JOHN WICK

It should come as no surprise that first-time directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski have chosen this to make their filmmaking debut. Together they have a very long and impressive résumé as stunt actors and coordinators - Stahelski himself even doubling for Reeves on several films, including 'The Matrix'. Their experience has produced a very tight, slick and stylised action film that shockingly and disappointingly falls flat on the action. Don't despair, it's there, it's just a bit run-of-the-mill.

'John Wick' is essentially a 101-minute gun fight... and that's about it. There's no epic story here, just good old-fashioned revenge that, quite frankly, comes about on pretty damn thin terms... they kill his dog. Okay, not dog, puppy, which, as a filmmaker, is your first and biggest mistake. You should never kill the dog, especially in the first 15 minutes unless you actually want to lose 99% of your female audience, and any male audience that a) have a dog and/or b) have a soul.

I'll give 'Wick' one pretty big kudos; the middle of the film features a hotel with a unique clientele of hit men, where questions aren't asked and violence isn't allowed. As a bonus, its owner is Ian McShane - who just oozes cool, doesn't he?

So if you want a lot, like, a whole lot, of (literal) bangs for your movie bucks, then 'John Wick' is for you - but if you want to walk away saying "Whoa", then perhaps just wait for the DVD.