00:00Darla, look, John Wick is shooting all these guys using proper gun technique, and he always reloads that heckler and
00:06coke P30L every 15 shot.
00:08Look, he has to reload right now, right in the middle of getting that guy. He reloads, isn't that cool?
00:12Darla's not a big fan of this movie because, you know, the whole opening scene.
00:14I don't let her watch that part, but she knows what happens at the beginning of the movie.
00:18I'm Eric Voss, and this is The Deep Dive.
00:20Let's deep dive into 2014's John Wick, the first film of the John Wick series starring Keanu Reeves,
00:25directed by Chad Stahelski, written by Derek Kolstad, and stunts by Stahelski and David Leach.
00:29With John Wick Chapter 4 coming, let's analyze the details that make the first John Wick film work so well.
00:34As expansive as the John Wick mythology gets in the sequels,
00:36its playful world-building is really made possible by the first film's strict adherence to a set of rules.
00:41It's a game that pays the price for its heightened reality by minding its manners with details few other franchises
00:46care about.
00:47So here they are, the John Wick rules.
00:49Number one, you may only kill people who are also part of the game in approved zones.
00:53So no collateral damage to innocents or to NPCs.
00:55Number two, respect for firearms must be observed.
00:58Number three, all legal transactions must be made with approved currency, in this case, gold coins.
01:03And number four, don't make a mess, which is kind of the catch-all rule of don't be a dick.
01:06These are the rules followed by assassins in the world of the film and by the filmmakers in a certain
01:10respect.
01:11And these rules allow everyone involved to go to some wild places.
01:14So let's go back through this film scene by scene to see how all these rules apply.
01:18And the best way to support The Deep Dive channel is to grab some deep dive merch from nerdright.shop,
01:21like one of these super warm, cozy Fetterman hoodies.
01:23The film opens in the final scene as John crashes Viggo's SUV and bleeds from the fight.
01:27The car radio announcer reports how the storm has passed, seven inches of rain the night before,
01:32stranding New Yorkers without power.
01:33This is some thematic table setting for the storm we're about to flash back into
01:36and exposition that establishes the first rule.
01:39Non-killers must be sidelined.
01:40Everyday New Yorkers in this film are just not part of this underworld war.
01:44John watches video of his deceased wife, Helen.
01:46What are you doing, John?
01:49In Greek mythology and in history, Helen of Troy was the woman so beautiful,
01:52men went to war over her.
01:54But in this film, those were wars of the past.
01:56John already won those wars and that's how he was able to get out.
01:58So we flashback to a few days earlier.
01:59John going through his 6 a.m. morning routine, but something's missing.
02:02He pats his bedside as he wakes up.
02:03Helen isn't there.
02:04Her daisy-decorated mug is beside his by the coffee,
02:07while her hospital bedside has an orchid hanging over her.
02:09Lower by her pillows are daisies.
02:10And of course, daisies on her bracelet and the daisy on my card she later sends John.
02:13When her casket is lowered, John has an 8-spoked umbrella.
02:16But when he talks to Marcus, it switches to a larger 16-spoked umbrella.
02:19This isn't just a random dumb mistake.
02:21There's a practical reason behind it.
02:22When Keanu Reeves is shot from below,
02:23he can have a smaller umbrella because you just need to see him from below.
02:25And he can hold it over his head without getting rain on him.
02:27But when he's shot from the side in the scene with Willem Dafoe,
02:29the actor has to tilt the umbrella back so that he can see his face.
02:32And thus, they need a wider canopy so that they can get clean audio
02:34without the actor and the microphone getting all wet.
02:36John says he keeps asking,
02:37Why her?
02:38There's no rhyme or reason to this life.
02:40Marcus implies that the outside world, real life, really has no rules to it.
02:43Fate is cruel that way.
02:45Only in the underworld are there rules that you can live according to.
02:47And one could argue those rules are the reason the underworld exists.
02:50So that these violent players can live in a world that makes some sense.
02:53John accidentally keeps the delivery person's pen,
02:55showing how he instinctively keeps every writing implement in case he needs a weapon.
02:58Viggo later states that he wants to help John kill a man with a f***ing pencil.
03:05And killing some guys with pencils is something John does in Chapter 2.
03:07Notice also that John wears his watch facing the inside of his wrist,
03:10whereas other times, like when he drives, he wears it facing out.
03:12This is because when John is in fighting mode,
03:14he faces it inwards, similarly to have soldiers will wear their watches
03:17so that they can see the time while they're holding a rifle.
03:19And to keep the watch...
03:20The question is,
03:20how much more will they be?
03:24The question is,
