'John Wick' Mysteries Solved

John Wick wasn't supposed to be this big of a hit.

Keanu Reeves had starred in a string of small productions after 2003's The Matrix Revolutions, and a few near misses like Constantine and The Day the Earth Stood Still.Clearly the action star got in shape for 47 Ronin, but the film failed to connect with audiences, costing Universal nearly $150 million in losses. Reeves found his salary shrinking down to a fraction of what it once was.

Out of nowhere came the role of John Wick, ex-hitman turned retired husband and homebody. For roughly five years, Wick had a chance to live the good life, until his wife Helen died of an illness. Knowing her beloved would suffer greatly after she was gone, Helen had arranged to have a puppy delivered to her spouse after her funeral... something John could love and take care of. Until one night when a trio of Russian mob punks broke into his home to steal his car, beating him with a baseball bat while bludgeoning the beagle to death for fun.

This does not sound like the beginning of a global phenomenon, nor a comeback vehicle for Keanu Reeves. But it was. With John Wick's production budget of merely $20 million, Reeves took the part for under $2 million—a paltry sum compared to his Matrix earnings, which turned had him into a multimillionaire.

But unlike the big budget Matrix movies, the first John Wick was a relatively small affair, a shoot 'em up action film with few special effects, but an absolute megaton of the most hardcore, realistic "gun fu" fighting sequences committed to film in recent memory, broken only by momentary pauses for outrageous dialogue which would be utterly laughable in the hands of lesser performers.

Except that John Wick didn't use lesser performers. Since production costs were otherwise small, they brought on a stellar cast of characters to flesh out what at first glance appeared to be just another B-movie revenge flick.

With a scene-chewing Michael Nyqvist as the ruthless Mafia crime boss Viggo Tarasov, Alfie Allen as Viggo's dumbass son Iosef Tarasov (of Game of Thrones fame), the impeccably-tailored Ian McShane as Winston as the Manager of the Continental Hotel, Adrianne Palicki as the lovely but lethal Ms. Perkins, John Leguizamo as Aurelio the hardass chop-shop mechanic, Willem Dafoe as the sharpshooting hitman Marcus, and Lance Reddick as the stoic concierge Charon, audiences are, over the course of the film, treated to one campy, over-the-top performance after another by this cavalcade of award-winning actors. (Dafoe, sadly, didn't get to go full Boondock Saints in this role, but he was nevertheless as refined and engaging as ever).

Meanwhile, Keanu Reeves holds absolutely nothing back as his pissed off anti-hero relentlessly tears through scores of goons and henchmen sent to murder him before he gets to Iosef, the aforementioned dumbass who'd killed John Wick's dog and stolen his prized 1969 Ford Mustang.

Yes, it was the McGuffin of all McGuffin's, the trigger to fire off the plot... guy gets his car ripped off and dog stolen, but said guy happened to be the underworld's most-feared and lethal assassin—Baba Yaga, the "Boogeyman."

Who is Baba Yaga, the Boogeyman?

The continuing reference to John Wick as "Baba Yaga" is a mystery to some.

Who is Baby Yaga? A hideous, supernatural forest-dwelling creature, Baba Yaga was born from East-Slavic folklore, her tales passed down and altered over the years, giving birth to various attributes and intentions.

For the film, the Russian Mafia takes into consideration only one aspect of the mythical being... the spooky one.

Cruising around in a fast flying mortar and using a pestle for a rudder, Baba Yaga is a dark and fearsome witch who, according to some versions, steals children to take back to her hut, with it's skull-topped fence. Once inside, Baba Yaga and her sisters (who, confusingly, are also Baba Yaga) decide their victims' fate based on what they say. The unlucky ones are cooked for dinner.

The parallel to the plot of John Wick is obvious. John is an agent of fate, too... and he's come for Iosef, the son of his old "associate," Viggo. The only difference is that John Wick doesn't walk around on giant chicken legs.

John Wick's Car, the 1969 Ford Mustang "Boss 429"

Let's get back to that car for a second. In the first film, John pulls up to a gas station for a fill-up when Iosef Tarasov and his crew pull in. Lighting up a cigarette (never a good idea at a gas station), Iosef asks John if the car is a '70, and John replies it's actually a '69.

Supposedly John Wick's car was a 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429, however car bloggers who know more than me have been able to determine that this is incorrect, and that the model was most likely a Mach 1.

Several small exterior giveaways indicate this, not to mention that the Mach 1 is far more available on the market.

And considering the number of these babies which were destroyed for the production of the movie, it makes more sense that they weren't tearing up ultra-rare (and very expensive) Boss 429s. Only 859 of the 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429s were ever made, with one selling at a 2015 auction for $550,000.00. So for the purpose of the story, it makes sense that John would want that car back!

John Wick's Gold Coins

Killing John's dog was the catalyst for the film, and even the director knows it seems like a sort of flimsy reason for a man to launch into a killing spree. But, John Wick is no ordinary man, and the dog had a very strong emotional purpose, a link to John's dead wife, a means for him to grieve in peace. Once that was taken from him, John essentially snapped.

But apart from a reason to seek vengeance, he also had a tangible rationale to use in his own mind... getting back his car. So with both an emotional reason (the dog) and a more objective one (the car), John had all he needed to revert back to his old self...

The hero coming out of retirement is a tried and true action trope. But John Wick is no hero. His old self was a hired killer, an assassin for the Russian mob who just happens to look like snappy-dressed Ted Logan from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. And as with any of these retired characters, John Wick's got a stash of his old gear, buried in the basement. But one thing which stands out as something a bit unique is the presence of a boatload of gold coins.

The value of these coins is hard to determine, but assuming each weighs one ounce, the value would be roughly $1,300 per coin. However they are not used as money, per se, but rather to trade one coin for one service. Linked to the Continental Hotel, an "Under the Table" establishment catering to the city's underworld, the coins can be used for everything from corpse disposal to nightclub entrance... or even to hire someone for a little "catch and release" of the killer who'd just tried to murder you in your sleep.

Shibumi and the Naked Kill

Since we're diving into the details now, here's another interesting trivia tidbit about Mr. Wick... and the origin of the pencil story...

The novelist known as Trevanian released Shibumi on the world in 1979. Shibumi was the tale of the world's highest paid assassin, a Nicholaï Hel.

In the novel, Hel is retired, but as an assassin he was a practitioner of the martial arts form known as "hoda korosu," or “naked kill." This practice involves utilizing common objects as offensive weapons. Indeed Hel even used a pencil to kill someone, which later became the inspiration for the tale of John Wick killing "three men in a bar... with a pencil."

The Japanese term shibumi is said to represent "a simplicity of spirit; an attitude of refinement without pretension, honesty without apology, beauty without artifice." This, too, could apply to Wick, a simple man of focus... commitment... sheer will."

John Wick's Back Tattoo

Let me close with these final words of wisdom: "FORTIS FORTUNA ADIUVAT," a proverb tracing back to the play Phormio by the Roman playwright Terence in 161BC.

Terence, originally the slave of a Roman senator, wrote his main character as a man who makes his living performing services for wealthy people... not unlike Wick himself, who was essentially a slave to the Russian mob before performing his "impossible task" to be released from service.

So what does the phrase mean? It is Latin for "(the) strong (ones), Fortune helps." Some versions of this rephrase it as "Fortune favors the bold" or "the brave," but this loses a bit of the essence... and ignored the fact that phrase doesn't say "Fortune," as in an abstract concept but rather "Fortuna," as in Atrox Fortuna, the Greek goddess of Fate. Fortuna is also the inspiration for "Lady Justice," the blindfolded woman holding the balanced scales of justice... and a sword.

Favors implies there is a preference to help the bold, whereas the more literal translation suggests that goddess Fortuna helps only those who are strong, and none others. This is more fitting with her actual persona, which was linked to the Roman concept of virtus, what in Roman culture was considered the masculine traits of valor, excellence, courage, and worthiness.

Taking this into consideration, the expression indeed seems to suggest that Fortuna, goddess of Fate, will directly support those who are strong in character. Clearly John Wick seems to have Fate on his side, for he survives countless battles against overwhelming odds!