It’s fairly common for the Honest Trailers team to revisit an original movie, the week before a sequel arrives, to get fans ready for the follow-up. This week’s Honest Trailer delves into the 2014 cult classicJohn Wick, just days before the highly-anticipated sequelJohn Wick 2hits theaters on February 10. While these Honest Trailers are often heavy on the negativity, this is one of the few Honest Trailers that doesn’t tear the movies to shreds, not too much, at least.
TheScreen Junkiescrew debuted this new video today, which begins with a tagline that is a bit too long, but still hilarious nonetheless: “They stole his car. They killed his dog. Now he’s gonna kill 76 people, who worked for the dad of the kid who killed it.” For those who still haven’t seen theoriginal John Wickyet, it’s a rather thorough description of this throwback action movie, with narratorJon Baileycomparing this movie to action classics likeMax Max,Death WishandLeon: The Professional. This movie combines the “no-nonsense revenge movies of the past,” with some incredible production value.
Jon Baileyalso points out that this is one of the few action movies in recent memory to forgo the use of quick-cut editing and “shaky-cam” fight scenes, a notion he uses to poke fun at an oft-derided sequence inTaken 3, where there are an exorbitant amount of cuts used to showLiam Neeson’s Bryan Mills simply climbing a fence. The narrator also points out that this isKeanu Reeves' eighth and best character named John, and that after this heinous crime against him,John Wickturns “the entire world into a game ofCall of Duty.”
One of the few things the narrator does genuinely poke fun at is the assassin’s underworld, which has its own clean-up service, hotel (Continental Hotel), bar, health care, car service and even an assassin’s jazz band, pointing out that everyone is “way too comfortable” around dead bodies. He also makes fun ofAlfie Allen, who plays Losef Tarasov, the man who killed his dog and stole his car, while comparing this character to hisGame of Thronescharacter Theon Greyjoy. The final jab, though, is atKeanu Reeveshimself, with the narrator pondering whether the actor can finally make a sequel to a beloved action film that doesn’t suck, a not-so-subtle jab atThe Matrix ReloadedandThe Matrix Revolutions.
AfterJohn Wick: Chapter 2hits theaters this weekend, many fans will be waiting to hear if the rumoredJohn Wick 3will move forward. There has also been talk of aJohn Wick prequel TV seriesmoving forward, which would explore the title character’s life as an assassin, and what he did to leave it all behind. While we wait forJohn Wick: Chapter 2to hit theaters on February 10, take a look at thisJohn WickHonest Trailer below.
