Dave Bautista’s new project on the 2024 movie schedule, The Killer’s Game, has a lot in common with the John Wick movies. As our The Killer’s Game review, pointed out, both films are about professional assassins who must fight off numerous other professional assassins who are trying to kill them. However, while there are significant similarities between the flicks, Dave Bautista says there was never an attempt to make the action in his movie like John Wick’s, because nobody can compete with those.
Following the success of John Wick, we’ve seen more than a few films that were clearly inspired by the Keanu Reeves action franchise. It would be easy to see The Killer’s Game as an attempt to cash in on the same concept, but Dave Bautista tells the AV Club that the film made a concerted effort to be a little sillier with the action specifically because they didn’t want to try to outdo John Wick. He explained…
We played around with it a lot. There was a certain feel we wanted this movie to have as far as the action went. We wanted it to be a little far-fetched. We wanted it to be a little over the top. We weren’t going for the John Wick feel. Anybody who is trying to compete with John Wick is practicing an exercise in futility. They’ve set a new standard. We wanted to get away from that and go more funny, more ridiculous, more silly. It’s all J.J. Perry
Similarities between these two action flicks extend beyond basic plot elements. Director J.J. Perry is a former stuntperson turned director, just like John Wick franchise director Chad Stahelski, and Perry even worked under Stahelski on the first two John Wick films. It’s not difficult to see why people would make the comparison. Even if the goal wasn’t to make a movie just like the iconic films starring Keanu Reeves, it was likely the success of that franchise that led to a project like The Killer’s Game being made in the first place.
John Wick’s best action is certainly stylized, but it’s also very intense and taken seriously. The Killer’s Game, however, includes characters who are themselves more over the top, like assassins who are also dancers, and they bring that silliness to the fight scenes as well. Nothing is taken too seriously in the action, but for those who like action movies that have some fun, The Killer’s Game may be a welcome addition to the genre.
Of course, with the future of the John Wick franchise in question, there may no longer be a need for anybody to compete with it. The trailer for Ballerina, the John Wick spinoff just dropped, but after that, it’s unclear what’s next for the character or the world. While there has been talk that John Wick: Chapter 5 could happen, nothing has yet been confirmed.