Opinion: John Wick is the perfect folk hero for our age — and Keanu Reeves is the perfect person to play him
Keanu Reeves arrives for a screening of the movie"John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum" in Los Angeles on May 15. By Sonny Bunch Sonny Bunch Bio Follow May 22 at 9:00 AM This essay discusses plot points from all three “John Wick” movies; complaints about spoilers will be adjudicated by the High Table of Critics.
The simplicity of Wick’s story — he seeks vengeance against those who stole his car and killed his dog, which was a gift from his dead wife — combined with his skill with guns and knives foreground his legend. However, in the background of the “John Wick” films, writer Derek Kolstad and director Chad Stahelski have crafted a world of mythical references and religious symbolism that suggest Wick harkens to a line of legends and folk heroes. His is the latest face of the monomyth.
His wife was Helen , whose best-known namesake launched a thousand ships. Note that the concierge of the New York Continental is named Charon , who students of mythology will recognize as the ferryman for the River Styx, the guide between the worlds of the living and the damned. The mute murderess in “John Wick: Chapter 2” is Ares , the Greek god of war who backed the wrong side in the conflict over Helen.
These mythical allusions and his travel along the hero’s journey are among the reasons Wick resonates as a modern folk hero — but the character’s personification by Keanu Reeves, accidental social media superstar, ensured he would be ensconced in the public consciousness. Reeves has become a modern legend in his own right. He’s a meme several times over: There’s Sad Keanu and its counterpart Happy Keanu; there’s Conspiracy Keanu and Whoa/Woah Keanu.
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