John Wick is the 186th episode of Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, Dan Murrell, and Andy Signore. It was narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. It parodies the 2014 action thriller film John Wick. The video was published on February 7, 2017, to coincide with the theatrical release of the sequel John Wick: Chapter 2. It is 4 minutes and 29 seconds long. It has been viewed over 6.4 million times.
Watch Honest Trailers - John Wick on YouTube
"Enter a mysterious shadow society of assassins where everyone is way too casual about dead bodies, complete with its own mysterious currency, clean-up crew, hotel, bar, health care, car service, and assassin jazz band, I guess...?" ~ Honest Trailers - John Wick
Script[]
They stole his car. They killed his dog. Now, he's gonna kill 76 people who worked for the dad of the kid who did it.
John Wick
Strap in for the sleeper hit of 2014 that your friends would not shut up about, combining the no-nonsense revenge movies of the past with the slick production techniques of today, in an action flick that doesn't rely on quick cuts or shaky cam...? I didn't even know you were allowed to do that. How's Liam Neeson gonna hop a fence in the next Taken? (shows Bryan Mills climbing over a fence as the camera quickly cuts between different angles) Man, that must have...Taken them awhile (chuckles). I mean, seriously, that was, like, fourteen different camera angles.
Meet John Wick, the man whose mere name makes criminals reconsider their life choices. Witness Keanu's eighth and arguably best character named John (shows posters for Point Break, Dracula, Much Ado About Nothing, Johnny Mnemonic, Constantine, Generation Um, Rain Fall, and John Wick). He's a retired hitman tragically in love with a video clip (shows John Wick watching a video of his late wife), but after the world's most depressing crime (Viggo Tarasov: Days after his wife died, you steal his car and kill his f*cking dog.), he'll turn the entire world into a game of Call of Duty on the easiest difficulty. (shows John Wick setting off a car bomb, unlocking the achievement "Baba Yaga") To quote the man himself...
Neo: Whoa.
Enter a mysterious shadow society of assassins where everyone is way too casual about dead bodies, complete with its own mysterious currency, clean-up crew, hotel, bar, health care, car service, and assassin jazz band, I guess...? So is there, like, an assassin Yelp, assassin daycare, assassin deli? They really have to clear all that up in John Wick 2.
Watch as John hunts down Theon Greyjoy (Iosef Tarasov), who's gone from literally dickless to metaphorically dickless, in breathtaking action sequences where John kills countless actual redshirts (shows John Wick killing men wearing red shirts), culminating in a finale where he casually shoots the person he's been hunting, then wrestles an old and out-of-shape Russian dad in the rain. Huh, kinda feels like they blew their budget in the nightclub scene.
So pull up a front row seat to the Keanu-ssance as this immortal 50-year-old kicks just as much ass as he did in his 20s and finally loses the trademark chill he's been building up since Bill and Ted (John Wick: Or you can die screaming alongside him!!), as we pray that Keanu pulls off what he's never done before: follow up a great action movie with a sequel that doesn't suck.
The Architect (from The Matrix Reloaded): You have many questions, and though the process had altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Concurrently, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also the most irrelevant. Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the-
Starring I Know Gun-Fu (Keanu Reeves as John Wick); Da Friend or Da Foe? (Willem Dafoe as Marcus); Headshots (shows clips of John Wick shooting people in the head); Russian Reek (Alfie Allen as Iosef Tarasov); Friday Night Lights Out (Adrianne Palicki as Ms. Perkins); More Headshots (shows more clips of John Wick shooting people in the head); Winston Churchkill (Ian McShane as Winston); Super Shredder in Ninja Turtles 2 (Kevin Nash as Francis); and Wow, This Movie is, Like, 80% Headshots (shows more clips of John Wick shooting people in the head).
Honest title for John Wick - A Dog's Purpose. Title design by Robert Holtby.
A Dog's Purpose
Man, John's so good at shooting, he doesn't even shoot vertical video (shows John Wick watching a video with his phone turned sideways).
Trivia[]
HONEST REACTIONS- John Wick Directors React to The Honest Trailer!
Honest Reactions - John Wick directors
- In February 2017, Screen Junkies filmed a reaction video to this Honest Trailer with John Wick directors Chad Stahelski and Dave Leitch.
- Screen Junkies have produced Honest Trailers for several other action thrillers like the Mission: Impossible series, The Bourne Trilogy, the James Bond film Spectre, and Taken among many others. See list of Honest Trailers for more.
- Several Keanu Reeves movie have received the Honest Trailers treatment over the years. Others included Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Point Break, The Matrix and Speed.
- An Honest Trailer Commentary for this episode was recorded and was available on the Screen Junkies Plus until the website/app was discontinued. Screen Junkies don't currently have any way of releasing the video.
Reception []
Honest Trailers - John Wick has an 98.5% approval rating from YouTube viewers. Maxim said the Honest Trailer was "hilarious." and highlighted Screen Junkies' jokes about the character's disproportionate revenge plan, the abundance of headshots in the film, and the many characters names John that Reeves has played during his career. BroBible also appreciated the observation about the character's name, remarking, "as usual we get a few new revelations that we didn’t know with an “Honest Trailer” such as the fact that this is the eighth character Keanu Reeves has played named John, plus other fun tidbits." Slash Film noted that the Honest Trailer was very complimentary, writing "this is one of those Honest Trailers where the best jokes come from making fun of or making references to outside titles. This includes pointing out how much better of an action movie John Wick is than the more recent installments of Taken featuring unnecessary frenetic editing an camera work, as well as a nice reference for Game of Thrones fans."
Screen Rant similarly noted how positive the Honest Trailer was, but also wrote "an Honest Trailer wouldn't be complete without some good-natured ribbing, and John Wick's is no different. Right off the bat, the narrator mentions the absurdity of Wick systematically murdering dozens of people in an effort to take out the one guy who stole his car and killed his dog. That's a major case of disproportionate retribution by just about any standard. Also mentioned is Wick's love of killing his enemies via headshot, with the narrator calling the film about 80% headshots at one point. There's also a good dig at the expense of the Matrix sequels."
Production credits[]
Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - John Wick
Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey
Title design by Robert Holtby
Series Created by Andy Signore & Brett Weiner
Executive Producer - Andy Signore
Producers - Dan Murrell, Spencer Gilbert, Michael Bolton, Christina Kline
Episode Written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, Dan Murrell and Andy Signore
Edited by Kevin Williamsen and TJ Nordaker
External links []
- JOHN WICK GETS THE MOST COMPLIMENTARY HONEST TRAILER EVER - Nerdist article
- ‘John Wick’ Honest Trailer: Keanu Reeves’ Eighth and Arguably Best Character Named John - John Wick article
- ‘John Wick’ Honest Trailer Praises the Immortal Keanu Reeves in the ‘No-Nonsense Revenge-Action Flick’ - Indie Wire article
- John Wick Gets the Perfect “Honest Trailers” Treatment - The Mary Sue article
- 'John Wick' Honest Trailer Points Out It's Actually 'A Dog's Purpose' - The Hollywood Reporter article
- John Wick Honest Trailer hails the Keanu-ssance - EW article
- John Wick Honest Trailer: This Movie is 80% Headshots - Screen Rant article
- WATCH THE HILARIOUS NEW 'HONEST TRAILER' FOR 'JOHN WICK' - Maxim article
- If You’re A Fan Of ‘John Wick’ Then You’re Going To LOVE Seeing It Get The ‘Honest Trailer’ Treatment - Bro Bible article