masterful renditions of a variety of songs but when asked if the members had plans to make original music, there was an awkward silence followed by laughter. “We were going to,” Mitchell answered.

He explained that they had made many attempts to write their own songs in the past, though these never materialized. John added to this by saying that, “when songwriting comes to people’s heads, they think it’s not that hard. You just need lyrics. But when you’re in a band, you have different people with different ideas and it becomes a struggle to come up with something. The writing becomes convoluted since the ideas conflict.”

For this reason, they plan to continue doing what they are good at while recently deciding to focus on playing alt-rock instrumental music. At the end of the day, what matters to John, Mitchell, Joshua, Berton, and Gian is the camaraderie the group fosters brought about by their common passion for music. They have been at it for four years, enjoying every moment they play together as a band. This supports their belief that music is a force that brings people together, that unites people despite their differences.

The members of Tour’e De Force are grateful for the supportive teachers and schoolmates who share the same passion as they do. They believe that Xavier School has a lot of homegrown talent-- something that can be nurtured if the school provided more opportunities for their students to hone these gifts. They hope that in the future, other student creatives will be given the same chances to showcase their talents the same way they did.

Listen to the band’s music at Tour’e De Force’s Soundcloud page and follow them on Instagram at @ touredeforce .