‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ Review: A New Standard for Action Movies
The John Wick franchise has been an interesting experiment to watch unfold; starting with a first film that nobody saw coming and that catapulted the careers of its co-directors (David Leitch is not officially credited due to a DGA ruling). It was based entirely on the idea of two stunt-men putting pen to paper on what the ideal action film should look like. Over the past few years, that concept has now evolved into a full-fledged mythology that expands across four feature films, a spin-off prequel series coming to Peacock this year, a spin-off film currently filming and starring Ana de Armas, and likely more to come (more on this later).
Stopping at three films and perhaps branching off for a couple of years with a limited series and a Ballerina movie seemed like an appropriate move for the John Wick franchise, one whose premise can only stretch so many minutes of runtime. After all, at what point does the spectacle of a guy shooting faceless enemies in the head become repetitive and even boring to watch? Would we want the franchise to go out in a blaze of glory, or wait until it’s overstayed its welcome with audiences and even the people making them? Apparently, director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves said “let’s do one last one” (the former has said in interviews they will be taking a break after this one, though according to reports, Lionsgate is already considering a fifth one after they got the email with the opening weekend numbers), and they were saving the best for last.
Keanu Reeves as John Wick in John Wick: Chapter 4. Photo Credit: Murray Close
John Wick: Chapter 4, or John Wick: Fury Road, as it should have been called, does not try to address fundamental questions about where we come from and what we are doing with our lives. It is not an introspective look at where we are as a society and where we should be going. But it’s also not trying to be; in fact, it’s very aware of what it is, and exploits it to its fullest potential. The writers (Shay Hatten and Michael Finch; Derek Kolstad decided to sit this one out) decided to go back to the core premise of the franchise — what is the biggest challenge we can give our stunt team? Let’s fill in the story later (though they mostly forgot about that part).
The third act of John Wick: Chapter 4 will set a new standard for action films going forward and will force any Marvel filmmaker not named Destin Daniel Cretton to lose some sleep over the way they film their action sequences. During its three hours of runtime, John Wick: Chapter 4 barely packs in more than four full-scale action sequences (one per act, with two back-to-back in Paris during the third act), but that only helps to keep up the pace and makes the runtime not feel as heavy as it could have been otherwise. All of them feel distinct from one another, both in their place in the story (different characters on different sides) and the way they are shot. The third act features a bird’s eye oner that would give Orson Welles’ opening in Touch of Evil a run for its money as one of the most impressive single-takes on a film (I might be getting ahead of myself there, but my jaw was on the floor while my head blew up trying to figure out how they staged all of it).
Keanu Reeves as John Wick in John Wick 4. Photo Credit: Murray Close
While it is a Keanu Reeves film through and through, the true standout is Donnie Yen’s Caine, a friend-turned-foe that is looking for the Baba Yaga, sent by Bill Skarsgård’s The Marquis (the central antagonist of the story and a French version of a 90s villain); he is a man with a particular set of skills despite his blindness. It’s been a minute since we’ve had a character so desperately needing his own spin-off film (and apparently, that may be in the works). There is yet another hunter tracking down Wick, a mysterious man played by Shamier Anderson, who could have been edited out of the movie entirely and we probably wouldn’t have noticed it. He holds a unique place in the story, though, as he allows John Wick to look at his past self in a mirror.
John Wick: Chapter 4 may be way more over-the-top than all of the most recent superhero movies combined, but unlike them, it owns up to it. It fully embraces what it’s doing, and does it proudly. The story is as thin as a piece of paper, but what holds the movie together, and what will make it stand out among a crowd of backward-feeling action movies in a few years, is its dedication to delivering a true homage to the stunt-performing craft, with on-camera fights that don’t cut around the big punches or even the final strikes. It prioritizes long and wide takes over quick edits. What Mad Max: Fury Road started in 2015, John Wick: Chapter 4 continued this year. Top Gun: Maverick could also be thrown in there, though that film had a lot more story than the previous two and is kind of a different beast.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is currently in theaters worldwide. If you are a fan of the action genre, you will definitely enjoy it.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
