What makes John Wick's world visually stunning: Deciphering the look of the neon-drenched revenge story 

The John Wick franchise has effectively established itself as one of the greatest action franchises in recent years. From its neon-dripping street fight sequences to the larger-than-life close combats, the series has probed viewers and critics to think differently about action movies in general.

One of the reasons the Keanu Reeves-led straightforward revenge thriller has seen unprecedented popularity in the action film industry is its incredible visual appeal.

Apart from the choreography, which has been praised by many critics as one of the greatest American cinema has achieved so far, the look and feel of John Wick is the aspect that captures both the viewers' attention as well as their imagination. This almost gives an impression of flipping through a comic book on the big screen.

Every frame of John Wick is known for the visual appeal that has come to be recognized as Chad Stahelksi's style, who has helmed every film in the franchise so far. However, the subtle difference in the frames, though the idea is similar, is due to the change in DOP from the first film to the next three.

The first film was shot by Jonathan Sela, but Dan Laustsen took over the role in the next three films, which are arguably even more eye-catching. Here is a breakdown of what happens in the film's visual department that makes it stand out.

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Breaking down John Wick's unique visual style — A study in modern action masterpieces

John Wick, when it was first released, seemed to be just another action thriller starring a big name. But it defied expectations to become a franchise filled with gore and violence, and one that lacked boredom. A lot of it is because of clever pacing, great writing, and an incredible editing team. But it is also because of the visual wonder that the film managed to carve out in each frame.

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The bleakness of Film Noir in more colorful shades

Vibrant hues form the backbone of John Wick (Image via Lionsgate)

From the first film, where Jonathan Sela led the cinematography department, the films used color, both to add or remove emotions from the tale. As most would recall about the first film, it began with a blueish tone over almost everything, but as the action cascaded over the plot, there were multiple uses of bright colors that did not seem to be a part of a serious palette.

That is where John Wick stands out. From rain-drenched reflections to neon advertising boards, the film borrowed some and invented some color vocabularies of its own, a kind that is more often seen in Korean thrillers like I Saw the Devil.

If one observes closely, the films have markings of the neo-noir genre throughout, particularly in the use of shadows. But it is such a modern twist that it hardly associates itself with the grandmasters of the genre.

From the second movie on, Dan Laustsen only exaggerated the impactful cinematography with a nuance that would soon be John Wick's very own version and something that continued to the next three films.

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The illusion of grandeur

The character-focused long frames (Image via Lionsgate)

There are multiple approaches to action movies, with the most common one focusing on the more intimate, first-person movements. However, Stahelksi and Laustsen opted for the less traditional third-person approach, which also coincided perfectly with the film's videogame-like action sequences.

The fight scenes look almost like a comic and a video game. This is achieved by keeping the character in focus while also expanding the environment around the character. In the last movie, Laustsen used ARRI Large Format with ALFA anamorphic lenses, as per The Credits, to achieve this, which made Chapter 4 look even better on big screens.

The previous films were shot on Super 35 cameras with Master Anamorphic lenses, which, though not as large, managed to capture the comic-esque feeling in the fast-paced sequences.

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The light, shadow, and everything in between

The use of light and shadows (Image via Lionsgate)

Analysing John Wick is not complete without mentioning the brilliant light work, which is also its greatest tribute to hard-boiled film noirs like In A Lonely Place. The beautiful use of light and shadows has been persistent from the very start. This is also an element that has been used repeatedly to enhance the impact of the colors in the film.

So many shots have this trait that it is almost a trademark John Wick look by now. It can be seen most vividly in the third chapter and the fourth chapter's first fight sequence.

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All in all, John Wick has combined several intriguing aspects of cinematography and lighting to establish a vocabulary that is almost its own, though the inspirations remain. As the franchise expands, this look and feel is something that John Wick will try to hold on to.