With four movies in the franchise (as of this review), John Wick has proven to be an undeniable action hero for the ages. But did you know that the first film almost didn’t make it to theaters? Or that Wick was originally conceived to be a much older character like Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson. These are the types of insights that Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman’s book They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog: The Complete Uncensored Ass-Kicking Oral History of John Wick, Gun Fu, and the New Age of Action provides.
The book opens with an exhaustive account of where the term “gun-fu” comes from and the history of action cinema—even going all the way back to some of the first motion pictures like The Great Train Robbery—that inspired the John Wick franchise. The assortment of international films, mainly from Hong Kong, that are provided was insightful and overwhelming – even for an action movie buff like myself. After a while, I had to open up my Letterboxd account (misfit_minded for those interested) to start adding the ones I hadn’t heard of to my watchlist.
That is to say that the book provides ample context for those unfamiliar with the action genre and even some new recommendations for fans. But while the book is not a long read, I did start to wonder when they would start talking about John Wick as advertised, as the section takes up quite a bit of space. The book’s last chapter is also exclusively dedicated to Atomic Blonde. These detours weren’t completely off-topic, as the director of Atomic Blonde, David Leitch, co-directed John Wick, and Charlize Theron trained with Keanu Reeves and the same stunt workers, but refining the history to strictly gun-fu and the oral history of the Wick films might have lived up more to the book’s title.
That being said, the oral history aspect of the book covers everyone from the producers, directors, and stunt performers that created the first three John Wick films (John Wick 4 was in production at the time), revitalizing the action genre in the process. Having listened to and seen so much of Keanu Reeves and the filmmakers in interviews prior to reading, it was easy to hear their voices when they came up. Reeves, in particular, is spoken of very highly, and his enthusiasm comes across.
It was also interesting to find out that many of the stars that would join the franchise in the sequels, like Common, Mark Dacascos, and Halle Berry, were all fans of the series and actively pursued their roles. I particularly liked Berry recalling her extensive training with the dogs in John Wick 3 and the discussion around the challenges of selling a revenge movie based on the killing of a dog.
It can be hard to make a book about onscreen action feel exciting, but the collection of interviewees are genuinely interested in their jobs, which makes for an infectious energy that is maintained for most of the book. The dedication of the 87eleven stunt team to train the actors for months for the weapons handling and fight choreography and raise the stakes for each film is impressive and is what makes the John Wick movies so brilliant. Some of the specific fight scenes are broken down by their influences like the mirror fight in Wick 2 that Stahelski wasn’t totally satisfied with, so he made an entire building of mirrors in John Wick 3 that is reflective (no pun intended) of The Man with the Golden Gun. Or the long stair fall in John Wick 2 that they up the ante on in John Wick 4.
Overall, They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog is a look at the practical side of what goes into creating an action franchise like John Wick and what separates it from its imitators. Sometimes the text gets sidetracked by providing too much context or talking about other properties (perhaps they should have waited for John Wick 4 to come out?), but often it is an engaging look at the decisions that are made to make a modern action movie and the challenges that present themselves that come with that.
From “the man with no name” to the man they call the boogeyman, the archetypal action hero will always be compelling to watch with the right story and team behind it; the John Wick franchise struck gold out of the gate and—like Keanu Reeves—only gets better with age. For those who are hardcore action movie fans and want to learn more about the filmmaking process behind them, this should hold you over before John Wick 5. For everyone else, this is supplemental material with interviews and information that might interest you.
My Rating:
‘They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog: The Complete Uncensored Ass-Kicking Oral History of John Wick, Gun Fu, and the New Age of Action’ is available now in hardcover and ebook.
(Photo: Murray Close)
