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It’s hard to overstate the impact of the firstJohn Wick, which not only rekindled Keanu Reeves’ career at the time, and cemented him as one of the most prolific action stars of our time, it also revitalized the action landscape. Considering how influential theBourneflicks were, many action films post its release, tried to incorporate its shaky cam formula.
While some worked better than others, the trope was done to death by the late 2000s, withTaken 3serving as its worst offender. ButJohn Wickserved as the outlier, which popularized two new components in the genre, usage of long steady takes and gun-fu. But interestingly, not many were in favor of the latter during the film’s production.
Chad Stahelski and David Leitch Held on to Their Guns forJohn Wick
Given how fascinatedChad Stahelksiwas by combining punching, kicking, and jiu-jitsu in his collaborations withJason Statham, Stahelski andDavid Leitchwanted to incorporate the same method forJohn Wick, but with guns. While it proved to be massively successful and earned its own definition, gun-fu, theJohn Wickfilmmakerrecalledthat many in the creative process were initially against it and“hated the idea”.
John Wick Anime Plot: The Daunting Task Keanu Reeves’ Baba Yaga Had to Complete Before He Took Retirement
But like the Baba Yaga from the film, Stahelski and Leitch fought their way through production, and the end result left their skeptics in awe.
Trust me, everybody on the creative side hated the idea. Dave and I had to fight that through production. Once post came and we added the sound and effects, everyone got it.
Interestingly, Stahelski had been planning on bringing his unique approach to action for years up to that point but was rejected on every front. Fortunately,Leitchand the director ensured this wasn’t the case withJohn Wick.
The Long Wide Takes in Keanu Reeves’John WickStemmed From Budget Issues
Although the long steady shots of elaborate gun-fu changed the action landscape after the first film’s success, Stahelski revealed that this was done due to budget concerns. With a limited filming window up their sleeves, they had to incorporate the usage of long and wide takes, as otherwise, the shooting wouldn’t have been feasible.
We did long, wide takes mainly because of the budget. We literally had to shoot fight sequences in a day. So we did long takes doing the gunplay and close fighting and tried to make it feel like a ballet.
What started as a result of budget restriction has continued to influence the modern action scenario, and each subsequentJohn Wickrelease has only improved on the formula, withChapter 4serving as its epitome.
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John Wickis available to rent on Apple TV.
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2539
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
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Chad StahelskiDavid LeitchKeanu Reeves
