Review of John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) by Rebecca31 — 31 Mar 2023

And the award for most people thrown down a flight of stairs in a motion picture goes to John Wick: Chapter 4. Congratulations everyone, that was truly a spectacular use of steps in an action movie, absolutely relentless and got lots of laughs in the cinema.

Picking up after John Wick: Parabellum ended and if you thought the story was over, you ain’t seen nothing yet. John Wick now uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But to earn his freedom, he must first challenge a new enemy with an endless stream of powerful resources. Enter Bill Skarsgård as the Marquis de Gramont, a sneering, pouty bad guy dressed to kill. Returning characters include Laurence Fishburne, The Continental’s manager Winston (Ian McShane) and the concierge Charon, played of course by the late great Lance Reddick. New additions to the John Wick cast are Hiroyuki Sanada, Rina Sawayama and Donnie Yen. There’s also Scott Adkins who is playing a character that looks like a combination of Colin Farrell’s Penguin and Yarp from Hot Fuzz. A villain so cartoonish and over the top it’s hilarious. But it’s Donnie Yen’s character Caine that is perhaps the best performance in John Wick 4. As a blind assassin there was the obvious pitfall here to drift into Daredevil territory which in this context would not work at all but not only did his character have just the right amount of depth and backstory but they also made sure everything was plausible. Extremely cool, incredibly innovative and a thoroughly thrilling experience.

Without a doubt the stars of the latest addition to the John Wick franchise is the stunt department, the coordination and execution is absolutely flawless. John Wick goes above and beyond the call of duty for an action movie. It’s not just a generic sequel in a franchise, it’s far more than that because with each and every John Wick sequel, the universe is expanded. New and more ludicrous characters are introduced and most importantly the stunts are ramped up. The continually come up with more creative ideas, from killing someone with a pen, a book and even a horse. On paper these sound completely ridiculous, I mean how many different ways do cinema audiences want to see Keanu Reeves kill some bad guys? The answer is a lot. More and more because the John Wick franchise has grown and looking back it’s hard to imagine that it would take off the way it did. From a simple revenge story to the massive worldwide syndicate of assassins. Each more deadlier than the last but none more deadlier than Baba Yaga himself, the one and only John Wick (Keanu Reeves, for anyone new to the franchise).

Every time a new character gets introduced onscreen you know instantly how you should feel about them and you’re practically itching to see them get brutally murdered. Yes it’s completely over the top, of course you have to suspend belief here a little bit. Throughout all four movies there are of course scenes where you know people aren’t walking away from and bullet proof suits will only do so much. Yet if you’ve made it this far into the series then I’m going to go ahead and assume you don’t care about that. And yes it’s a long one this time, at nearly three hours it may feel a little too long for some people. I can’t say I felt that way, I was loving everything about it. There’s also an end credits scene which is a surprise for this franchise, so be sure to stick around for that.

Director Chad Stahelski saw the potential with John Wick and completely went over the top with it, the result being another fantastic action movie that has everything you want and more. The fight scenes are exceptional and there’s a lot other movies could learn from the John Wick franchise. It’s clear everyone is having a blast in the making of this movie. From the costumes, the music, the cinematography, lighting department, I could go on and on. I loved it and I haven’t even mentioned the Arc De Triomphe scene. Kudos to all involved in the latest and arguably the best in the franchise. This is cinema.

This movie is made for action movie fans and you feel that in every second of John Wick: Chapter 4. If you haven’t seen it yet then what are you waiting for? Movie buffs get into the cinema and enjoy this pure entertaining and skillfully crafted action flick. Highly recommended and a must see for all the Keanu Reeves and/or Donnie Yen fans.