The Worlds Of John Wick

Each John Wick film has earned more money and recognition than its predecessor, defying the conventional wisdom about the box office's action movie landscape, normally dominated by superhero movies and science fiction epics. As The Worlds of John Wick explores, the worldbuilding of John Wick offers thrills that you simply can't find anywhere else. The franchise's plot combines familiar elements of the revenge thriller and crime film with seamlessly coordinated action. One of its most distinctive appeals, however, is the detailed and multifaceted fictional world—or rather, worlds—it constructs. The contributors to this volume consider everything from fight sequences, action aesthetics, and stunts to grief, cinematic space and time, and gender performance to map these worlds and explore how their range and depth make John Wick a hit. A deep dive into this popular neo-noir franchise, The Worlds of John Wick celebrates and complicates the cult phenomenon that is John Wick.

-- Stephen Watt is located in Bloomington, IN --Caitlin Watt is located in Clemson, SC -- The editors and contributors to this volume are from a wide range of disciplines to address all aspects of John Wick worldbuilding and are best for this work because they are responsible for the research at The World(s) of John Wick conference in November 2019. -- Whether you consider the John Wick film franchise to be full of instant cult classics or surprise hits, the movies are no doubt a nostalgic throwback to revenge-thrillers popularized in the 1970s while featuring the action impulses of Kung Fu flicks. The worldbuilding blows people away and has become an iconic site of fan culture. John Wick 4 is planned for May 2022. -- The Year's Work series is dedicated to the analysis of recent fan cultural phenomena. This book explores the idiosyncrasies of an action film franchise that has cultivated a passionate fanbase with an elaborate subculture. The series description states that suitable topics will most likely require a multidisciplinary and often coauthored approach. -- Target audience includes film buffs and fans of the John Wick film franchise.

Now a major motion picture starring Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here is a gritty, harrowing story of corruption and one man's violent quest for vengeance. Joe has witnessed things that cannot be erased. A former FBI agent and Marine, his abusive childhood has left him damaged beyond repair. He has completely withdrawn from the world and earns his living rescuing girls who have been kidnapped into the sex trade. When he's hired to save the daughter of a corrupt New York senator held captive at a Manhattan brothel, he stumbles into a dangerous web of conspiracy, and he pays the price. As Joe's small web of associates are picked off one by one, he realizes that he has no choice but to take the fight to the men who want him dead. Brutal and redemptive in equal measure, You Were Never Really Here is a toxic shot of a thriller, laced with corruption, revenge and the darkest of inner demons.

The third installment in the John Wick franchise, "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum", directed by Chad Stahelski, picks up immediately after the events of "John Wick: Chapter 2". The film follows an ex-hitman, John Wick (Keanu Reeves), who is now on the run after being declared "excommunicado" by the High Table, a secret organization of assassins who control the criminal underworld. With a 14 million dollar bounty on his head, Wick must fight his way through an army of skilled killers who are out to get him, while also trying to find a way to clear his name and restore his reputation. The film is filled with non-stop action sequences and intense fight scenes set against a backdrop of stunning locations, including New York City, Morocco, and the desert landscape of the High Table. The cast includes returning favorites such as Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King, Ian McShane as Winston, and Lance Reddick as Charon, as well as newcomers such as Halle Berry as Sofia, a fellow assassin and ally of Wick's. "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" continues to satisfy fans of the series with its slick visuals, thrilling action, and intriguing mythology that expands upon the world of John Wick.

When a young John Wick embarks upon an epic vendetta, he comes up against a strange, powerful community of assassins and must learn how to master the rules that guide their lethal business. What are the Three Bills? Who is Calamity? And why is John Wick seeking vengeance?

When a young John Wick emerges from prison and embarks upon his first, epic vendetta, he comes up against a strange, powerful community of assassins and must learn how to master the Book of Rules that guides their lethal business. What are the Three Bills? Who is Calamity? And who was John Wick before he became the Baba Yaga? Here for the first time, read the thrilling origin story of John Wick, from "Planet Hulk" writer Greg Pak and "Dark Horse Presents" artist Giovanni Valletta.

The story of John Wick’s first grand mission of vengeance continues in the bloody streets of El Paso! As John enters the world of the Continental Hotel, he threatens to upend the balance of power among assassins -- and earns a new implacable enemy. Also: the mystery of Calamity revealed!

A classic spy novel from the bestselling author, Trevanian, about a westerner raised in Japan who becomes one of the world's most accomplished assassins. Nicholai Hel is the world’s most wanted man. Born in Shanghai during the chaos of World War I, he is the son of an aristocratic Russian mother and a mysterious German father and is the protégé of a Japanese Go master. Hel survived the destruction of Hiroshima to emerge as the world’s most artful lover and its most accomplished—and well-paid—assassin. Hel is a genius, a mystic, and a master of language and culture, and his secret is his determination to attain a rare kind of personal excellence, a state of effortless perfection known only as shibumi. Now living in an isolated mountain fortress with his exquisite mistress, Hel is unwillingly drawn back into the life he’d tried to leave behind when a beautiful young stranger arrives at his door, seeking help and refuge. It soon becomes clear that Hel is being tracked by his most sinister enemy—a supermonolith of international espionage known only as the Mother Company. The battle lines are drawn: ruthless power and corruption on one side, and on the other . . . shibumi.