A retired hitman (Keanu Reeves) mourning the loss of his wife receives a prearranged gift from her in the form of a puppy to act as a surrogate companion. Soon some punks, and kin to a Russian mob syndicate follow him home, rob him, and kill the poor defenseless creature. Obviously, the assassin forced out of retirement and forced to scorch the earth of these foul parasites. Setting aside Reeves' stoic appeal here, John Wick is brainless, senseless violence made for the Call of Duty crowd, in a completely routine revenge script that speaks to the insanity of dog nation, here justifying scores of bullet strewn bodies as retaliation for the death of one pup.
** out of ****
