John Wick’s Pet Demise Scene Was A Main Level Of Rivalry

I feel it is protected to say that no one — completely no one — enjoys seeing a canine meet its finish on display screen. Canine are (in my biased opinion) unbelievable creatures that humanity barely deserves within the first place, so why would we need to watch them get harm and even killed in a film or TV present? It seems like an uncrossable line in some ways. Apparently, the traders behind the primary “John Wick” film felt precisely like this when co-directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski proposed the film’s large canine loss of life scene.

As you in all probability know, the primary film in the “John Wick” franchise opens with the titular murderer, performed by Keanu Reeves, mourning his late spouse Helen (Bridget Moynihan), who organized for him to obtain a candy beagle pet after her passing. The pet, named Daisy, instantly takes a shine to John, going as far as to curve up on his mattress at night time, they usually type an instantaneous bond … however when John refuses to promote his automobile to the petulant crime inheritor Iosef Tarasov (“Sport of Thrones” veteran Alfie Allen), Iosef and his goons break into John’s home, kill Daisy, and steal his automobile.

In keeping with Leitch, who — alongside Stahelski — spoke to Enterprise Insider for the film’s tenth anniversary, they acquired quite a lot of pushback concerning the pet’s loss of life scene. “We have been advised, ‘It is unhealthy luck.’ ‘It is unhealthy juju.’ ‘It is ‘Previous Yeller,’ you possibly can’t do that!'” Stahelski recalled. “‘Nobody will need to see this on display screen; you are going to alienate the viewers.’ And I am like, ‘We will execute individuals at shut vary; killing the canine is one factor, however what concerning the brutal bloodbath of all these human beings? Are they going to have the ability to settle for that?’ They did not perceive that we have been making a style film. We’re style followers to the core, and we all know these hard-boiled moments are what make memorable moments.”

For those who’ve seen the pet scene in “John Wick,” you recognize that it is heartbreaking — personally, I feel the selection to let the viewers hear candy little Daisy yelp in ache as she’s killed is manner an excessive amount of — however you additionally do not actually see very a lot of it. As Chad Stahelski put it, he and David Leitch knew that they needed to method this sensitively, in order that they have been very cautious about the best way the violence was proven.

“Dave and I have been very in sync on how we have been going to shoot the scene,” Stahelski mentioned. “We have been going to make use of a child lens; John will get hit laborious within the head, so it is going to be dream-like; the canine loss of life occurs off-camera, and all you will see within the aftermath is that this path of the blood making it appear to be the pet tried to crawl to him.” 

Extremely, a bunch of individuals on set thought the thought to kill the canine was so unhealthy that they stored pitching an alternate ending after Leitch and Stahelski filmed the unique. “So on the day, Keanu was appearing with a stuffed canine. Crying. He is all beat up. He seems terrible in his pajamas,” Stahelski continued. “Everybody behind the displays will need to have thought, ‘Okay, that is the worst thought; these first-time administrators are performed.’ For the subsequent couple of weeks it was prompt that we shoot an alternate ending revealing that the pet truly is not useless.”

So, how did all of it get resolved? The film’s star and a significant producer defended the choice. In keeping with Stahelski, “However Keanu stood up for us. And Basil [Iwanyk, a producer] stood as much as the traders, and finally, they only felt, ‘F*** it, let’s examine what these guys can do.'”

For those who’re a canine lover and you have not watched the “John Wick” motion pictures exactly due to the Daisy scene within the unique 2014 film, I’ve some excellent news for you. All through the three sequels that adopted — 2017’s “John Wick: Chapter 2,” 2019’s “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum,” and 2023’s “John Wick: Chapter 4” — canine are principally handled as sacred, and even if you suppose one is perhaps harm, you are gloriously mistaken. 

On the finish of “John Wick,” an injured John staggers right into a canine pound and leaves with a pit bull; although the canine isn’t named on display screen, John brings them to the assassins-only resort The Continental firstly of “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum” to maintain him protected whereas John escapes from the crime lord council the Excessive Desk. (The canine is welcomed kindly and graciously by Charon, the resort’s all-knowing concierge, performed by the late, nice Lance Reddick.) In that very same film, John groups up together with his outdated good friend and one other “retired” murderer Sofia Al-Azwar (Halle Berry), who travels with two Belgian Malinois canine that find yourself offering one of many franchise’s greatest motion sequences as they choose off enemy combatants. When Sofia’s outdated boss Berrada (Jerome Flynn) shoots a canine, it seems it was carrying a vest; Sofia shoots him within the kneecap in retribution. (When she defends her choice to John, he merely replies, “I get it.”)

Lastly, in “John Wick: Chapter 4,” John is being chased by an murderer named Mr. No one (Shamier Anderson) and his canine, one other Belgian Malinois — however when John saves the canine from sure loss of life, Mr. No one leaves John alone. Canine are a strong image within the “John Wick” franchise, even when Daisy needed to be sacrificed within the first film … and it has been superior to observe a bunch of canine save the day since that scene.