Keanu Reeves’ John Wick franchise is one of the most celebrated action franchises in the world. The series consists of four films, beginning with Reeves’ John Wick returning to his old life in the underworld after the death of his wife and beloved dog. The series was lauded for its inventive action choreography and world-building.
While Reeves’ John Wick may be a typical action movie character, a trained man with a dark past, there seem to be some extremely particular similarities with another character. John Reese, played by Jim Caviezel, was the protagonist of Jonathan Nolan’s sci-fi crime series Person of Interest. The two characters seem to have a lot in common.
What Is Jonathan Nolan’s Person of Interest About?
Writer Jonathan Nolan broke into the scene along with his elder brother Christopher Nolan. The two collaborated on the indie crime hit Memento, which was based on Jonathan Nolan’s short story Memento Mori. The film’s inventive reverse screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, giving both the Nolans a nomination.
Jonathan Nolan collaborated with his brother as a screenwriter on multiple films such as The Presite, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and Interstellar. Nolan then went on to work on his TV show Person of Interest. The sci-fi crime show aired on CBS from 2011 to 2016 and had a five-season run.
The show centered around the characters of John Reese, an ex-CIA operative and Special Forces soldier who is recruited by a software engineer Harold Finch. Finch has developed a software called The Machine which analyzes surveillance and communications data to predict terrorist attacks. Reese is recruited to stop these crimes and attacks before they happen.
The show routinely explored questions about the extent of technology and the nature of privacy with these technologies. Jonathan Nolan mentioned that he was a big tech nerd and that he wanted to explore these questions through the show. He said in an interview with Forbes,
“I’m a big, big, big techno dork. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to do the show was a chance to talk about some of these issues, emerging technologies, destructive technologies, but also a chance to get to use some. So we’re out here in New York with some of the most expensive and bizarre camera systems everyone has ever shot a show with.”
The show also explored the morality in humanity, banding together a group of outcasts to see how they would function in situations that would require them to make morally grey decisions. Person of Interest won the People’s Choice Awards for Favorite TV Drama twice.
Jim Cavaziel’s John Reese vs. Keanu Reeves’ John Wick: Are They Similar?
The protagonist in Jonathan Nolan’s Person of Interest is Jim Caviezel’s John Reese. Reese is introduced as a man without an identity, presumed dead, and is seen as a vagrant in New York City. He is recruited by Harold Finch to work along with him on The Machine and Reese uses his superior set of skills to take down terrorists and criminals before the crime happens.
Much like Keanu Reeves’ John Wick, John Reese too is a trained assassin, who has a tragic past. While Wick loses his wife to cancer, Reese loses his girlfriend Jessica Arndt to an accidental death by her husband. Reese is also trained in various forms of martial arts like Keanu Reeves’ John Wick and both are known for their expertise in hand-to-hand combat.
Both Keanu Reeves’ John Wick and Jim Caviezel’s John Reese have a secretive past before their entry into the crime world. While Wick is mentored by Winston in his early life, John Reese is mentored by his adoptive father, who died in his fourth tour of the Vietnam War. Both also seem to have an arsenal of weapons at the ready in case things hit the fan.
One of the biggest similarities between the two characters is their costume. Both are known for their signature suit with a tie missing at times. The episode The Crossing of season 3 in the series, sees John Reese’s identity being disclosed to every criminal in New York, triggering a manhunt for him, similar to what happened to John Wick in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
