John Wick: Chapter 4 – Film Review
Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski are back for another instalment in the action-packed John Wick franchise – and it’s the best one yet.
Continuing on from the events of Chapter 3, John Wick (Reeves) is still trying to fight for his freedom, but the High Table won’t let him. They keep upping the bounty on his head and won’t stop until he’s dead. The Marquis (Bill Skarsgard) is calling the shots on behalf of the Table and he isn’t afraid of punishing those helping Wick either.
This is an epic action-packed blockbuster. The kind of movie you go to the cinema for. The scale is far beyond what we’ve seen in the franchise so far. The story hops all over the globe (Osaka, Paris and Berlin are the main locations), the stakes feel higher and there’s remarkably more action than ever before (believe it or not). There are some extraordinarily complicated and innovative setpieces in very cinematic locations, such as an insane car chase around the Arc de Triomphe and an intense showdown outside the Sacre Coeur.
I couldn’t believe it when I found out this was two hours and 50 minutes. Why does a John Wick movie need to be that long?! The answer: It doesn’t. Some of the setpieces feel slightly repetitive and could have been shorter (does he really have to kill that many people in each sequence?) but the movie as a whole doesn’t feel that long. The third act flies by and there is a great emotional pay-off at the end.
Admittedly, I did zone out at times during some of the fight sequences, particularly the gun-heavy ones. After all, there’s only so much you can do with a gun. As always though, the fight choreography is incredible, especially the hand-to-hand combat and sword fights. The action sequences get bigger and better and more insane as the film progresses and the ones in Paris are jaw-droppingly good. You do have to suspend your disbelief though because there are some moments Wick should not be able to simply walk away from.
I don’t remember Wick being such a reticent man in the previous films but he barely speaks – and when he does, it feels quite stilted and jarring. It doesn’t help that the script isn’t the best – but you don’t come to a John Wick movie for the intricate plot, deep characters and nuanced dialogue. You come for the action and Reeves delivers the goods. It’s clear he does a lot of the stunts himself and it’s so impressive. It’s exhausting just to watch!
He’s supported by a star-studded line-up which includes returning stars Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne and Lance Reddick (RIP) and new faces like Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Rina Sawayama and Scott Adkins. My favourite was martial arts legend Yen as the blind assassin Caine; he had an interesting dynamic with Wick, stakes of his own, a sense of humour and creative killing methods. Skarsgard gives the French accent a solid try, but at least he wears fabulous three-piece suits while doing so.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is excessive, yes, but I can forgive that because it’s an ambitious, brutal and visually spectacular action epic with a seriously cool soundtrack.
In cinemas from Friday 24th March