Keanu Reeves has been synonymous with kung-fu ever since his days of being plugged in to The Matrix (1999). The gentle yet firm-fisted actor, who is almost 60, is practically unmatched by anyone else currently in the action film genre, save for probably Tom Cruise who still has kept his pedestal as the master of death-defying stunts. However, Reeves certainly gives him a run for his money as the virtually unstoppable boogeyman, John Wick. The John Wick franchise has essentially blown up the action movie status quo, brandishing some of the greatest and most innovative fight choreography seen in modern film. Every sequel successfully takes it up at least ten notches, and the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4 is set to be the biggest yet so far, upping the ante on not only ‘gun-fu’ but ‘car-fu’ as well.
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The John Wick franchise essentially coined the term ‘gun-fu’, which they deemed as the unique and perfect blend of Wick’s preferred fighting styles of both Brazilian and Japanese jiu-jitsu, standing judo, and “tactical 3-gun” as director Chad Stahelski has called it. Altogether it turns John Wick into the deadliest assassin alive, not just in hand-to-hand however, but also behind the wheel. The action series has also perfectly crafted what is known as ‘car-fu’, the art of using a car as a weapon. It’s probably the most poetic creation yet, since Wick’s stolen car was one of two things that set him off way back at the beginning.
Audiences first saw Wick use true ‘car-fu’ in John Wick: Chapter Two (2017), both in the opening scene while chasing a motorcyclist and soon after while going to ‘peacefully’ retrieve his stolen Mustang from the first film. Sending mobsters flying left and right, Wick shows no mercy and all the talent on four wheels, and Reeves is literally the master behind nearly every single stunt. Behind-the-scenes featurettes on the Blu-Ray version of John Wick: Chapter Two have shown Reeves training tirelessly not just on the fighting mat or on the gun range, but behind the wheel of a Mustang Mach 1.
Determined to perfect all of his skills, he spent months on obstacle courses, learning every kind of necessary car stunt to construct the film’s sequences around such preparation. In SlashFilm’s report, director Stahelski and other cast and crew disclosed in a brand-new interview with Total Film magazine, set to release on February 2nd, that Reeve’s polished car-fu skills will only get infinitely crazier on the big screen in John Wick: Chapter 4. Reeves himself said:
John Wick: Chapter 4 revs into theaters on March 24th.
“We took the car driving to the next level, which I really enjoy. There’s 180s, forward-into-reverse 180s, reverse-into-forward 270s, drifting … [It] was really fun to get a chance to learn those skills, and to play.”
John Wick 4 Stunt Coordinator Dares Anyone to Challenge Keanu Reeves
Just as Reeves trains with the same unrelenting tenacity as his gun-fu brandishing character, the fellow cast and crew who work around him also share the same level of enthusiasm, and know that Reeves has since put himself in a league all his own. Stunt coordinator Scott Rogers, who worked on John Wick: Chapter 4, claims that just as before, car sequences in the film were tailored specifically to Reeves’s caliber of stunt driving, rather than the other way around. All manner of choreography and stunt work in the film was carefully constructed in the style of John Wick, rather than just as any old fight sequence, and as usual Reeves made absolutely sure that he was up to the task.
Rogers noted that Reeves began “training nine months in advance to develop his driving skills”, even further than before. With such extensive training, Rogers claims that literally no other actor in Hollywood right now can match or outdo the staggering level of driving skill that Reeves has obtained through all of his hard work. Nonetheless, Rogers issued a challenge to anyone who feels that they could go toe-to-toe with Baba Yaga himself.
At the mention of “skydiving or base-jumping” it certainly sounds like Rogers references Tom Cruise as as a potential contender, which would be quite the cinematic spectacle. Nonetheless, it’s hard to say if anyone else actually could pit themselves against Reeves in a fair race.
“I dare you to find anybody, any cast member in Hollywood — and I’m including all the big names — that can drive better than [Reeves]. I’ll throw down the gauntlet! You know the other names I’m throwing it down to, and I bet Keanu can out-drive them all. That’s how much time we put in. No skydiving or base-jumping; I can’t throw that gauntlet for sure. But in a vehicle, he’s amazing. And he puts in the time not just on set — he puts in the pre-lap time.”
