Review of John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) by Mauro_Lanari — 01 Jun 2023

(Mauro Lanari).

1) More invincible than an Avenger: is it the John Wick Cinematic Universe? Scifi, not action movie.

2) One killed per minute excluding titles: was there a record to break in the body count and was it so important?

3) If I was interested in choreography I would go to a dance show and not to a murders ballet. I hypothesize that an action cinema reduced to this single factor depends on the chronic lack of supporting scripts, even present in the best "Kill (Th)'em All". "The Matrix" saga still had one of Dickian thickness, while here the presumed adrenalinic crepuscular epicness of Reeves, Fishburne and the others is in fact the expressive one-dimensionality of the characters, simple silhouettes to break down.

4) Reeves is not Cruise, so his screen time is very low. The helmet of long and dirty hair has the function of not distinguishing him from the stunt doubles who take his place for most of the film. Keanu's face reappears after an editing cut at the end of all the more physically demanding scenes.

5) With Dante it only shares boredom, as already "Mad Max: Fury Road" (Miller 2015), and the quotationism adds nothing to me even when it is "The Warriors" (Walter Hill '79) or "Barry Lyndon" (Kubrick '75).