When “John Wick” blasted into theaters on October 24, 2014, moviegoers lost their minds over the film’s inventive amalgam of hand-to-hand combat and gunplay. It was doubly impressive due to Keanu Reeves’ seemingly effortless facility for performing many of his own stunts. Obviously, no one was surprised that the star of “The Matrix” franchise could brawl and shoot convincingly, but the degree of difficulty appeared to be off the charts. Just when you think you’ve seen every possible iteration of martial arts combat on screen, along comes stuntman-turned-director Chad Stahelski to show action junkies that there’s still plenty of room for throwdown innovation.
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If you’re a hardcore fan of the genre, you know that filmmakers have blended these gunplay and hand-to-hand combat before. The Wachowskis first introduced the idea in “The Matrix,” which inspired Kurt Wimmer to go utterly gonzo by inventing “gun kata” in his ludicrously entertaining “Equilibrium.” Wimmer was so far ahead of the game that the now-disgraced duo of Harvey and Bob Weinstein dumped his movie into theaters at the end of 2002 because, in part, they didn’t think moviegoers would get off on this newfangled action concept. “Equilibrium” subsequently became a cult hit, but it would take another decade for studios and mainstream audiences to fully embrace the art of “gun-fu” (a term coined by CHUD webmaster Nick Nunziata 23 years ago).
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While Stahelski didn’t invent gun-fu, he unquestionably took it to the next level with the brilliant 87North stunt crew in the first “John Wick” movie. This fighting style has only grown more sophisticated over the, thus far, four feature sequels and sole television spinoff (“The Continental: From the World of John Wick”). For those curious about the origins and development of gun-fu over the years, there’s a behind-the-scenes documentary on the way from director Jeffrey Doe titled “Wick Is Pain,” and one of the film’s most surprising reveals is that Jason Statham almost had the honor of introducing the punch-kick-bang discipline.
Jason Statham’s Safe was too grounded for gun-fu
/Film’s Ben Pearson recently interviewed Stahelski about the documentary (which the filmmaker did not direct or produce), and, at the end of their chat, noted that Boaz Yakin’s action-thriller “Safe” was nearly ground zero for the 47North form of this highly deadly martial art. Though Statham is no shrinking violet when it comes to performing as many of his own stunts as possible, “Safe” turned out to be the wrong fit for the crew’s gun-fu antics.
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Stahelski clarified that they’re on very friendly terms with Statham (47North did the stunts on David Ayer’s “The Beekeeper”), but admitted that introducing gun-fu in a relatively grounded film about a homeless ex-cop and former MMA fighter who finds himself protecting a young girl who’s being hunted by such criminal outfits as the Russian mob, the Chinese Triads and the NYPD would’ve been jarring for moviegoers:
“Logistically, that would be so odd for that movie. Tonally, logistically, financially, it was never going to work. We were the goofy ones who were pitching it, knowing that there’s no way it was a great character choice for him. Some of the Aikido, and the individual moves, sure. But myself, Jason, and Boaz the director, were like, “Yeah, it’s cool, but…”And there’s a little hint of it in there, when Jason’s doing the disarms in the restaurant and stuff. It was in there. And Jason could do it all, no problem, and f***ing Jason’s awesome, man. I love watching his s***. It’s just, it wasn’t the right character, tone, and movie for that.”
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Stahelski also discussed how 47North’s development of new action filmmaking techniques comes from “f***ing about in the gym.” He unabashedly allows that the action in the “John Wick” universe has turned into a Looney Tunes style of combat (which calls to mind Michael Davis’ gleefully nutty “Shoot ‘Em Up” starring Clive Owen and Monica Bellucci). Perhaps they’ll be able to get Statham in on the Wick gun-fu fun somewhere down the line. It’d feel like a missed opportunity not to pit him against Keanu before they both age out of this bone-bruising genre. Solana Token Creator
