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    Keanu Reeves’ Gun Skills In $174M Action Movie Gets Praise For Commitment & Accuracy From Expert

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    Keanu Reeves’ Gun Skills In 4M Action Movie Gets Praise For Commitment & Accuracy From Expert


    Keanu Reeves largely became a household name due to his work in the action genre. Point Break in 1991 was a seminal film in this respect, as was Speed in 1994. Of course, the film that cemented Reeves’ position as an action star was The Matrix in 1999, which was a massive hit both critically and commercially, and was followed by four sequels.

    After a career lull starting in the late 2000s that extended into the early 2010s, Reeves came back in a big way in 2014 with the release of John Wick. Reeves’ portrayal of the titular assassin, aided by the assured action direction of Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, was a surprise hit, and he has now reprised the role for five films in total, including the acclaimed John Wick: Chapter 4 in 2023. Reeves can next be seen as Wick in the upcoming spinoff, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas.

    John Wick 2 Earns An Impressive Accuracy Grade

    Firearms Expert Highlights Reeves’ Weapons Training

    A firearms expert praises Reeves’ gun-handling ability in John Wick: Chapter 2
    (2017), awarding extra points for coolness. Directed only by Stahelski this time around, the sequel to the 2014 action flick sees Reeves pulled back into the shadowy world of assassins only to find a large price has been put on his head. The second John Wick movie features a higher body count and doubles down on the action, with Reeves’ Wick gunning down dozens of enemies in flashy, stylistic fashion throughout the movie.

    Collage of John Wick holding various weapons including a machine gun, handgun, and knife

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    In a recent video for Insider, former special operations soldier Patrick McNamara analyzes scenes from one of the later shootouts in John Wick: Chapter 2, pointing out just how proficient Reeves is with a gun in his hand. According to the expert, the film gets a lot right in terms of how Reeves moves and uses a gun, including how he scavenges ammunition from dead enemies and resorts to throwing the weapon when he runs out of bullets.

    The only area the movie loses points is due to a press check (checking the gun’s chamber to see whether a round is present) that is perhaps too flashy for use during the heat of battle. Check out McNamara’s analysis for the movie below:

    It’s referred to as battlefield recovery. So he’s got a pistol and there’s several mags, and you could tell that there’s a variety of pistols around, but he’ll find a magazine that matches the pistol in his hand. You could see him look, “Is this the right mag for this pistol?” And looking all at how many rounds are in that.

    So when it comes to reloading a pistol we want to break our grip, drop our mag, center line sweep, eyes go from sights to fight, mag comes out. It’s inserted, it’s seated, reacquire grip, straight back.

    I say primal skills are very very important. The ability to throw something accurately, a rock, a bottle, an empty pistol in this case, because it’s obvious he doesn’t have an extra magazine for that pistol. I love the fact that he threw it.

    What I love about that scene, and I call this eliminating predictability, where he kind of lowered his profile a little bit, he peaked and saw the guy’s foot and shot him right in the foot and then came back up with two hands and then finished the work. I thought that was cool as hell, eliminating predictability.

    So a press check becomes extremely important because you have to understand the condition of the weapon system. Just because you’ve loaded a mag in it does not necessarily mean that it is loaded. They’ll pull the slide back, let the slide forward and assume that they are good to go when in fact they didn’t seat the mag all the way, and unless you seat the mag all the way and charge the pistol, it probably didn’t load.

    You never want to go “Click” instead of “Boom” in a gunfight. You know it’s like the loudest sound you could hear in a gunfight. So press checks are free. Do a press check if there’s a lull in the fight. For me personally, it’s not the press check I would use where he flips like this and pulls the slide back a little bit. It looks really cool. I’m going to have more positive control.

    You have to respect Keanu’s gun-handling ability. Not only his gun handling ability but you understand the work that he put in, especially with the mechanics, because when it comes to reloading, press checks, everything like that, it’s obvious that he has got time behind a gun.

    I’m going to go as high as an eight on this one. For cool points? A solid 10.

    Our Take On Keanu Reeves’ Gun Skills In The John Wick Franchise

    Reeves’ Commitment Takes The Franchise To New Heights

    Keanu Reeves points a gun as John Wick in a hall of mirrors in John Wick: Chapter 2

    One of the things that sets John Wick movies apart from other action flicks is just how highly-trained the actors are. Reeves undergoes months of training for each installment in the franchise, spending a great deal of time specifically with firearms trainer Taran Butler. Behind-the-scenes videos of Reeves training at Butler’s facility show that he is now very proficient with a gun, and that none of his skills are faked or exaggerated in the films.

    This dedication from Reeves, Stahelski, and the crew is part of why all the movies in the Lionsgate franchise have been such hits. They have all been well-received both critically and commercially, with John Wick: Chapter 4 reviews being the most positive of the bunch. It remains to be seen whether Reeves will return for a fifth movie, but John Wick: Chapter 2 remains a seminal entry in the franchise with some standout action set pieces and shootouts.

    Source: Insider



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