Movies News Talk
Alan Ritchson's next role in 'Motor City' sounds a lot more like John Wick than his current role as Jack Reacher in the Amazon Prime Video series 'Reacher'. 'Motor City' is a revenge flick set in Detroit that sees Alan Ritchson playing John Miller, an innocent mechanic wrongfully convicted. The film will likely demand a far different performance from Ritchson than the confidence he brings to Reacher.
Ritchson's 'Motor City' character, John, is framed by a local gang, resulting in a lengthy prison sentence and the loss of the love of his life. When John gets out of prison, he decides to take vengeance on the criminals that wronged him.
There's also the apparent loss of a woman in John's life to propel him forward on a path that inevitably leads to bloodshed, giving it another thematic John Wick similarity. The film has tapped director Timur Bekmambetov to helm the project, whose previous films like 'Wanted' and 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' speak to a stylized action aesthetic.
It's exciting to see Alan Ritchson expanding his character scope. 'Motor City's' description implies a darker character, with set photos of Ritchson confirming a very different look from Reacher.
Ritchson's John sounds like an exciting chance for the actor to explore a more bitter, desperate character. The hyper-competent Reacher has slowly been peeled back in 'Reacher', but the challenges faced by John in 'Motor City' should give Ritchson a more grounded approach to action and a more complex character to play. The more mundane origins of John invite a more grounded approach to action, as the former mechanic will likely be less inherently capable as Reacher. It also invites more natural tension into the action, which could help give 'Motor City' a more compelling edge.
However, there's also an inherent danger to making 'Motor City' so much like John Wick that it fails to have its own identity. Since the initial success of John Wick in 2014, the series has influenced the general arc of action-cinema. There have been several films that have attempted to replicate the stylish visuals, heavily choreographed stunt work, and general beats of the John Wick films. Some of these films have enough unique elements and specific themes to stand out in a crowded field, like 'Monkey Man', 'Boy Kills World', or 'Atomic Blonde'.
'Motor City' has to avoid those similar trappings and carve out a unique approach to the genre to keep from feeling like another John Wick clone. Leaning into the brutal edge of the action could help, utilizing the impressive brutality that Ritchson has believably deployed elsewhere. Having a complex approach to the stock "revenge story" archetypes could elevate 'Motor City', give Ritchson and the rest of the cast more to grasp onto.