John Wick Analysis: Part 4 - What Writers Can Learn and Obligatory Moments

We're about to dive into this final episode analyzing the movie John Wick. We're going to be looking at the genre obligatory moments, the character archetypes, and some of our favorite storytelling moments in John Wick. This is a Story Grid analysis of John Wick, and I am Tim Grall. I'm the CEO of StoryGrid and a writer trying to figure out how to tell a story that works. Also with me is Rachel Arsenault. She's a Story Grid certified editor, and she's on board to make sure I don't give the wrong answers. If you want to download our entire analysis of John Wick right now, you can go to storygrid.com wick Otherwise, I'm excited to wrap up this analysis of John Wick. We hope you've enjoyed it. If you have a movie you'd like us to take a look at in future episodes, you can do that by sending me an email@timorygrid.com Otherwise, let's go ahead and jump in to John Wick. All right, so let's move on to the obligatory moments. So what. When we talk about obligatory moments in genres. Right, so this is. Each genre has its own obligatory moments. What are. What is. What are genre obligatory moments?

Yeah, obligatory moments. They're. They're similar to conventions in that they're helping us define audience expectations and audience expectations for obligatory moments as it pertains to the development of the story and the things that help sort of guide the movements of the story. And you have so much, like, so much freedom to create, but it adds some level of constraints. Right? There's sort of that freedom within constraint. That's actually a really great thing about obligatory moments because it helps you detail what audiences are expecting to see because it's a part of the genre. And then you can think about how to. How to meet those expectations in new and exciting ways. So there's obligatory moments kind of, again, help us map out key moments that. That help us develop the actual progression of the story in. In terms of physical events and the things that we want to see sort of unfold on the page in the context of the story.

All right, so let's go through them here. So the first one is an inciting attack or threat by the villain. We have that. We've already talked about it with the inciting incident of Yosef attacking and kill, taking his car and killing his dog. So what about. We'll move on to the second one. The hero sidesteps responsibility to take action.

Yeah, we talked about that one a little bit last time. Because this is, you know, in a revenge plot, you made this point that it was like, well, if they sidestep responsibility to take action, then they just won't go after revenge.

Right, Right.

And so that was where. When I was watching this.

When I was watching the movie and thinking about the obligatory moments, that's where I sort of came up with thinking that, you know, because it says an inciting threat or inciting attack. And I feel like we kind of get both in. In the story, right? So we get the inciting threat when yosef comes, like, with his friends and he's like, oh, that's a nice car. Like, how much? And John's like, it's not for sale. And he's like, well, everything has a price and blah. And. And John is. So that's the inciting threat, right? He shows, right? And especially when he, like, he sticks his head in the car and he's like, oh, I love dogs, right? And he sort of like grips the. The dog by the scruff of his neck and he says, everything has a price, right? So he has, like, his eye on this car, and now he's got his eye on john because he does not appreciate john sort of.

Not giving him what he wants. And so I think about john's sidestepping responsibility to take action, like, at the level of the threat, right? Because he's like, he's not going to pick a fight. He's sort of just like, I like, it's not for sale. Go away. Like, I'm not interested. And. And he does, you know, like, he like low key flexes when he says in russian, right? Not this bitch, right? And he's like, he is trying to tell him, like, he's kind of trying to tell yosef to, like, take a step back. And so that's kind of where I see, like, he doesn't address, like. So that that serves as the initial threat and he doesn't address the threat directly. He just is sort of trying to be like, all right, let's move on with our lives. Like, let's go away. And then that actually develops into the inciting attack. That's kind of the way that I looked at that because otherwise, you know, this stuff happens. And, like, john takes time to bury his dog, but we don't get any implication that he's, like, not going to do something about this.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I like that because one of the things we talk about is the. The protagonist has to misread the threat, right? And. And so in that moment at the gas station.

John misreads the threat, which is literally the only threat he misreads in the entire movie. Right. Like everything else, he understands, but it's like he does not. And, you know, because it's like the moments when he's pushing through the nightclub and he's surrounded by people, and he. He never shoots the wrong person. Right, Right. But in that moment at the gas station, he misreads that Yosef is going to, like, completely wreck his life in the next 12 hours. And so.

Yeah. All right, so let's move on to forced to leave the ordinary world. The hero lashes out. And I put. Well, the whole movie is him lashing out, but he goes after Yosef to kill him.

Yeah, yeah. We have this really great moment where when Viggo calls him, I love. Just side note, I love when Viggo pulls out his. His, like, handwritten phone book. He's got his glasses on. He's, like, looking at the distance. Just those. These little, like, golden comedic moments that they have, like, scrambled in throughout the movie are like, just perfection. But he sort of attempts, right. Like, a diplomatic resolution. He's like, hey, John. He starts. He's like, so, I heard about your wives. My condolences. That's a real bomberman. Right? And he's like, you know, let us not resort to violence. Right. He's trying to give him the spiel, and, like, John is dead quiet, hangs up the phone, and.

Like, that's that. And then. Right. Then, like, what happens next is, like, then he completely obliterates the men that Viggo sends. And so we kind of get this. This little moment where we see that, you know, john's coming for you, Vigo, Right?

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that's that moment I mentioned before of, like, when Avi's like, what. What do you say? And he just. And Vigo responds, enough, which was nothing.

Okay. The protagonist discovers and comes to understand the antagonist, MacGuffin, so the villain's object of desire. So what did you have as the antagonist? Object of.

I have.

That Viggo wants to kill John in order to protect his son. So, like, he wants to achieve a certain end for a specific reason is kind of the way that I was looking at that. And I thought that gets established pretty early.

Yeah, Yeah. I was looking at.

The moment when he goes to the church as, like, he understands that what Vigo's trying to protect is his power. And so that's why he goes after that to draw out Vigo and So.

I think. I think we're both. Right. I think that both makes sense. Right? So what kind of.

Oh, sorry. If it's okay. It's kind of interesting the way that Viggo, like, talks about his son versus the way that he acts about his son. So, like, he. Because in that same moment, right when he was, like, right, there was, like, all the. There is cash and artwork not without its value, but the leverage I had on this city was priceless. Priceless. Right. And. But he also says, like, he compares himself having his son to John having his wife. And he even says, right, you got the better deal. Right. Basically, my son's a jerk and he sucks, but he's mine.

And he's still alive.

And he's still alive. And, like, there's this. And so it's interesting because he talks about his son as something that he values, but then also, like, sells his son down the river. So there's this really interesting, like, Because I'm thinking about, like, you identifying the MacGuffin as. As his power and maintaining his position and his power and me identifying it as his son, but thinking about how there's this real. Like, there's a difference between what he. What he says and how he acts when he talks about the things that he values. I think that's a really interesting quality of just Viggo as a villain. And when you're trying to identify that MacGuffin and thinking about, okay, what does he actually care about? And it's a little unclear whether it's really his son that he super cares about in this movie.

Yeah. Yeah.

All right, so let's look at the hero's initial strategy against the villain fails. So I think this is where Yosef. He tries to get Yosef at the Red Circle and doesn't get him. And so we have to move on. And again, I wanted to point out here, you know, pointing out, like.

When we talk about obligatory moments, this is. This is a really good one to look at, where if you don't have this, the people.

You know, the viewers, the consumers will not trust the movie. You'll break them out of that. That understanding of what's happening in the movie. Because if the first time, if the hero wins every single time, then. Then there's no stakes here. And it looks like if we don't see the hero fail, we don't get to see them rise above that. And one of the ways is actually, this is a little different, but it comes to mind is the TV show Ted Lasso on Apple tv, which Like, I think the first season of Ted Lasso is some of the best television ever made ever. Ever. Like, it's just so good. And I hated the second season. And one of the things I hated about it is they kept setting up problems and then immediately solving them. So, like, I think, like, the openings I only saw, I didn't. You know. Anyway, the opening scene is when the raven hair beauty. I forgot his name. The. You know, football is life. That guy, he, like, kills a dog when he, like, kicks a soccer ball and it hits the dog and literally it's like two episodes later. So I'm thinking, like, okay, so this is going to be. The season is like, the team is down and it's kind of showing up in this guy who's always up, and they've got to, like, figure out how to bring the team back together and win. And then, like, two episodes later, he, like, meets with the therapist one time and he's back to normal. And I'm like, whoa, what just happened? And then, like.

Then Jamie, the, like, evil guy from the season before they bring him back, I'm like, okay, so this is going to be the season where they got to figure out how to integrate him back. And literally, like, the next episode, he, like, I forgot what he did. He does like one nice thing and then he's like, he's back. You know what? I'm like, so this is where it's like, this is what happens if you do that, where, like, you have to show, like, the problem and then you have to see the hero fails. Because that's the progressive complicating, which is like, we have to see that what I try the first time doesn't work, and then when I try the second time doesn't work. And that's how we see that's what pushes the hero to change at the end. But okay, so that was my monologue on that.

All right, so wait, can I insert something as well?

Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah.

So I think. And John Wick is such a great example because even when you have a super skilled protagonist, they still have to fail. Like, they still have to get it wrong. And that's not indicative of their lack of skill. So, like, you know, if you have a protagonist who's gaining new skills or who needs to mature like that, you know, it's like, oh, well, it's easy to see how they would, like, fail and blah, blah, blah, whatever they need to change. But even the highly skilled protagonist, like, has to, like, they have to go through their, like, we I think we talk about it even story grant as, like, try fail cycles where, you know, you try things and they don't work. And then you have to adjust your strategy because your protest like other. Like, otherwise your protagonist is just going to, what, blow through there and like, everything's going to work out. Like, do you know, you don't have a story? And so even that highly skilled protagonist can. Should have that initial strategy fail. And as they try more things that also participates as the stakes are escalating with the story, that they're having to change their tactic to and like, and adjust their strategy in order to meet these escalating stakes and to overcome escalating obstacles. Because that also, if you're. If everything your protagonist is doing is working, then the obstacles aren't escalating properly to continue challenging the protagonist and continue forcing, like forcing those stakes higher and higher and higher as they're getting more and more difficult obstacles.

Yeah. Yeah. I love that. All right, so the next one is the hero reaches the all is lost moment. What do you have for that?

I have that as the moment when. When Figo captures John and like, that's the all is lost moment. He sort of backed into a corner here and.

That'S. Yeah, that's what.

Yeah. And I think that rolls right into the next one, which is the hero at the mercy of the villain. Right. So this is the core event of the action story when the hero's gift is expressed. And.

So he's at the mercy of the villain when he's.

When he's, you know, been captured. And I always. I always at these moments think about Austin Powers when they. Because, you know, it's a play on. You know, it's. What's the word? It's a.

A parody.

Yeah. James Bond, right? Yeah. Yeah. And he's like. And he says something about, you know, leaving the, you know, leaving the hero alone with one inept guard. You know, it's like. Because it's like, why didn't it Vigo just watch them kill him right there? You know, he just walks out. He's like, they'll take care of him. Obviously, you know, John's not one to escape.

But. But I do like how they set it up where the one guy that had beat John in the movie earlier that Koreal K I R I L L that bodyguard that stabs him with the broken bottle at the Red Circle. Right. You know, he's the one. He's the one guard that like, stood against John and survived. And so having him there, you Know that he has to fight that guy to escape. And I also love that Marcus, like, he only killed one of the guys, and, like, Jon still was tied to a chair, had a bag over his head, and there's another guy standing there. And Marcus is like, I'm gonna kill one. And Jon can handle this from here. He just gets up and walks off.

I have something different for the hero at the mercy of the villain.

Okay.

For that exact reason, because I thought. And actually, so my husband has a chip on his shoulder about this scene because he was like, ugh. Like, John got help, like, from the outside. Because if it hadn't been for Marcus, like, killing the guy, like, John. Like, John would have been toast. Like, there's no way he was going to get out of that. But I. That's actually one of the reasons why I didn't see this as the hero at the mercy of the villain. Like, it was like, all is lost. But then the hero at the mercy of the villain is that climactic, like, final showdown between the protagonist and the antagonist, because it's also where the hero expresses their gift. And so I thought that this couldn't qualify as that because he does get. Because Marcus sort of, like, swoops in it now. It doesn't feel like deus ex machina because we've been seeing Marcus, you know, throughout, helping John. But I thought that that sort of, in a way, disqualified this moment from being here at the mercy of the villain because of that external influence. This could all be in my head, but here we go. I'm going to give you my theory about hero the worst.

Yeah, I see the hero at the mercy. The villain is like, right before Vigo walks out. Because at that point, the hero, like John, can't do anything. Like, he's tied to the chair. There's guards standing there with guns. There's nothing he can do. So you see it as, like, the final fight between Vigo and Jon.

Yeah, that's like.

But there's never a point where Vigo is more powerful than John.

And, you know, that's true. Except that. And again, this. Like, this might be. You know, maybe. Maybe I'm stretching here, but. But Viggo does. So I'm. Because I'm thinking about here at the mercy of the villain again, as, like. Because it's the core moment, and it's like the climactic scene. I generally see that as happening in Quadrant four, because this is, like, still, like, a major battle that we're leading up to of the hero officially facing off against the villain. So now what they do have is John's out of bullets and Vigo pulls in the knife.

Yeah.

And so here's kind of the way that I see it playing out, because I'm also looking for John's unique gifts expressed. And I think that this happens in his pursuit of vigorous. So we get multiple aspects of John's gift happening as we lead up to this fight and then in the fight itself. So the first is that John's principles, which he's been displaying through this entire movie, pay off when he gets the tip off from the manager of the Continental about Viggo going, like, where Vigo is at, where this. Like this. This ethic that he is expressed all through the movie is now paying off when he gets this tip off from the manager of the Continental. And then as he's pursuing Vigo, he uses his skills with the car, which were established at the beginning of the movie, to catch up with him and also eliminate a number of the peripheral antagonists and the number like Viggo's men. And then finally, in the end, it is so. It is just John and just Viggo, and they're right. No bullets, just you and me. And then, of course, because Viggo's a villain and he's a jerk, he pulls a knife and he cheats. But what happens is that John uses his specific gift, right? Which John Wick is a man of focus, commitment and sheer will. And what he does is he takes the knife and he actually plunges it into himself in order to get the upper hand on Viggo. And this is where we see that. Like, this is where we see that, I think, express. Where his discipline and his commitment and that, like, force of will comes to play because he can't quite get, like, they're kind of grappling with each other, and he can't quite get the upper hand on VGo. But VGo has this knife and he's trying to keep it from going into it. And there's this moment of realization of if I take this hit, then I can get the upper hand on Vigo, right? So he gets. He plunges the knife into himself. He's willing to take that hit in order to. Right. I think he, like, breaks VGo's arm and then he's able to take out the knife and stab vgo. And that's how I kind of see that. Like, what happens over this sequence is an expression of Jon's gift to overcome the antagonist. Like, all the extra people are gone and it's just him and Vigo, and then it's his different skills that play out in him finally defeating the antagonist. So that's sort of the way that I was thinking about the hero at the mercy of the villain because of. And also, like, I'm thinking, like, also just sort of technically in terms of, like, where it's supposed to fall and what's supposed to. What kinds of things are supposed to happen and who's supposed to be using their gifts and all that jazz. So that's. That's my theory for the hero at the mercy.

Yeah, I like that. And I like what, What. When you were talking about that, it's like, again, you know, when we see Vigo give up his son, it's consistent with who he's been. And then when Jon is willing to basically kill himself because he is a man focused, he is going to get the final outcome, and he will sacrifice him, every part of himself to get it. And so. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. I love that. All right, so let's look at the last obligatory moment. The hero's sacrifice is rewarded. So what do you see there?

Mine is just very short, I said. Because I have, like. Because I have a fixation on the dog.

Yeah.

I was like, john gets a new dog. That's his reward. He gets, like. He gets a new dog and he gets to go home with his. With his dog.

Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I think it's both of those.

Yeah, I love it. All right, so that got us through the conventions and obligatory moments for the genre. So now let's look at another tool we like to use here at Story Grid, and that's the Heroic Journey archetypes. And so these archetypes are characters. Again, when we. When we talk about archetypes, we're talking at that kind of mythical level. Right. So these are not.

You know, these can show up in lots of different ways, but they. The archetypes do need to show up in the. In. In the story somewhere. Again, it's kind of like conventions and obligatory moments. It's. It's a satisfying reader's expectations, but not just of the genre of story in general. And so we have these here. We'll just start working through them. So we'll go through the easy ones first. All right, Heroic agent, what do we got for that?

John Wick.

John Wick. For the Shadow agent, we have Vigo. All right, so now let's look at the mentor. So who plays the mentor when we're looking at John Wick?

Yeah. So I find This a really interesting exercise going through the archetypes because they also can sort of shift and move throughout the story. Right. So.

Because they're sort of these. These archetypical roles, you'll have. You can have characters sort of moving in and out of different roles and acting in different ways within the story. I think it also is interesting because John is as. As a protagonist, he's kind of a mentor figure himself in terms of, like, for the audience. Right. Like, he is, again, he's sort of someone to emulate. And so for the mentor figure, I wondered if his wife was sort of acting as this guiding force in his life a little. Like, it's this. The. This is like a part of him being more integrated as a person. And so I sort of. This, again, I found this sort of a difficult exercise for this. For this movie. And so I kind of thought that she sort of has this. This kind of mentor impact on him because of how she, like how his relationship with her has shaped him leading up to the movie and how he sort of revisits that relationship at key moments throughout the story.

Yeah, I had Winston, because I was thinking the mentor is, you know, in a guide, an advisor, a teacher, and especially in that moment in the bar when he's trying to talk John out of it and telling him what's going to happen if he keeps going. And so, you know, Winston plays this, like, fatherly figure towards John and the whole thing. And I think it's the way I read their relationship is like, Winston misses him but is glad he got out. And so the fact that he's, like, trying to tell him. He's telling him what's going to happen if he keeps going down this road. And he's right. And so I had Winston for that one.

Yeah. And I want to say, too, I think Winston, like, he's kind of interesting because I think he does sort of have, like, play multiple roles in the story, and he plays specific roles in the world and then specific roles to John. So I think you're right. I think he does act as a mentor figure, and then I don't want to skip ahead too far. But also, like, he. He does have sort of this, like, heraldic role where he's also warning John of the consequences of his actions. And I sort of. So it's sort of interesting the way that he kind of moves in different. In. Into different roles as a character, I think.

Yeah, I had him as the herald, too. So if we look at the herald as the one that brings a message to the protagonist or he often gives the call to adventure. But in this one, I think he's delivering the warning.

Yeah, so I had him down. Yeah. You know, it's actually when I think about archetypes. So actually, let's do. Let's look at allies next. So.

You know, there's a. There's an allies and there's enemies, and these are going to be different. Obviously, the allies are the ones helping the hero on their journey. The enemies are almost like the allies of the shadow agent. Right. So they're like. So who did you have down for John's allies in this?

Yeah, John actually has a lot of allies in this. In this story. So he has Marcus, I think Aurelio is definitely an ally. The guy who owns the car shop.

Charon Charan, the guy he's played by Lance Riddick. He is the. The receptionist at. At the hotel, like, at the Continental. And then the hotel manager, Winston, is also an ally. And actually, I just thought of it. Harry as well, becomes an ally for a brief.

Oh, yeah, yeah. I didn't have Harry down. Yeah, I agree with that. And this is where my favorite example of how people need. When you're thinking about archetypes, like, be willing to get super creative. Because when I think of, like, how can you get super creative with. With archetypes? I always go to the movie Castaway, the Tom Hanks movie. And the ally that helps Tom Hanks survive is a vault. Is it a soccer ball or volleyball?

It's a volleyball.

It's a volleyball. Right? And, like, by the end, you know, he's, like, drawn a face on it and giving it hair. And then, like, if you don't cry when he loses Wilson, like, you are just a monster of a human being. And so, like. But I really believe, like, Tom Hanks would not have survived that island without. Without the, you know, the two. Actually, now it's Wilson, and then it's the box he doesn't open with the angel wings on it. Like, those are the two things that he hangs on to that helps him survive. And so we've talked before on the podcast how, like, a mentor could be like an old book somebody found or a journal that they're reading throughout the story. And so, yeah, so that's the allies for enemies. I had Ms. Perkins, Yosef. I had Victor and Gregory. Gregory, which is Yosef's like, partners in crime. Then I don't know how to say Kirill, the bodyguard that bested him. And then just. I just put minions as, like, all the people Coming after John.

Yes.

Yeah. Did you have anybody else? Did I miss one?

I don't think so. That's. That was the list that I had as well. Although I didn't even get nearly as specific with the names because I had to do way too much digging to figure out, like, what was that guy's name?

Yeah. So early on when I was, like, trying to do my notes, I was just. Went to IMDb and, like, copy and pasted the character list just so I could, like, easily refer to it. All right, so let's look at the shape shifters. So let's see. I've got a definition here. So the shape shifter refers to a character that changes form or identity throughout the. Throughout the story. So this can be physical changes, but it can also be more abstract, like changings of morals or allegiances.

Yeah, I think that this. Something that I think is really cool about the concept of John Wick, like, of this story is that he kind of. And I don't think we see this as much in the first one as we sort of see in the second one, but he does sort of occupy a world of shapeshifters. Right. These are all killers for hire. And so for a lot of them, if the contract is high enough, like, they'll, like. They don't mind switching allegiances because it's all just business. Right. And so this really impacts the world that he occupies. But I think a really clear example of a shapeshifter would be Perkins. She is very much morally ambiguous. It's also interesting. I noticed this. I was, like, rewatching it last night, and she, like, physically can sort of shapeshift in a way, because she could dislocate her thumb. That scene makes me just. Just want to cringe every time. And she can actually, like, physically, you know, change her body. And she dislocates her thumb so that she can get out of the handcuffs. And it's also. Right, she sort of betrays Viggo as well when she tells John where to find his stuff so that he doesn't, like, you know, in. In exchange for her life. So she's always. She. Ms. Perkins does what's good for Ms. Perkins. So she's always adapting to the environment to do that.

Yeah. I have her down as the shapeshifter and the trickster because there's this level of so with the trickster, they represent disruption, mischief, and humor. And so I look at her as like.

She. It's like she enjoys playing around the edges of kind of doing whatever she thinks is Best for herself. And. But for Shapeshifter, I also had Marcus because he, you know, on one hand, you know, he agrees to kill John. He agrees with Viggo, and then changes allegiances. And there's points in the movie where you're not sure what his allegiance is. You're like, did he miss when he shot John in his hotel room? Or was he warning him? You know?

And so, yeah. Did you have anything different for Trickster?

Yeah. So I also had Marcus down as. As a Shapeshifter because of the way that he changes allegiances. And then I kind of thought that maybe Marcus was also a trickster because of the way that he upsets the balance. Like, he upsets the balance specifically for. For Vigo because, right. He's like, oh, my gosh, if you had done your job, like, I would, like John Wick would be dead. And also. So he's got a couple of things. He does sort of have this. I feel like he has a little bit of this chaotic worldview when he talks about, right? Like, there is no rhyme or reason to this life, just days like today mixed in with all the rest. And then he just kind of does stuff like that's his sort of operating worldview. And then he just kind of does stuff is like, it doesn't. There's so much of this that doesn't matter. And then when he. At the very end, when he decides, right, he says, I go out. I'm not going out on your terms, good sir. I go out on my terms, right? And he just really, like, again, upsets the balance, even though he ultimately dies. Like, he just upends everything that's happening by killing some of Viggo's men before he ultimately dies. And so he sort of, again, changes that status quo to go out on his own terms and going out with a fight. So that's why I kind of thought that he might also have this sort of Trickster quality.

Yeah. No, I agree.

So the last one is the Threshold Guardian, which we talked about last time. But what did you have for the Threshold Guardian?

I actually. I was thinking something that's interesting again, about Winston. Winston is like everything in everybody. Like, he is the everything man, which is probably why he's one of the best characters. But what's interesting is I think that Winston acts as a Threshold Guardian for, like, for the Continental and for sort of the world and the balance of. Of the. The world that they occupy, because he is sort of weighing the worthy and unworthy actors, right? And so. And when Perkins Breaks Continental rules, he revokes her, her membership. Right. And so he is sort of weeding out some of the unworthy actors based on how they behave in the Continental. So even though he's not so much a Threshold Guardian, I think for John.

He is, he acts as a Threshold Guardian in this world. Right. He's a well established member. He knows everybody through the Continental. Like, he really occupies this, this very specific role within the world.

I agree with that. And then we talked about last time. The Threshold Guardian usually shows up in the crossover from the old world to the new world. And I, I looked at it as Vigo's first assassin team because that's the testing to see if John is still the boogeyman.

So, yeah, that's great. I always love looking through these archetypes. I always think it's interesting to see how they show up. All right, so let's end with. We had decided beforehand, like we would just talk through kind of some of our favorite moments in the movie and how we can take some of those away to help people as they're writing their own action story. So what's, what's one of yours to get us started?

Yeah. One of my all time favorite elements of this story is the world building. And it's the world building really specifically in service of the story that the writer and directors wanted to tell. So I'm just, I'm going to, I'm going to avoid the rant, but I'm going to just touch on this. So this was a movie that was directed, written, created by guys who work in the stunt industry. Right. And so they got to bring. What they did when they created this movie was create a movie that enabled them to showcase their art form. And so what they did is they built a story that, that was going to enable them to do that, to really showcase, right. What again, what their specific art and what their specific skills are. And then they built a world that supports this kind of story. So it's not just that the world that they designed is just like cool as hell. Right? Like just so interesting, so detailed. And so for me as an audience member, it's so fun to be in that world with John Wick. But then it's also a world that is deeply intentional, that it constantly is keeping us inside of that action value space of life and death. It's providing obstacles as well as resources to John Wick. And it's again, it is a world that supports this very specific kind of story so that it's both immersive and Sort of relevant to the story that they're trying to tell and actually makes better the story that they're trying to tell. And I think that is something that is just so masterfully done and something that, whether you're a fantasy writer or you're telling your own kind of action story, crime story, whatever it is, is building out a context, building out a world that supports the creation of this specific story that. That, again, provides both obstacles and resources to your protagonist as they're navigating the central conflict of the story.

Yeah, that's really interesting.

Yeah. I sometimes forget about how the. The director was previously a stunt coordinator. And so bringing that into this.

One of my. One of the things that. Because, you know, John Wick, again, I think I said last time was, you know, when I went to see it, when I finally saw it, it was in the theaters, had been out a while, and I was kind of like, all right, it's just another action movie. And then I saw it, I'm like, oh, my God, I just loved it so much. And then, you know, over the years, because I've been kind of reintroduced to it over the last, like, six or nine months because my. My sons are finally old enough, I could start watching it with them. And so I hadn't watched it in a while. And so then watching it with them again, I'm like, oh, my God, it's so good. And. And then as we're getting ready to record, I'm like, okay, so let's. Let's think about this. Like, why is. Why do I set John Wick apart from kind of the run of the mill action movies that I love, but, like, stacking them up against, like, James Bond would be one, right? And I love. I love the newer James Bonds with Daniel Craig. I think they're great.

But. But also. So, okay, so you know those types of movies. What. What sets John Wick apart? And what I think is, is. And Sean talks about this all the time of, like, the. The. If you deeply know your genre, that's what allows you to break. To break cliches while staying within the conventions and obligatory moments, right? So I think they do. I think he does this really well in a couple ways with John. So one is John Wick looks clumsy. Like, he's always, like, stumbling and, like, running into things. Like, he does not come across as, like, a perfect assass, right? Like, there's all these times where he, like, seems to trip and fall. Like, he does things. Like, I was like, at one point again, watching the second and Third one, I was, like, keeping track of how many times he kicks somebody in the groin, like, which was like. It's almost like this thing you're not supposed to do, because that's not like, the right thing to do or the noble thing to do. And he will do any, like we've talked about. He'll do anything to win. And so. So I love that there's, like, this clumsy nature. Like, he looks like he's clumsy, although he's doing all of these really precise, precise things. So I love that. I also love that it, you know, everybody kind of laughs at the fact that the movie was kicked off by the killing of a dog, and then that's through the whole thing. But that's a twist on the convention because it's like, it's usually like the wife or the best friend or, like his family or, you know, something happens at the beginning that, like, sets this thing in motion. And so the fact that, like, his wife dies of natural causes or what, you know, we don't know, but some sort of illness and then.

And then it's the dog that kicks the whole thing off again, I think that's what sets this apart. And so. And then the world, like you talked about, is super interesting.

But those two things for me stand out as, like, they. And then again, I would say I've talked about it before is I love the preciseness of, like, the. The fighting movements or actual, like, you know, jiu jitsu and judo and other forms of martial arts. The gunplay is very precise. And as far as, like, the way he uses the gun, the way he checks the bullets in the gun, how often he changes the magazines, like, I think all of that being so precise is, again, not what most action movies do, but them being so specific on that, like, adds this whole new realm to it that. Nope, like, it's never talked about. Right. It's just there. And it's one of those that later, if you, like, happen to find out, you're like, oh, yeah, yeah, that was awesome. You know, but, like, your subconscious definitely picked up on it. So for me, that was a big thing for me. And again, it's that, like, you know, the. The deeper you know your genre, the. The better off you're going to be because you're going to be able to twist things in a way that you won't know unless you understand the genre.

Yeah. Oh, that's such a great point. This is, like, clearly the product of people who know and love their genre and they are deeply invested in it. They're deeply familiar with it, and it really comes across, and that's how they were able to create something. That's one of the ways that they did a lot of stuff, but that's one of the ways that they were able to create something so masterful. So I think that's a great. It's a great advertisement for, like, know your genre. Get in there and get familiar with it. That's really what enables you to. To innovate.

Yeah. And I'll point out, too.

I. What I love about it, too, and I think writers get stuck in this, is that it is unapologetic about what it is. And I think sometimes we as writers want to do something fancy or do something, like, super, you know, I don't know, like, out of the box or something where it's like, yeah, yeah, just, like, hitting it. And then this is what I've noticed in Sean. I've just learned this in the past few weeks, working on my own story and what Sean. So I'm right now telling a story that's a performance story with a love secondary, a marriage plot secondary. But then when I was Mapping out the 20 core scenes, Sean was like, you have to do the status, because that's green. But you also need to map out the action scenes, the 20 action scenes. I'm like, yeah, but it's not an action story. It's a performance. Like, why would I do this? And, like, I'm thinking that, you know, I've been hanging out with Sean long enough. I mostly just argue in my head than out loud anymore. And so I'm like, all right, let's. Let's. Fine, let's do it. So Leslie and I had been working through my narrative path, and I did it. I mapped out the 20 scenes of both. We worked them to make sure they fit together. And then just yesterday, Sean was like, all right, tell me your story. And I was like, you don't want to go over, like, the specifics? He's like, no, just go through your 20 scenes for both. He's like, just tell me the story. Like you would if we were hanging out somewhere. You tell me the story. So I took, like, 20, 25 minutes, and I just told him the story. And. And what's crazy is all of the, like, internal stuff and all of the worldview stuff, all of the other stuff, like, automatically came out just by me trying to tell a really interesting story again as we talk about on that gre, like, make it interesting to watch. Right. And. And I think this is what people miss is they're like, well, I want to tell a worldview story. And so I'm going to really focus on the worldview. But they don't make it interesting. And you can't go backwards. Like you, you don't get the action by telling the worldview, you get the worldview by telling the action. And I think that shows up here as like they were unapologetic of like I'm going to, you know, I'm gonna tell the best action story I possibly can. And all of a sudden here we are hours into dissecting it, talking about was it morality or was it status? And like all of these like swirl things are swirled up in it. And it's been a real, an eye opening lesson for me to like, if I focus on the action, the other stuff can come in bonus. And I think that goes for love stories. I think that goes for any.

Yeah.

And it's like, it's the externals where you also get to showcase the internal changes that you're interested in. Right. It's like, like if someone's having a worldview change, like listening to them, you know, think about it, maybe it's not super interesting, but then when we see them like that, then those are the things like that, that like this is where your audience experiences like catharsis or where they experience being moved emotionally is because they are seeing a protagonist enacting these things like physically out in the world there. This isn't just limited to the realm of their mind. Like it, it has actual, has actual stakes and it has, it basically like gives body or embodies the internal changes because it has to come out in the world. And we're actually watching them change. We're watching them make different decisions and we're watching them be tested and come up against obstacles and have to come up with solutions. And so those, those external events are the way that you show those key internal elements that are at work in your story.

Yeah. Yeah. All right, so what else did you have? What were some of your favorite parts of the movie?

Yes, I, and I'm actually glad that we ended up talking about this when we talked about the failure of the initial strategy. But I love.

The way that they like their use of the highly skilled protagonist. This is, I love a story where you just have a protagonist who's like super good at what they do. But there's also a lot of stuff that you have to really get right if you're going to have that kind of protagonist. Right. So that's where we got into their strategies still have to fail. Like, they still have to get it wrong. And it's not for a lack of their abilities, but it's, you know, some kind of misunderstanding or a key piece of information that they just don't know. Like, there's. But something has to. Like, they have to face obstacles. And a really key thing with the highly skilled protagonist, which we see in John Wick, is the obstacles have to match the skill level of the protagonist if he's going to be highly skilled. So that means if it's sort of like it has to scale up with the capabilities of the protagonist. If you have a highly skilled protagonist, then you're going to need to come up with obstacles that are going to test and exceed the bounds of your protagonist capabilities. Because, like, otherwise, they're just right again. They're just rolling straight through the story like there's. There's no stakes involved because we know they're going to win because they're so good at it. Right. And so what it. What it really demonstrates is the way that you.

Escalate the capabilities and the obstacles presented by the antagonist to match the. The skills of the protagonist and then how you can. How you continue to escalate that over the course of the story. Because if your protagonist starts highly skilled, then that means the. The obstacles have to start very difficult, and they're going to have to get more difficult throughout the story. And John Wick is a great example of how you pull that off and how you start with a really large, like, a really powerful antagonist, and then those stakes and those obstacles just keep escalating across the story.

Yeah, that's great. I had not even thought about that of, like.

Him being so skilled at the beginning and how the movie worked. Had to work because of that. That's really interesting.

One of my favorites, I think. I just. I love the use of humor in it. I just think there's, like, these moments that it's kind of like.

The movie Snatch. Like, I've watched that movie probably a dozen times now, and that's another one. Like, I've just been kind of reintroduced to it in the past year, watching it with my BO and first of all, it holds up. I've tried to show my kids some movies. They don't hold up. That one holds up. And.

It'S one of those that every time I watch it, I'm like, oh, there's another joke I missed the first dozen times I saw it. And I feel like that watching John Wick is. There's the moments where Viggo has this old timey, almost like a Rolodex notebook, and he's like trying to see the number and he's dialing the phone. That makes me laugh. I love. And then of course, when, you know, I think Avi's funny through the whole thing where he's like, he's like, he's like. Keeps getting frustrated that he does. He's like, I don't speak Russian, man. You know, and there's all these like little points of humor in it that I think are like, dropped in really well. And I will point this out. Like the opening scene of John Wick 2, like, when, like, it's Viggo's cousin, right? So the whole opening scene is John's going to get his car back because, like, he didn't get his car in the first one. And Viggo's cousin has the car and he's like sitting in his office and he hears just like chaos happening out there as John's coming for him. And it just keeps cutting back to him. And he's just sitting there, like, looking up and like, looking around as he just hears chaos. And it is hilarious, you know, and there's like, I just love the way they drop these, like, little moments of humor into this, you know, obviously action packed, violent vengeance plot. But sometimes those can just. And I. And what it made me think of is another vengeance plot, True Grit. And how like Matt Damon plays this character that's like so ridiculous. And you know, because he's the marshal, I think he's a U.S. marshal. And he's like, it's just ridiculous. And there's this one line that my wife always say about our dog. It's like he's like, he says something to him and Matt Damon is just like ever stalwart. You know, he just plays this, like, over the top. And I feel like in a vengeance plot, it like those little tiny moments of levity allow you to like, allow the audience to like, take a breath, you know, because it's like without those little moments of humor. And I even think there's moments of humor in like, in like John's clumsily clumsiness, right? Like there's this moment in the third one where like him and two other guys run out of bullets all at the same time. And so they're kind of like looking at each other. And then instead of like, it's like an old time Western where everybody draws their gun, but instead they're all trying to reach see who can reload the fast this, you know, but it's like this little moment of like they're looking at each other like what do we do now? You know, we're all out of bullets and. And so. Yeah, I just, I just think those, you know, Sean talks about that, we talk about that when we're talking about like picking the point of view is like how like up close and personal do you want the person, the reader to be? Like in Hunger Games you like will get out of breath because you're like in the action because you're, it's like you're reading it and it's happening in real time. And I think in John Wick being such an intense movie, like those little moments where you can let the, let the audience laugh, it kind of like it like brings them down so that you can take them right back up. But it's those moments on a roller coaster where like you're, you've been like going through twists and turns and then it like comes up and you just kind of sit there as it goes around the corner and then boom, there it goes again. So I love that about the movie. I think it does it really well.

Yeah, it's like have those moments just sort of like release a little bit of the pressure so your head doesn't explode from like how exciting it is. And it's interesting that because something that you're also pointing out is they do a really good job of like using their genre to generate the humor. Right? Using conventions and aspects of their genre to generate the humor so that it's, it's like extra funny and it's sort of almost like for the, for the action story lover, it even feels maybe a little bit like an inside joke. And so I think that it's. That's a great thing to think about too is like aspects of the genre that can actually sort of produce those moments of humor to. If you're. Especially if you're in this hot like super fast paced plot where your audience needs like a moment to laugh every now and again, that's kind of a. I think that's a good thing to think about, right. How your, how your genre can actually generate some of that humor.

Do you have anything else?

I did just have one more thing which is so I work a lot with fantasy writers and so this is like an issue that's near and dear to my heart, which is the lack of over explanation that happens in the story. So.

In, in John Wick we pretty much just kind of get chucked into the story. And so we don't get like, everybody in the story is already in the know. The only thing that we kind of learn is who the heck John wick is. And we're learning with yosef. And they set that up really nicely so that it's not like, oh, like, who is John wick? And we get like, you know, this sort of like goofy dialogue that's like, well, John wick was blah, blah, blah, right? And it's like everybody in the room knows and there's no reason to tell anybody. But the way that they leverage, like we learn about who John wick is is in. In the course of viggo scolding his son for making an idiot mistake because yosef does not understand who John is because yosef's too young to know John is. Because he's not that old. And so if you think about, you know, when John got out, he probably was a teenager, so he has no idea. And so that, like using that. That relevant occasion to give us information. But then for the rest of the world.

We'Re just in it. So we just watch John get on the phone, he pulls out some gold coins and we're like, I want to gold coins. And then I have to make a dinner reservation. No explanation. And then a bunch of dudes and like a kind of scary looking man in a hat shows up at his door with like a bunch of burly dudes in a truck and they start cleaning up and then he. They start right, wrapping up the bodies and pulling them out. And like, he shows up to the continental and they use all of these sort of like, euphemisms, right? I'd like to make a dinner reservation. Have you come back to the fold, John. And they, they. What it does is it establishes this world that we feel as the audience. It was turning like this world was spinning and turning before we ever showed up. And it will continue to turn after we leave the movie. And that makes it feel really immersive because it's. Because it keeps us in the experience rather than reminding us that we're in a fictional setting by being like, well, the continental works this way, right? And they just assume, like, you. You just have to ca up. You're going to watch, you're going to have to figure it out because that's how it works. That's how life works, right? And so it keeps us locked into the story so that we're never pulled back into being like, ah, yes, I am an audience member watching John wick and thinking about like, you know, how does this thing work, right? They're just raising questions and then answering them in the course of action rather than, again, just explaining it to us and giving us, like, these clunky dialogue bits that are like, well, you know how we do things at the Continental? It always works like this, right? You're just like, oh my God, please. And so that's something that especially as, like, the first story in a franchise and just like chucking us into the deep end makes it an absolute thrill to discover what this world is and how it works. And then, of course, in John Wick, too, it only gets better.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the StoryGrid podcast to download the complete story grid analysis of John Wick. You can do that right now by going to storygrid.com wicked. If you'd like to keep up with everything going on in the Storygrid universe, you can do that by going to storygrid.com and signing up for the newsletter. If you want to support this show, you can do that by telling another author about the show or by visiting us on Apple Podcasts and leaving a rating and review. Thanks, as always, for being a part of our work here at StoryGrid, and we'll see you next week.