Starring Keanu Reeves, John Wick is an action packed neo-noir film that follows a retired hitman who seeks a very bloody revenge. With all the excitement surrounding the announcement of its sequel, John Wick: Chapter 2, it’s worth going back and taking a look at what started it all. Find out 12 facts you didn’t know about John Wick!
1. Keanu Reeves did 90% of his own stunts in the film.
2. Reeves also learned and memorized the nightclub fight sequence the day that the scene was filmed.
If that isn’t enough, he had the flu and was running a 104° F fever when they filmed the top floor sequence in the nightclub.
3. John Wick employs several shooting styles depending on the combat situation.
He uses a Center Axis Relock stance for close combat and changes into Weaver and Isosceles stances for long range shooting.
4. Keanu Reeves spent four months learning Judo, Japanese ju-jitsu, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu in preparation for the film.
5. The tattoo on Wick’s back that reads “Fortis Fortuna Aduivat” translates to “Fortune Favors the Bold”.
6. The dog that John Wick owns in the movie is a beagle puppy named Andy.
Andy was 8 weeks old when the film was made.
7. Bacon grease was put on Keanu Reeves’ face to encourage his dog to jump on him when he wakes up in bed.
8. Several veterans of The Matrix Trilogy worked on John Wick.
Actors Keanu Reeves (Neo), Daniel Bernhardt (An Agent), Randall Duk Kim (The Keymaker) along with producers/directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, were all involved in The Matrix Trilogy.
9. During the safe house scene, the character’s user name displayed in the top right of the video game is “Neo”, a clear nod to The Matrix Trilogy.
10. John Wick is also a playable character in the video-game Payday 2 (2013).
11. John Wick is Keanu Reeves’ sixth time playing a character named John.
The other roles were as Johnny Utah in Point Break (1991), Don John in Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Johnny Mnemonic in Johnny Mnemonic (1995), John Constantine in Constantine (2005), and as John in Generation Um (2012).
12. The security guard who lets Wick onto the airport runway is reading the 1970s thriller novel Shibumi by Rod Whitaker, under the pen name Trevanian.
The novel is also about a retired master assassin who is dragged back into his former life of crime. The story Viggo tells about how Wick once killed three men “with a pencil” is a reference to a scene in Shibumi.
