"As Above, So Below: The Underworld of 'John Wick'" ls a pretty long and maybe also a tad too complicated title for this really short film that barely makes it past the five-minute mark. At the end of the title you can read the name and the franchise that it is all about of course and I guess this is also why this documentary has over 36k ratings on imdb and many just mistook it for one of the films from The John Wick franchise. This is from 2017, so now it is almost seven years old and maybe over ten then already depending on when you get here to read this review of mine. This is a little promo video for the second film from the series and maybe people back then hope that in 2024 the John Wick franchise would still be going this strong, but yeah it has indeed become reality that people who hear the word Wick think of the film character and not the cough drops. Also, what is best is that these releases are not just pointless action films that attract big crowds that mostly watch it because they know the other releases, but these films have received really well reception from critics and awards bodies too. So thumbs-up for Keanu Reeves, who is now getting closer to 60, for managing to headline a second franchise after Matrix with his name that will be remembered for many, many decades to come for sure. But if we go back from the general notions now and look at what this one here has to offer, we can say that it does feel a bit rushed. But the franchise is fast too, so it kinda makes sense and of course they probably had to no go for much longer than 300 seconds for this Blu-ray addition.
The beginning was a bit forgettable, but when they start talking about Rome and New York being locations in the second John Wick movie, it gets steadily better. A little later, we are basically confronted with the fact that everybody can be an assassin in disguise. Well, good thing it is not like this in the real world or at least we normal people are not confronted with this reality. We see a female violin player who is an assassin and turns against Wick and we also see a killer posing as a homeless man and he has more success with his targets there. Interviews are with producers mostly, including the stunning Erica Lee, but Reeves himself also gets a few words to say there. Was probably required as he leads the franchise, so also this little documentary, but blink and you will miss him. In the end, we get the inclusion of Laurence Fishburne there who gets a little more screen time in terms of interviews and we also see his character from the film. The parallel to the Matrix universe is of course once again undeniable. Overall, I would say it was an alright documentary if we take the duration into account. It cannot offer really deep studies at five minutes, so it handled alright. Close call then in terms of the question if I give it a positive or negative recommendation, but thanks to the improvement in the second half, I give it a thumbs-up. It also got me a bit curious about watching or rewatching the movies. From what I remember, I only saw the first two and I preferred the second there. That is all. Go see this one maybe as an appetizer before watching one of the John Wick films, preferably the second movie.
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