John Wick director Chad Stahelski outlines the action style of John Wick

With the John Wick Franchise, Director Chad Stahelski wanted to mix realistic martial arts, driving and firearms with a pinch of Hollywood magic. After a long and storied career as a stuntman (as a double for Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Trilogy), Stahelski tried his hand at directing and created the John Wick Universe. Stahelski directed all four films in the series, which were praised for their incredible stunt work and fight choreography.

Stahelski recently met with Collider to discuss his upcoming Highlanders Restart and was appointed after his tenure as director of the John Wick Movies. During the conversation, Stahelski revealed his overall goal for the franchise’s distinctive action style. The director said that most of the fights and gunfights in movies are pure fiction, but audiences have become too used to it to completely change. Therefore, Stahelski had to combine his desire for realism with the over-stylized action choreography that audiences believe to be realistic. Stahelski said:

“I’ll stick to the basics. I’ll use the gun analogy, most viewers know most about gunfights or chases because most of us don’t participate in gunfights, chases or sword fights, we learn it through movies.
And what these movies show is 95% nonsense. You don’t fight 50 guys with your bare hands and then walk away, but it’s fun.
It’s wish fulfillment.”

“So, John Wick, we know it’s a cartoon – I know it’s not – but we’re having fun with it too.
But we do tactical reloading, we try to do fire manipulation, stuff like the pros, the military. But we have fun doing it, you know?
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John Wick

Release date

22 October 2014

Duration

96

Studio

Summit entertainment

Training actors for John Wick takes forever

The behind-the-scenes training clips for the John Wick Movies are almost as popular as the movies themselves. Playing Keanu Reeves’ lead role as a former hitman who comes out of retirement, Stahelski said the actor had to train in various martial arts, handle firearms and brush up on his stunt skills to be able to play the role convincingly. The result: About 90-95% of the action in the film is performed by Keanu Reeves. While fans can only catch a glimpse of the training via social media, Stahelski revealed that training an actor for a role with many stunts is a long and arduous process. The director said:

“Actors are no different than you.
If you had to become an NBA basketball player, could you do it in three weeks?
Could you do it in three months? Could you do it in three years?
And yet it is up to us to make it seem like they are the best people who ever lived in the world.
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Ultimately, the investment was worth it. John Wick Films revolutionized the modern action genre and spawned a wave of imitators such as Atomic Blonde and that extraction franchise. Stahelski praised Reeves’ dedication to the role. The director also pointed out that Keanu Reeves has been playing the character for nearly a decade, giving Stahelski years to perfect the actor’s on-screen techniques. Stahelski explained:

“I don’t think you understand how much time this takes.
We can use some cinematic tricks, stunt doubles, and editorial input. But at the end of the day, you still have to believe in it.
But if you see Keanu Reeves handling a gun, that’s Keanu Reeves. If you see Keanu driving, that’s Keanu driving a car.
And it took almost ten years to reach this point.
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