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invaluableimp t1_j2au0kj wrote

Reply to comment by blackrabbitsrun in Was Bruce Willis in Die Hard the ushering in of the modern everyman action star? by SquatOnAPitbull

John Wick gets beat to shit in every movie

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prima_facie2021 t1_j2awdfp wrote

Yes, but to OP's point, John Wick plays to type: in fact, one Russian guy once saw him kill a guy with a pencil. A pencil!

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doktor-frequentist t1_j2b5e1p wrote

Who does that...?

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blackrabbitsrun t1_j2bcpne wrote

A) John Wick is one of the aforementioned "impossible beings". B) I also stipulated "Most".

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PonchoMysticism t1_j2bpzt0 wrote

John wick isn't more impossible than John McClaine. There are extensive videos about the dozens of times the homie should have died in that movie.

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blackrabbitsrun t1_j2bqzee wrote

Show me where John McClain walks through a night club and bodies a dozen well trained body guards without a problem. Or where he does the same in catacombs, or where he straight up chews through entire groups of highly trained assassins with his bare hands/a pistol and maybe a sword or a knife.

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FormerIceCreamEater t1_j2bwc09 wrote

John McClain basically became John wick by the 4th one

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blackrabbitsrun t1_j2bxk7l wrote

I'm not denying that. His character fell into the tropes that I'm decrying. But that's not what is being talked about, and debated here. We are talking about the first movie and only the first movie. I'm comparing Die Hard 1 (one) 1988 to modern action movies where the character is always some current or former special forces or super trained fighter of some sort, chewing through enemies like a bandsaw through paper with minimal injury.

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PonchoMysticism t1_j2c9nd9 wrote

He doesn't do either thing without "a problem" -- you have zero reason to believe they are well trained as there isn't any indication of their training. The club body guards are dummies and demonstrate that in the movie. That said I don't think something can be "more impossible" than something else. I'm pretty sure impossible is "binary."

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blackrabbitsrun t1_j2cginm wrote

"zero reason to believe they are well trained"

Are you honestly putting forth the position, that one can't watch the tactical awareness, combat skills, hand/eye coordination, ability to plan and execute, not to mention pain tolerance and rationally infer that all that took decades of training to achieve? Or are you saying that anyone can do what John Wick does, with absolutely 0 training?

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PonchoMysticism t1_j2cpx6s wrote

You have zero reason to believe that rando muscle within a Russia mob family has "elite training."

This is the less important aspect of my argument. John Wick is in some ways more realistic and some ways less realistic than Die Hard however they are both entirely impossible or at the very least incredibly unlikely. Arguing that a movie is "more impossible" is like arguing that a sandwich is "more perfect." It's an on/off switch its either true or untrue. A scale of impossibility is silly.

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MrBojangoUnchained t1_j2cqyku wrote

I like John Wick but the action is highly stylised and over the top. He's basically Batman if he used guns.

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jinxed_07 t1_j2djpfk wrote

I feel like John Wick goes too far in the other direction: I enjoy watching a guy that gets some injuries but keeps on through determination and sheer will, but past a certain point, the damage should be too much and they should have to take time to get medical care and a considerable amount of time to heal. I think the John Wick sequels would be much better off if a lot more time had passed during them to reflect this.

This isn't to say I don't enjoy the John Wick films, but they really do strain the suspension of disbelief.

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