This week is the premiere of the new movie about the adventures of John Wick. We will dive back into the universe shown in the first installment, where the former assassin played by Keanu Reeves recalls old skills.
John Wick is one of the relatively fresh franchises, with almost no digital effects, but an interesting hero and plenty of drive and humor. It is a violent, beautiful and fast-paced action movie.
Here are 15 little known facts about John Wick that you may be curious to know before the second part premieres.
What does John Wick's tattoo mean?
We saw John in the shower with a tattoo all over his back. The inscription in black letters reads "Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat," which is Latin for "Fortune Loves the Brave. These words are the motto of the 3rd Marine Battalion based in Hawaii. Thus, Wick's tattoo is a hint that he served in the Navy.
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THE WORLD'S MOST MEMORABLE MOVIE TATTOOS
The body of Ryan Gosling (Ryan Gosling) character in the movie "A Place Under the Pines" (2012) was covered with a lot of tattoos. After the movie the actor admitted that he was against the number of tattoos, but Derek Cianfrance (Derek Cianfrance), director of this crime drama, forced Ryan to appear on the screen just like that.
In Mark Lester's Little Tokyo showdown (1991) the body of a Yakuza boss, the role of which went to actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, is entirely covered in a traditional Japanese tattoo, indicating his membership in and loyalty to the clan.
In Christopher Nolan's Remember (2000), the tattoos were of vital importance to the protagonist: through them, the man, suffering from a rare form of amnesia, received messages from his memory.
This was the only way he could cope with the highly unusual disease.
In Unstoppable (2010), Barney Ross, the hero of Sylvester Stallone, has a raven on his back, sitting on a huge skull. In real life, Sly has a more delicate pattern printed on his back, though the skull is still there.
In the movie "Cape Fear" (1991), actor Robert De Niro (Robert De Niro) played a man who lives only a sense of revenge.
His back was decorated with a tattoo in the form of a bowl of scales.
Michael Scofield, the protagonist of the television series "Escape" (2005-2009), the role of which went to actor Wentworth Miller (Wentworth Miller), tattooed on his body a plan of the prison from which he decided to arrange his escape to his older brother, an innocent but sentenced to death.
In the Swedish adaptation of the detective novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009), actress Noomi Rapace played Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the tattoo.
In 2011, a Hollywood adaptation of the same name was released by director David Fincher. The main role went to actress Rooney Mara.
In Luc Besson's 1997 The Fifth Element, Milla Jovovich's character Lilou wears an invented representation of the four elements on her wrist. The same symbols are inscribed on the elemental stones that the characters in the film are searching for.
On the shoulder of each werewolf from the vampire saga "Twilight" (from 2008), in particular Jacob played by Taylor Lautner, there is a tribal tattoo, which is a circle with two wolves in the center. We can't help but note that the idea for the tattoo only occurred to Chris Weitz, the director of Prospect, during the filming process.
During the filming of Alpha Dog (2007), the filmmakers did not pay much attention to the selection of tattoos. For example, the characters on Justin Timberlake's left arm signified "skating.
In the comedy Nine Yards (2000), Bruce Willis' character named Jimmy "Tulip" Tadeski is given an exquisite tulip tattoo.
The cross on Sean Penn's back in the movie "Mysterious River" (2003) was not only a symbol of faith, but also denied the hero's capacity for revenge.
Actor Robert LaSardo ("Death Race", "Criminal Ties", "Leon", "Waterworld") in any movie with his participation will be remembered for his tattoos.
In the movie "Desperado" (1995), actor Danny Trejo (Danny Trejo) showed his real tattoos. It is noteworthy that all of them were made in prison.
In American History X (1998), a film about the Nazis, Edward Norton, nominated for an Oscar for his leading role, wears a huge swastika on his chest.
The tattoos on Tom Hardy's muscular body in The Fighter (2010) symbolized his dark past.
Ray Park's spectacular character from "Star Wars. Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) is remembered by many.
Actor Viggo Mortensen got tattoos in the movie "Vice for Export" (2007) to create the image of a Russian thief in law.
Tattoos on the arms of Angelina Jolie in the film "Wanted" (2008) by Timur Bekmambetov indicated a strong character heroine.
However, and on the back of Jolie's character, the viewer also had something to look at.
Actor Johnny Depp (Johnny Depp) left himself a tattoo of Captain Jack Sparrow from the movie series "Pirates of the Caribbean" (since 2003) and wears it to this day.
Hardly any guy would be happy to find a tattoo that says "Sweetie" or "Dude" on his back after a wild party. And that's exactly what happened in the movie "Where's My Car, Dude? (2000), starring Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott.
One of the most truly memorable tattoos in cinema. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Hesher (2010)
George Clooney's memorable body tattoo in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996).
Jared Harris' character in The Mysterious History of Benjamin Button (2008) just loved his body art.
Dwayne Johnson in The Scorpion King (2002).
It was a sin not to recall the menacing Mike Tyson-style drawing on Stu's innocuous face, played by actor Edward Helms, as a result of the Vegas 2 extravaganza (2011). Completely undesirable, but no less impressive, the face-painting was memorable to viewers for a long time.
The most intimidating, perhaps, can be considered a huge tattoo of the maniac Dolarhyde played by Ralph Fiennes (Ralph Fiennes), which bore the same name as the film "Red Dragon" (2002), the main antagonist of which he was.
Mickey Rourke and in life is dotted with tattoos. But in the blockbuster "Iron Man 2" (2010) on the body of his character Ivan Vanko literally no empty space.
Soviet cinema also had its share of memorable tattoos. Of course, the first place is held by Docent (Yevgeny Leonov) in the immortal "Gentlemen of Fortune" (1971).
Especially impressive is the portrayal of a skeleton on the shoulder of a respected authority.
And Nikola Pitersky (actor Roman Filippov) was also not without the audience's love.
And of course, everyone remembers Stanislav Chekan's character in Gaidai's comedy "The Diamond Arm" (1968) and his tattoo "Misha" on his fingers.
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John Wick and the Matrix
One of the most interesting features of John Wick 2 is the reunion of Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne, who once starred in The Matrix.
The first "John Wick" was filmed with several "alumni" of "The Matrix," including Daniel Bernhardt (who played an agent in "The Matrix") and Randall Duk Kim (Key Master). Both "John Wick" directors were involved in "The Matrix" as stunt directors.
As for Reeves and Fishburne, the director of the second part stated, "Keanu, Lawrence and I were in the making of 'The Matrix' together. So when Derrick Kolstad came up with the character Lawrence would play, he had Lawrence in mind."
The Promissory Note System - Blood Oaths
John helped Sophia's daughter to escape, and in return he received from her promissory note - a blood oath. These promissory notes are made of intricate gold designs and open like a locket. Inside there is room for two fingerprints, one placed by the one who makes the oath, and the other by the holder of the promissory note, who confirms that his debtor has done the favor the holder asked for.
The promissory note medallion from the movie John Wick
Regardless of the relationship between the parties. the debt of the promissory note is not negotiable .. If someone has your promissory note, you owe them, period.
Keanu Reeves does his own stunts
The actor performed 90% of the stunts in "John Wick", only some scenes, such as falling from the balcony in a nightclub, required the participation of understudies. This is even more impressive when you know that the actor was sick with the flu during the filming of the first part.
Because of his modesty and good upbringing, Reeves downplayed his talents. In a 2014 interview, he stated that stunts are only part of the role: "If I can do it, then it's not a stunt. Stunts are done by stuntmen. I just run, jump, act."
What does the film teach?
What can a professional hitman, who was artificially given the halo of a "fighter for justice", teach the viewer? The plot makes it clear that John Wick did not put himself in his victims' shoes when he was doing his old "job". And now that he's back on the case, he's just showing off his ability to kill the stupid Russian mob in cold blood and ruthlessness. The killer's revenge for murder looks like an encouragement of violence for the sake of violence itself. Although the return of Russian criminals to American fighters can be seen as an indirect factor confirming Russia's return to the world stage.
Violence: Over 100 exceptionally brutal scenes with all the details of the murders relished.
Sex: Several scenes of criminals having fun with half-naked girls in a bathhouse.
Drugs: A Russian Mafia boss uses marijuana once, John Wick uses pharmaceutical stimulants, and alcohol generally runs rampant throughout the film.
Moral: The film tries to create a noble image of a professional hitman and to present violence as a permissible tool in the fight for justice.
