Popcorn’s just fine but skip the purchase of a beverage. John Wick: Chapter 4 is nearly three hours long and you absolutely don’t want to miss a single minute of the second-best film of the action franchise. Once you settle in (and turn off your phone!), don’t get up unless there’s a legitimate emergency.
It all started with the killing of an adorable puppy. Daisy’s murder pulled retired hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) out of retirement and sent him on a quest for revenge. Now, looking back on that first film, it seems sort of tame compared to the three sequels it’s spawned. Yet it remains the best of the lot, if for no other reason than that it established the world in which John Wick and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of assassins exist. Each of these highly skilled killers swears an oath of fealty to the High Table – “I have served. I will be of service.” – and adheres to strict rules of conduct.
But John Wick remains a wild card the High Table would like taken out of the game. He’s the unstoppable force to the High Table’s immovable object; the one entity in the world who can have an impact on the hierarchy. Fueled by righteous anger, John is aware he can’t topple the High Table but he can alter its makeup. And that’s exactly what he sets out to do in John Wick: Chapter 4.
His target: the vicious and merciless Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard).
The Marquis wants John Wick, and anyone who assists him, dead. The millions the Marquis is willing to pay results in wave after wave after wave of assassins vying to cash in on the bounty.
The Marquis’ need to extinguish Wick forces an old friend of John’s out of retirement. Caine (the legendary Donnie Yen) is coerced into accepting the contract to kill John only after his daughter’s life is placed at stake. Now blind, Caine’s such a lethal force that even without his eyesight he has the ability to match John blow for blow.
Despite the bounty on his head, John has a few friends who remain by his side, including Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada) whose brief offer of hospitality places targets on his Osaka Continental Hotel (a consecrated hotel), its staff, and his daughter.
It wouldn’t be a John Wick film without Winston (Ian McShane) and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) helping our favorite canine-loving assassin. And speaking of dogs, this fourth film introduces an intriguing new character who also has a four-legged sidekick. Shamier Anderson joins the fray as Tracker, a methodical, calculated hired gun who has an almost preternatural ability to locate John Wick.
With characters established, rules in place, and John Wick on the run, Chapter 4 wastes no time in putting the thorn in the High Table’s side in harm’s way. While most action films are satisfied with a few crazy bits followed by a frenzied, over-the-top action spectacle, the John Wick franchise has always taken a different approach. Anything can be a weapon in Wick’s hands and no opportunity for a fight sequence is left on the table.
Each of the John Wick movies featured numerous memorable action sequences, but what Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski have achieved with Chapter 4 takes not just the franchise but the genre to the next level.
Chapter 4 one-ups every previous John Wick fight scene. The fourth film incorporates astonishingly brutal sequences that pay homage to the previous chapters while at the same time taking the bar they’ve established and catapulting it into the stratosphere.
This fourth outing has everything you could ever want from a John Wick film and much, much more. Chapter 4 is loaded with one spectacular balls-to-the-wall fight scene after another, and all manner of weapons are used – swords, guns, knives, fists, nun-chucks, cars, stairs, and even a dog. But it’s not just the wide assortment of lethal weapons that makes Chapter 4 the new standard bearer for non-CGI, non-superhero action films, it’s the intricate choreography combined with incredible sets and superb cinematography. And the cherry on top – Keanu Reeves performing as many of his own stunts as humanly possible.
Reeves said Chapter 4 was the most physically demanding role of his career. It’s obvious he put his body through hell for the film, but the result is worth it. John Wick: Chapter 4 is action nirvana, a cinematic tour-de-force of unparalleled, adrenaline-charged ass-kicking.
* * * * *
Sadly, Lance Reddick, a scene-stealing fixture in the franchise, passed away before the fourth film hit theaters. Reddick’s smooth delivery and impenetrable calmness as Charon made the supporting character into a beloved – and key – figure in the John Wick world. An incredibly talented actor and decent human being, Reddick will be sorely missed, and my thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.
GRADE: A
MPAA Rating: R for some language and pervasive strong violence
Running Time: 2 hours 49 minutes
Release Date: March 24, 2023
Studio: Lionsgate
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