Fifteen years after donning the black trench coat for the blockbuster The Matrix, Keanu Reeves is back in black and armed to the teeth in the action thriller John Wick.

The Toronto-raised actor plays the eponymous role of a retired assassin forced to get back into the game after a Russian mobster (played by Michael Nyqvist) marks him for death.

But — as Reeves recently explained to CBC News — what really sets Wick off is the home invasion killing of a puppy that was a gift from his recently dead wife.

"When that's taken away from him — stomped and killed—this impulse to reclaim, which might be vengeance or revenge [is ignited]," explained Reeves.

The film's dark and stylized action was co-directed by stunt experts, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, who worked with Reeves on The Matrix.

Eternal Hollywood bad guy, Willem Dafoe, ​and Game of Thrones actor Alfie Allen also star.

John Wick hits theatres across Canada on Friday.