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Keanu Reeves Shoots Guns Like a Pro

John Wick 2 opens February of 2017, so we're still a ways away from seeing the titular Baba Yaga back on the big screen. Until then we'll just have to settle for watching Keanu Reeves demonstrate his firearm prowess on a shooting range.

It's impressive to watch: not just the speed and accuracy but the clipped, precise movements. He looks like a professional out there. And that's one of the reasons that John Wick was such an excellent and compelling action movie. If you have a few minutes (and some headphones so as not to disturb your cubicle neighbor) re-watch the night club shootout.

There's a level of coherence that is not often seen in modern filmmaking: Keanu strides from kill to kill with an accuracy that borders on inhuman (it is a movie) but remains believable because he always seems entirely in control of his body.

One of the reasons that scene works is the relative paucity of cuts; compare the above to this, from Taken 3:

Apologies for any epileptic fits that gif might have inspired.

As astute observers have noted, there are 14 cuts in one six-second sequence dedicated to getting Bryan Mills over that fence.

Fourteen!

So yes, John Wick is aided by being slightly less ADHD. But that's far from its only virtue: its dedication to establishing geography and the way cuts correspond to movements on set also help. I really wish someone would do a video essay comparing and contrasting its action choreography to other, less visually successful, entries in the genre.

I'd do it myself, but I'd have no idea where to begin. I rely on my betters for this sort of thing. I know most of you video guys are loathe to do a visual essay that doesn't involve Stanley Kubrick or Wes Anderson, but think of the children. They need to learn why John Wick is good and everything else is hot garb. It's the only way we can improve the cinema.