Hear me out: The Lion, the Wick, and the Wardrobe
February 17, 2021 1:34 AM Subscribe
“The thing that makes Wick so beautiful is that what he gets Pulled Back Into is not the standard revenge fantasy. Instead being Pulled Back In means literally entering another world, hidden within pockets of our own. Because in addition to being a great action movie, John Wick is a portal fantasy.”
Thanks.
Lord, my brain is turning to mush.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:11 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Lord, my brain is turning to mush.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:11 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Mod note: Fixed main link.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane (staff) at 2:38 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane (staff) at 2:38 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
I have been meaning to watch John Wick for a while now and this was the kick in the pants I needed. Muchas gracias.
posted by East14thTaco at 3:51 AM on February 17, 2021
posted by East14thTaco at 3:51 AM on February 17, 2021
Great piece, thanks for posting, Ghidorah.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:33 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by soundguy99 at 4:33 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Time to check out the isekai highlight of the new anime season, I Can’t Believe It! I’ve Been Trapped in the Criminal Underworld
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:51 AM on February 17, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:51 AM on February 17, 2021 [3 favorites]
Ooh, yeah, I liked this. I have a friend who uses the John Wick franchise as a comfort movie when she's feeling down--I'm totally going to link her to the article.
posted by theatro at 5:05 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by theatro at 5:05 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
This echoes a lot of my thoughts about the movies starting with JW: Chapter 2. I was able to digest the first film as merely an over-the-top John Woo-influenced gun-fu movie, but the second reminded me more of the complicated background mythology of certain urban fantasy settings, especially White Wolf's "World of Darkness" RPGs from the '90s. It felt like the writers were trying to take that level of worldbuilding and apply it to a non-supernatural setting, removing the literal vampires and werewolves but keeping all of the secret clans and parallel world history.
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:25 AM on February 17, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:25 AM on February 17, 2021 [11 favorites]
Everything they say in this article is everything I _really_ want from any action adventure movie. And really only the G. del Toro movies ever succeed at (though the 2nd PacificRim movie did ok at this) - I want the terrific choreography but I also want the steps out of the quotidian. I want the hint of a 'special' world and then an invitation and lastly, a tour.
John Wick... is pretty 'effing violent - like, at times not much more than that, just violence on top of violence until, like Hersey's chocolate, it doesn't have much to do with the real thing anymore. But there are those slippery moments, like the appearance of Motherfucking Morpheus HimFuckingSelf!!! where the film slips not only on a meta level over to another plane but the story opens up, in a story-faithful logical way, even more. And that's pretty damn satisfying.
I, too, look forward to part 4. There has to be a part 4.
posted by From Bklyn at 5:39 AM on February 17, 2021 [4 favorites]
John Wick... is pretty 'effing violent - like, at times not much more than that, just violence on top of violence until, like Hersey's chocolate, it doesn't have much to do with the real thing anymore. But there are those slippery moments, like the appearance of Motherfucking Morpheus HimFuckingSelf!!! where the film slips not only on a meta level over to another plane but the story opens up, in a story-faithful logical way, even more. And that's pretty damn satisfying.
I, too, look forward to part 4. There has to be a part 4.
posted by From Bklyn at 5:39 AM on February 17, 2021 [4 favorites]
East14thTaco, just to warn you... My wife and I started watching the first movie as some mindless, turn-off-your-brain-on-Friday-night fun. Soon came the death of a puppy, we noped the fuck out. We both almost threw up.
posted by notsnot at 6:21 AM on February 17, 2021
posted by notsnot at 6:21 AM on February 17, 2021
If it helps, the movie also considers the death of that gorgeous little puppy to be an unforgivable sin; a lot of mafiosos die because one of them had the gall to kill that puppy.
posted by Merus at 7:07 AM on February 17, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by Merus at 7:07 AM on February 17, 2021 [8 favorites]
Understood. Just wanted to put the warning out there. It was lurid, almost pornographic.
posted by notsnot at 8:26 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by notsnot at 8:26 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Nobody is a collaboration between the guys behind John Wick and the guy behind Hardcore Henry. Lots of folks speculate that it takes place in an expanded John Wick universe.
It definitely has a similar feel of being a portal fantasy. It has the same idea of "pocket world" within our own, driven by the criminal underworld.
Also, on a personal note, it sure feels like a portal fantasy when it stars Bob fucking Odenkirk.
I remember the Mr. Show with Bob and David days and I just gotta say, it feels like a portal to a different fucking universe seeing him in an action movie instead of a comedy movie.
posted by deadaluspark at 8:28 AM on February 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
It definitely has a similar feel of being a portal fantasy. It has the same idea of "pocket world" within our own, driven by the criminal underworld.
Also, on a personal note, it sure feels like a portal fantasy when it stars Bob fucking Odenkirk.
I remember the Mr. Show with Bob and David days and I just gotta say, it feels like a portal to a different fucking universe seeing him in an action movie instead of a comedy movie.
posted by deadaluspark at 8:28 AM on February 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yeah, Nobody looks to be an interesting twist on a similar premise. Odenkirk's character is also A Very Dangerous Person who is Pulled Back In. But in this case, it's not a matter of They Messed With the Wrong Guy; it's a matter of the violence that is within him festering until it pops and he cannot hide it anymore. Everything that happens to him he seems to bring on himself.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:31 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:31 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
If Nobody does well and SNL lets Bob Odenkirk host and write sketches (Bob used to write for SNL) making fun of his own movie, the circle will be complete.
posted by deadaluspark at 8:45 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by deadaluspark at 8:45 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
I mean it also looks like it's going to be viscerally enjoyable and darkly hilarious to see an apparent nebbish kick serious ass. But there's thematic potential there in the idea that him boiling over is the start of everything bad that happens to him.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:48 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:48 AM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Nah, tdismukes, the main link is here https://www.tor.com/2020/05/20/what-if-i-told-you-john-wick-was-a-portal-fantasy/ -- I too keep getting drawn back in to the unending March 2020.
(I mean, I think I enjoyed this break-down first time around, but John Wick doesn't need a lot of explanation. It is a solid series of movies and does have a lot of well-choreographed, long time-of-shot fight scenes as Wick goes to set right the murder of the puppy bought by his deceased wife and the theft of his beloved car.)
posted by k3ninho at 9:19 AM on February 17, 2021
(I mean, I think I enjoyed this break-down first time around, but John Wick doesn't need a lot of explanation. It is a solid series of movies and does have a lot of well-choreographed, long time-of-shot fight scenes as Wick goes to set right the murder of the puppy bought by his deceased wife and the theft of his beloved car.)
posted by k3ninho at 9:19 AM on February 17, 2021
I have only seen the first John Wick and I liked it a lot, but I'm surprised that the article says this stuff is subtle in the first movie. To my mind it was incredibly obvious that this was taking place in a fantastical version of the underworld. I mean they have a secret special hotel just for assassins, with elaborate rules that literally everyone agrees to follow! They have their own secret special currency! Who watched John Wick and thought "sure, sounds legit"?
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:15 AM on February 17, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:15 AM on February 17, 2021 [5 favorites]
Every analysis of the nonsense that are John Wick coins is great because they can never be wrong, nor can they ever be right.
posted by GuyZero at 11:41 AM on February 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 11:41 AM on February 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
The coin thing drives me crazy to the point it drops me out into reality. I mean most transactions are a single coin. Need to get rid of a dead body? 1 coin. 8 bodies? 8 coins. Fancy hotel stay? 1 coin. Pay off someone to look the other way? 1 coin. Taxi ride? 1 coin. Ya there are some multicoin transactions but even those are nonsensical in relative cost. Maybe John is just crazy overpaying but if so why aren't there fractional denominations for everyone else. I figured it was more like a formalized favour system (like those baby sitter co-ops) but even then there are levels of favour.
posted by Mitheral at 12:00 PM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Mitheral at 12:00 PM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
a secret special hotel just for assassins
It's not as goofy as Hotel Artemis where there is a secret hospital for criminals "disguised" as like a twenty story tall hotel (I know) and staffed by one doctor and one nurse (I know!)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:03 PM on February 17, 2021
It's not as goofy as Hotel Artemis where there is a secret hospital for criminals "disguised" as like a twenty story tall hotel (I know) and staffed by one doctor and one nurse (I know!)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:03 PM on February 17, 2021
Some of the coins are chocolate.
posted by gottabefunky at 12:42 PM on February 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by gottabefunky at 12:42 PM on February 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
John Wick is NOT an Isekai
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:46 PM on February 17, 2021
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:46 PM on February 17, 2021
We both almost threw up.
Wait until you find out what happens to literally 100's of human beings right after you stopped watching.
posted by sideshow at 1:19 PM on February 17, 2021 [5 favorites]
Wait until you find out what happens to literally 100's of human beings right after you stopped watching.
posted by sideshow at 1:19 PM on February 17, 2021 [5 favorites]
This, and many other of the film's themes, analysed here. Also a couple helpful details for those disturbed by the horrifying animal violence: Andy, the puppy actor, was of course fine and made an appearance at the premiere, and apparently the actor who had to perform the deed onscreen spent all his time between takes ignoring everyone else to play with the dog.
Normally I find action films achingly tedious, but surprisingly this had the same kind of singleminded purpose and ruthless efficiency that makes Fury Road endlessly rewatchable for me.
posted by myotahapea at 2:23 PM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Normally I find action films achingly tedious, but surprisingly this had the same kind of singleminded purpose and ruthless efficiency that makes Fury Road endlessly rewatchable for me.
posted by myotahapea at 2:23 PM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
I figured it was more like a formalized favour system (like those baby sitter co-ops) but even then there are levels of favour.
I think the movie makes it fairly clear that this is what they are, markers that means someone owes you a favor rather than actual currency. I don't think there are levels of favors in this world, though: one coin just entitles you to one thing done for you, whatever that is.
a secret special hotel just for assassins
The exterior shots of The Continental Hotel are of the Beaver Building in the Financial District. There used to be a decent sushi restaurant on the ground floor, and it really took me out of the movie every time they walked up the steps and into the place I'd have in lunch now and then.
posted by star gentle uterus at 2:27 PM on February 17, 2021 [4 favorites]
I think the movie makes it fairly clear that this is what they are, markers that means someone owes you a favor rather than actual currency. I don't think there are levels of favors in this world, though: one coin just entitles you to one thing done for you, whatever that is.
a secret special hotel just for assassins
The exterior shots of The Continental Hotel are of the Beaver Building in the Financial District. There used to be a decent sushi restaurant on the ground floor, and it really took me out of the movie every time they walked up the steps and into the place I'd have in lunch now and then.
posted by star gentle uterus at 2:27 PM on February 17, 2021 [4 favorites]
I just rewatched the puppy scene and don't think that the actual filming of the killing of the puppy is particularly lurid; it's done out of shot and then shown at a distance, mostly out of focus. However, the puppy is incredibly adorable and is introduced in a very sentimental and emotional way that made the scene feel very upsetting beyond the visuals themselves. (I've only ever watched the beginning of the movie once, and it did wreck me.)
In any case, if you want a little more emotional detachment, the adorable puppy is killed around 15 minutes into John Wick; if you start from 16 minutes or so (in a chop shop) or perhaps 20 minutes (Michael Nyqvist's bearded crime boss on a rooftop) you will miss basically nothing other than that John Wick really wants revenge.
posted by Superilla at 2:55 PM on February 17, 2021 [4 favorites]
In any case, if you want a little more emotional detachment, the adorable puppy is killed around 15 minutes into John Wick; if you start from 16 minutes or so (in a chop shop) or perhaps 20 minutes (Michael Nyqvist's bearded crime boss on a rooftop) you will miss basically nothing other than that John Wick really wants revenge.
posted by Superilla at 2:55 PM on February 17, 2021 [4 favorites]
But ... that's not a Portal Fantasy. If the other world is "hidden within pockets of our own", it's explicitly NOT a Portal Fantasy, at least not by any definition I've ever heard. It's an Urban Fantasy of the type where the fantasy elements are hidden from the normal world at large but co-exist alongside them, sharing the same geographical space. Like Harry Potter ... which is used as a reference in the article multiple times even though it is ALSO NOT A PORTAL FANTASY. I'm so confused.
posted by kyrademon at 6:22 PM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by kyrademon at 6:22 PM on February 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
But ... that's not a Portal Fantasy. If the other world is "hidden within pockets of our own", it's explicitly NOT a Portal Fantasy, at least not by any definition I've ever heard.
Thank you. I’ve been muttering that at the screen every time I scroll by, yet I haven’t had time to comment. A portal fantasy is about going to a completely different world, not a world that is hidden in the “real” world. Harry Potter, not an example of a portal fantasy because a significant number of wizards live in both worlds. They live in Surbiton or wherever and commute to Diagon Alley every day. Hogwarts is physically present, but can’t be reached by muggles. No one takes the train from Narnia every day.
My hot take is that John Wick and Twilight exist in the same universe and Michael Sheen’s club of camp vampires has been banned from holding their orgies in the assassin hotels even though they show up with buckets of coins.
posted by betweenthebars at 6:57 AM on February 18, 2021
Thank you. I’ve been muttering that at the screen every time I scroll by, yet I haven’t had time to comment. A portal fantasy is about going to a completely different world, not a world that is hidden in the “real” world. Harry Potter, not an example of a portal fantasy because a significant number of wizards live in both worlds. They live in Surbiton or wherever and commute to Diagon Alley every day. Hogwarts is physically present, but can’t be reached by muggles. No one takes the train from Narnia every day.
My hot take is that John Wick and Twilight exist in the same universe and Michael Sheen’s club of camp vampires has been banned from holding their orgies in the assassin hotels even though they show up with buckets of coins.
posted by betweenthebars at 6:57 AM on February 18, 2021
The urban fantasy angle only seems subtle in the first movie in comparison to the sequels, where they triple-down on it. They also don't kill the dog in the sequels if that's what puts you off the first one.
Harry Potter hides Hogwarts out of sight of any muggle cities, which might start getting away from the Urban part of Urban Fantasy. So I can forgive the portal interpretation there.
But John Wick very much emphasizes that this passerby on the street, this panhandler, this taxi driver, this tailor, could be part of it, if you just recognize the special signals and / or have a gold coin.
posted by RobotHero at 10:35 AM on February 18, 2021
Harry Potter hides Hogwarts out of sight of any muggle cities, which might start getting away from the Urban part of Urban Fantasy. So I can forgive the portal interpretation there.
But John Wick very much emphasizes that this passerby on the street, this panhandler, this taxi driver, this tailor, could be part of it, if you just recognize the special signals and / or have a gold coin.
posted by RobotHero at 10:35 AM on February 18, 2021
They also don't kill the dog in the sequels if that's what puts you off the first one.
A dog is shot out of the blue in #3, but because it's an assassin dog it is naturally wearing a protective vest and ends up OK. Because there are two dogs in that scene, those who aren't paying close attention (like me) might be a little unclear about the status of the dog for several minutes.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:48 AM on February 18, 2021
A dog is shot out of the blue in #3, but because it's an assassin dog it is naturally wearing a protective vest and ends up OK. Because there are two dogs in that scene, those who aren't paying close attention (like me) might be a little unclear about the status of the dog for several minutes.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:48 AM on February 18, 2021
Y'all may find some use out of Does the Dog Die?
ETA: it's been expanded to support many other trigger categories, also.
posted by RustyBrooks at 11:52 AM on February 18, 2021
ETA: it's been expanded to support many other trigger categories, also.
posted by RustyBrooks at 11:52 AM on February 18, 2021
But John Wick very much emphasizes that this passerby on the street, this panhandler, this taxi driver, this tailor, could be part of it, if you just recognize the special signals and / or have a gold coin.
Yeah, I feel like that is where it differs from a portal fantasy like Neverwhere (mentioned in the essay) even though they might have similar aesthetics. London and London Below are like a mirror and its reflection, they don't and can't occupy the same space.
posted by betweenthebars at 5:03 PM on February 18, 2021
Yeah, I feel like that is where it differs from a portal fantasy like Neverwhere (mentioned in the essay) even though they might have similar aesthetics. London and London Below are like a mirror and its reflection, they don't and can't occupy the same space.
posted by betweenthebars at 5:03 PM on February 18, 2021
Agreed. Special means are required to get from London to London Below. But if you miss the "portal" to Hogwarts, you could just take a Cessna or something.
posted by kyrademon at 4:26 AM on February 19, 2021
posted by kyrademon at 4:26 AM on February 19, 2021
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posted by tdismukes at 1:47 AM on February 17, 2021 [2 favorites]