The John Wick movies may have tried to portray Keanu Reeves’ character as an anti-hero, but one scene perfectly proves that he is the real villain.
Custom Image by Yailin Chacon.
One pivotal moment from the original John Wick movie seemingly confirms that Keanu Reeves’ character was always the franchise’s villain. By establishing him as grieving as a husband, the first John Wick movie ingeniously convinces viewers that he is the main hero. The opening sequence, where he takes his dog out for a spin, even shows that, deep down, he has a kind heart. Owing to these opening moments from the film, it is hard not to empathize with John Wick and root for him when he goes down a warpath against Viggo and his son.
However, as the Keanu Reeves action movie franchise progresses and John Wick dukes it out with one villain after another, the lines between hero and villain gradually begin to blur. The more his body count rises, the more it becomes evident that he is drifting further away from the traditional archetype of a hero. However, long before John Wick loses sight of his initial motivations and becomes a morally ambiguous character, the first John Wick film gives a glimpse of who he truly is in one intense scene.
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The “I’m Back” scene puts his mindless lust for revenge on full display
One of the most white-knuckling scenes in the first John Wick film is when the titular character destroys Viggo’s cash in the church and attacks him before Kirill hits him with a car and captures him. When Viggo claims that he could have just let it all go instead of fighting these battles for a car and a dog, John Wick ruthlessly warns him to hand over his son, or he can “die screaming alongside him.” While Viggo and his son, Iosef, are obviously the bad guys in the film, the scene shows how unhinged and terrifyingly relentless John Wick can be when he wants revenge.
The single-mindedness and fiery determination with which John Wick sets out to kill Iosef proves he is the movie’s villain. While his actions may be driven by a sense of righteous anger and a need to avenge the wrongs Iosef committed against him by killing his pup, he gets so engrossed in his pursuit of revenge that he forgets his own moral compass. His desire to inflict pain and suffering even on people like Viggo, who were initially not trying to mess with him, says a lot about how John Wick’s focus on vengeance ultimately consumes him.
John Wick Was Never A Real Hero In The John Wick Franchise
John Wick is arguably a flawed anti-hero who cannot escape his cycles of violence
John Wick, in many ways, gradually becomes the mirror image of the people he sets out to punish. His bloodlust triggers a cycle of violence in which he makes the world a better place by killing many men who deserve it. However, in his long trail of blood lie many who were merely trying to defend him.
Despite being indirectly responsible for the deaths of so many innocents, John Wick stops at nothing because he, unlike others, has nothing to lose. This makes it hard not to see the Keanu Reeves character as the John Wick franchise’s villain or flawed hero.