Just a Quickie Please: John Wick

Neo is back and badder than ever.  This unique take on the rehashed concept of the old dog called back to do new tricks has far more bite than bark.  Keanu is not known for his thespiantic range, and yes I just made that word up, but he actually has a fairly authentic and moving scene in this action flick. Other than that, the martial artistry and well-choreographed fight sequences have Morpheus' fingerprints all over it.  It is a solid story built on a truly unoriginal idea and props to director, Basil Iwanyk, for his thoroughly engaging fabrication of the assassin underworld.  His interpretation and film style feels unmistakably reminiscent of Gibson's, bad guy who's a good guy only because he is the least repulsive of the bad guys, Payback flick.  A.O.S's Bobbi, Adrianne Palicki, provides a cool cameo as a femme fatale and Dafoe interjects his eerie suave into a few key spots as well.   This is a true guy flick so don't look for anything deeper than the surface of the first bullet's entry wound.  4 out of 5 Kernels: I would say this is Reeve's comeback feature, but those hopes have been shot down before.  I am just full of puns today aren't I.