The most recent franchised Hollywood action movie I have watched is John Wick, a movie that captures the action genre nicely with its fight choreography, intense emotions, and fast pace. Directed by Chad Stahelski, the movie follows the journey of a retired assassin John Wick, as he jumps back into a violent world of guns, killing, and crime after the loss of his wife and the brutal killing of his dog; a gift from her. This paper examines the moment John wakes to the killing of his dog Daisy after his home was broken into and he was beat by mobsters.
This still depicts a significant emotional moment for John Wick and effectively sets the tone for his transformation back to his action-packed life of guns and violence. The mise-en-scène shows us John’s sadness and loss for his new dog “Daisy” the beagle and his wife through a few key elements. Setting, the scene takes place in John’s intimate home, symbolizing the normal and comfortable life he had come to love with his wife now shattered after she lost her life to cancer just a few days prior. The lighting is dim and warm, creating a mournful atmosphere. While the shadows carry the emotional weight, displaying John’s vulnerability in this moment as he was awoken in the night and beat in his home years out of the “game” and days after his greatest loss. The blood stains everywhere, the dog’s lifeless body, and John’s proximity to the dog serve as symbols. The dog represents his late wife’s love as she sent Daisy to keep him company following her death. It was also carefully placed by Losef and his crew, sending a message to John.
The events leading up to and including the moment at 15:07 and a brief few moments after in John Wick stands out for its storytelling and deliberate use of editing and camera angles to convey John’s emotional and physical vulnerability. The scene features 32 intentional and noticeable camera angle changes, made to increase the tension and allow the viewer to feel John’s grief and trauma. The edits and angles highlight a high degree of violence, including animal abuse, the killing of John’s dog, a violent beating, the use of weapons, bloodshed, injury, theft, and mob-related violence. These elements are made to underline John’s loss and the brutality of the attack that brings him back into the violent world he had left behind for his late wife. The camera angles in this scene are unique and unconventional, emphasizing John’s vulnerability in the moment. The audience is shown tight, crooked shots of John being beat with scenes of him cradling his dog’s dead body. The scene includes low, wide angles that show the emptiness of the space around him; a symbol of how he is feeling. These choices allow us to feel John’s emotions and helplessness in this sad moment. A notable editing choice is the use of quick “blackout” transitions to show John’s grieving process and the unsettling tone of the assault. These quick fades to black are broken up with flashes of John’s mourning, not only for his dog but for his late wife. The blackout technique conveys grief taking over. Together, these edits, cuts, and angles set the tone for Wick’s transformation back to the dark side for his pursuit of justice.
Vanity Fair named John Wick in their top 10 most surprising box office hits of 2014 despite it having a modest budget of $20 million (Robinson 2014). The 2014 movie John Wick achieved significant box office success, earning $86,085,139 worldwide (Box Office Mojo 2024). Its revenue was evenly split between the U.S. market ($43,037,835) and international markets ($43,047,304) (Box Office Mojo 2024). This is notable given the budget, meaning the movie earned more than four times its cost, making it highly profitable explaining why they were able to create sequels making John Wick a known franchise.
Seems as if violence is in fact the answer, at least in the film industry. Of all films containing violence, action stands out as the genre containing the most (Peña and Sarrionandia 2023). Film historians believe that violence has been in film since the very beginning, some saying that it comes from a primordial instinct for bloodshed and cruelty (Kendrick 2010, 33). While watching this scene of John Wick as I cried and empathized with John as he mourned his wife and dog, I wondered to myself: “How does this level violence and cruelty affect others?.” With that, I found research from Maika and Weaver regarding a Women’s response to sexual violence shown in film. In their study over 50% of women felt uncomfortable in some way while watching sexual violence on screen in some cases leading to intense fear, flashbacks, and dissociative symptoms (Maika and Weaver 2022). Further, I discovered that characters and narratives seen on TV can influence personal beliefs on morality (Vaidya and Osman 2024). This scene blends storytelling and violence, setting the stage for dark transformation that could potentially morally impact someone’s behavior which is why I will be saving my mental health and staying away from movies like this one from here on out.
Bibliography
Box Office Mojo. “John Wick.” Box Office Mojo. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt2911666/?ref_=bo_se_r_1.
John Wick. New York, NY, USA: Thunder Road Pictures, 2014.
Maika, Kierra Catherine, and Angela D. Weaver. “Women’s Perceptions of, and Emotional Responses to, Sexual Violence Depicted in Film or Series.” Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality 31, no. 2 (2022): 280–92. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.2022-0023.
Peña, Mikel, and Ainize Sarrionandia. “Mental Health, Violence, Suicide, Self-Harm, and HIV in Series and Films of Netflix: Content Analysis and Its Possible Impacts on Society.” Frontiers in Communication 8 (October 9, 2023). https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1243394.
Robinson, Joanna. “10 Most Surprising Box Office Hits of 2014.” Vanity Fair, November 26, 2014. https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/photos/2014/11/10-most-surprising-box-office-hits-2014.
Vaidya, Ruta, and Yousra Osman. “Disney Characters as Moral Role Models: A Discourse Analysis of Coco and Encanto.” Frontiers in Communication 9 (June 3, 2024). https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.1375133.
Film Violence: History, Ideology, Genre. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010. Accessed November 26, 2024. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Dermot Lonergan
The essay written here by Bronte about one of my favourite movies, and series’: John Wick, was a lot of colourful descriptors and points out certain things that I did not recognize, and also highlights some of my favourite gut-wrenching moments throughout the movie series. This particular scene that is in question is not only a tear jerker, but when it is described under the lens of a director, becomes even more brilliant and more abstract than previously watched. Picking a deeply emotional movie can be a tough task for an assignment like this, as using descriptive writing techniques can be very difficult, but Bronte does a great job keeping me engaged during the reading process.
The in-depth breakdowns of cuts and techniques are worded very impressively, as the flow of grammar and word choice becomes very easy to read and understand. Bronte describes the usage of the extremely violent scenes and the meaning of why it is used, as well as the editing choices made by the director. I would have loved to read a bit more in depth about what Bronte would have wanted edited differently throughout the movie, but that is only a minor idea. The rest of the essay is great and I believe it deserves great marks, not just because John Wick is one of my favourite movies.