One of the most popular movies in the past ten years, and easily one of the most influential on American action movies in that time. This is a movie that on the face of it is a simple action movie, which involves a simple plot and Keanu Reeves going around beating bad guys up. Nothing more, nothing less. Honestly, this is how it was explained to me, for a long time and I had little interest in seeing it for that reason. The fact a puppy is killed onscreen made me wish to see it even less.
But then I saw it on a 11 hour flight, and was shocked; the movie is less an action movie using a slain puppy as an excuse for a series of action scenes and more a spiritual movie about grief and the rage of a gentle man.
Tying in with this first viewing of this movie, is a phrase I recently saw online and heard from a family member; “There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.” ― Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man’s Fear.
This last thing, is something as we all know a lot of men even the unwise dread, with John Wick as a character and archetype the perfect personification of this. When his wife dies he succumbs to grief and withdraws into himself. It is only when Daisy his puppy comes along that he begins to thaw and grieve properly, and it is evident that he comes to adore the pup.
All true dog-lovers treat their dogs like they would their children. In some cases I’ve observed them treat their dogs even more gently, so that the dog is part of their very soul. This is what Daisy is to Wick, so that in a lot of ways Daisy lies at the heart of the film and is the personification of John’s very soul and is the physical manifestation not simply of his bond with his wife but also of his inner goodness.
It is she who brings out his gentleness onscreen far more than anything else. A former brutal hit-man and criminal, Daisy heals the wounds of his past and turns him from a grieving former monster, into the very gentlest of men.
The bond between father and puppy cannot be over-stated or over-stressed in how important it is. Daisy is John’s last chance to grieve ‘unalone’ as he puts it, and also for redemption in a way, as she is teaching him to love once more and this time unconditionally.
Wick is also early on shown to be a highly religious man, as he has crosses, latin phrases tatooed all over his body. The message being a clear one; this man is a modern Solomon Kane in a way.
Solomon Kane is a Holy Avenger archetype of sorts. A man sworn to God, and whom is God’s wrath on earth, tasked with hunting down the wicked, the monstrous and bringing them their just deserts.
Because of this, as one person eloquently put it on twitter, John Wick is a slasher movie for the wicked, for mobsters and politicians even as it is a cathartic film for those of us who dislike those particular creatures.
When Viggo’s son brutally murders Daisy, he unleashes John’s fury upon the monsters of the world without realizing it. The reason is not simply that John is a gentle man, but also that he is as mentioned the ‘Wrath of God’, and has lain dormant for 5 years with nary any interest in violence or accomplishing his ‘duties’ so to speak.
If Viggo’s dolt of a son hadn’t done what he did, John would have been content to let the criminal underworld carry on as they had been doing, happy to care for his dog and to ignore the external world.
The trouble for those around him, is that Daisy is murdered. What makes the act worse as Dan put it when we were viewing the film is that it was an entirely unnecessary act. The point had been made, Wick had been humiliated for refusing the boy the Mustang, and the car keys had been found and the vehicle stolen. If they had been content to do just this, and not kill Daisy Wick might well have let things slide.
It’s the killing of Daisy that truly enraged him, and caused him to decide to hunt them down and brutally murder and destroy everything and everyone remotely connected with Viggo’s organization.
The dialogue in this movie is incredibly good, and is to my pleased ears more akin to an older form of English than the pitiful modern one that is spoken so frequently in so many places. Certainly there are modern idioms and such used, yet Wick himself speaks as one might from an older world, and nowhere is this clearer than when he demands that Viggo ‘give him his son’.
The demand that the son be sacrificed to Wick, that he might satisfy his bloodlust by murdering the Russian mobster, is one that the father refuses at once. What is more is that he adds insult to injury by sneeringly commenting, ‘it was just a dog!’ which strangely is a phrase I’ve heard many Americans, and some others say time and again, derisively so when I or others I know made a decision based on their attachment to their dog.
Wick’s fury and outrage at this statement is an interesting one. One could argue it is simply the attachment of a dog-lover outraged that someone would disrespect the honour and memory of his pup. But it is more than that; he is the Wrath of God, and also in a way if you consider how many dog-lovers feel and combine that with his archetype, his reaction (which is one of utter rage) is one that is quite predictable.
What is funny to me, is that in my travels I’ve noticed that when people say ‘it’s just a dog’ I’ve noticed that it is the Japanese, Americans from the South (not badmouthing the ones from the North, I’ve met one from the north who was obsessed with dogs) and the French who most often react with extreme reactions of rage. Women clam up, become frosty and bitter towards the person who spoke thus, and men react with visible rage.
This love for dogs’ is one that many Americans do feel don’t get me wrong, it’s just there’s just a small number of them and many from other countries I’ve met, who have little regard for animals. Viewing them as somehow beneath them, and who might be surprised to hear someone declare that interestingly enough the Wrath of God operating to avenge the death of such an animal makes perfect sense from a thematic and religious point of view.
How is this the case? Well, for one thing dogs’ are considered not simply man’s best friend but they alongside many other animals are almost given a sacred place in peoples’ hearts. And we must never forget that man is an animal so that if God’s protection looms over him and the possibility of heaven is believed to be open to him, as one priest once told me, it is also open to dogs and horses and other animals.
It is certainly an interesting theological perspective, but setting aside such notions how does Wick’s role as God’s Wrath work?
Well his job is to avenge the innocent (Daisy is supposed to symbolize innocence and purity along with love), with these three virtues being transcendant ones, and so Wick is a supernatural force thematically speaking meant to destroy all who have chosen to ruin said innocence and purity. That said, he is unable to destroy the innocent or those who are deep down good, and for the most part this archetype doesn’t seem able to kill women (even evil ones).
This can be seen in Solomon Kane stories along with the John Wick movie, where Wick refuses to kill Perkins though she fully deserves it. He is also unable to kill the one Russian who is reluctantly there to protect Viggo’s son, and is unable to kill those women who are in the building partying it up, and is unable to fight Harry at the hotel. These are all important tell-tale signs that indicate what sort of warrior he is.
If the Barbarian is a Warrior archetype who fights to restore a society to her core values and is a fighter for freedom, the Holy Avenger is one destined as said to wreak vengeance against the wicked. Arguably he cannot be stopped until the guilty have been properly punished and put in their places.
Now if this essay seems somewhat vague and more interested in the motivation of Wick and his archetypal role, this does not mean that scenes and actions and the like don’t interest, they do. Those are to be topics for other essays in the future.
As to how this archetype and movie plays into discussions of honour in the modern day, defending one’s dog or otherwise treating him with honour is of extreme importance as a dog is as innocent as a child. And those who regard them as somehow inferior are likelier to behave themselves dishonourably or abusively towards you in my experience. Those who love dogs typically exhibit a greater degree of respect and politeness.
In Wick’s case he’s a good person at his core, and when he finds the corpse of Daisy he is honestly shocked and spend an entire scene weeping and brokenly clutching her. This is the most natural response in the world, with this scene probably lying at the heart of the entire movie as it demonstrates what motivates him and what defines him and is why the original movie is the most important in the franchise.
It wasn’t about guns, wasn’t about explosions or killing mobsters. It was about heart. It was about John’s bond with Daisy, and how she saved him and he was unable to protect her when he had sworn to do just that. This is why he transformed himself into a ravenous wolf that devoured all before him and destroyed Viggo and all he held dear, because they had destroyed that which he loved and treasured most in the world. This is why he brought down the ‘hammer’ so to speak upon them; they had violated a puppy. And for that they had to suffer and perish.
So many people see the surface of a person. I wonder why we writers bother giving our characters more depth than that. I'm sure they'll see Jim O'Connell in the Freelan series as just a money-grubber. If he were, a lot of what happens would not happen. Anyway, thanks for the deep dive into Wick. I, too, wouldn't bother with this movie if it were just about the violence and a slain puppy. This article shows there's sooooo much more. Thanks as always!
I've encountered a number of Calvinists who deride pet ownership, specifically bonding with pets or treatingthem like children, as some form of idolatry. I like to point out Nathan's illustration in 2 Samuel 12 to them. Not only was there no condemnation whatsoever for the guy who loved his pet lamb like a daughter and treated her as such, but King David was ready to unleash the wrath of God on the man who cruelly killed the lamb - until he discovered that he himself was the cruel and unjust man deserving of wrath.
But up until he realized it was an analogy, David wanted to kill that guy. Being that he's (despite his failures) a man after God's own heart, I think it's likely that God does not look kindly on puppy killin'. I don't think it's a stretch at all to think He'd use such a thing to motivate His instrument of wrath.