John Wick: Chapter 4

After what seemed to be the longest 4 years of all time, Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski return with yet another (and potentially final) John Wick installment. Since the first film hit theaters almost 10 years ago, the Wick franchise has revolutionized the action genre as we know it. Now, anytime a movie shows any action sequence that mirrors a one-take or has stylized well-choreographed fight sequences, they're deemed to be John Wick rip-offs. While that might not be true, the influence is certainly there. The franchise as a whole set a benchmark for the action genre that no other movie had set before. In some ways, John Wick both improved and ruined action movies forever by setting the bar so high that no other movie could touch it...until now.

John Wick 4 is, as of now, the greatest action movie I have ever seen. It is a culmination of the last decade of everything Stahelski and Reeves have learned with this franchise, dumped into 3 hours of cinematic perfection. Yes, the movie is 3 hours long. No, you are never bored. By the time I exited the theater, it was well into midnight and I still felt like I could run a good marathon with the amount of adrenaline coursing through my veins. The story itself is pretty one-dimensional, the script is probably a page long of just Keanu Reeves saying "Yeah" and talking about how much he wants a gun but my god it works. Every actor and actress gives the movie their all. Keanu Reeves as the man of few words, titular un-killable assassin delivers the same performance he's perfected over the last decade, yet still manages to add a refreshing new depth of sadness and fatigue to the character. John Wick at this point is angry and tired of living this life of violence and the entire movie is all about Wick trying to break this cycle of violence that everybody else in the movie seems to think is just a part of who Wick is. Of course, the recurring characters such as Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, and the legend Lance Reddick (may he rest in peace) all still deliver their lines and personify their characters to perfection, but the newcomers especially stand out. Donnie Yen has carved out such a weird and specific niche as the "blind, assassin bad-ass" but for good reason. He is easily one of the best characters not only in the movie but in the entire franchise as a whole. Rina Sawayama, a Japanese singer who I believe made her acting debut in this film, perfectly played the role of grieving assassin-daughter Akira, and I demand for her to get a spin-off. Shamier Anderson's nameless character was so loveable that it was unnerving and rare in this world of brutal mercenaries and cold secret societies. The appearances of two legends, Scott Adkins and Hiroyuki Sanada, while brief, commanded every scene they were respectively in. But of course, I cannot forget the primary antagonist of the movie, the extravagant and detestable Marquis played effortlessly by Bill Skarsgård. From his first scene to his last, he was continually a terrifying and vexing presence on screen and I loved it so much.

Now, while the performances remain great and are a big part of the movie, realistically at this point everyone comes for the action which is the best it's ever been. Out of the 2hr 50min run time, good two-and-a-half hours are pure non-stop violence and it is marvelous. I don't think I've ever giggled like a little schoolgirl this much over a single period of time. Every punch, kick, stab, gunshot, dog bite, explosion, car accident, arrow impaling, revolver duel, card slice, and neck break tells a story. You feel every connecting shot that is taken. Not to mention there is a very underrated usage of physical comedy in this movie that genuinely had me dying laughing at some points in the film. The peak action aside, Stahelski really made use of the 100 million dollar budget he was given, indicative by the gorgeous, sprawling set pieces. The desert horseback chase, the beautifully chaotic Japan sequence, the epileptic club scene, the final-mad dash, and so many more. Everything is perfect. Even the scenes where there is no action happening are immersively hypnotic. When you forget that every waking moment you'd probably be afraid of being mauled and brutally killed, the world of John Wick looks incredibly appealing to be a part of. A lot of this is also due to the cinematography, which is elevated to the upper echelons of cinema here. When we look back at the films of 2023 for the Oscars next year, you best believe I will be the number 1 advocate for Dan Laustsen taking home that trophy for best cinematography. How this beautifully deranged man comes up with these creative and breathtaking shots still amazes me. The ones that directly come to mind are the entire action scene taken from a birds-eye view, making it look like you're witnessing this happening on a Clue board, and the final scene during sunrise.

Ultimately, John Wick 4 is a giant middle finger to the critics claiming the franchise was getting "stale" or "redundant". Regardless of whether or not it is the final film in the franchise, John Wick: Chapter 4 goes out with a bang, and is the perfect culmination of high stakes, beautiful set pieces with even better action sequences and likable characters at every turn making a masterpiece of an action movie, cementing the franchise as a whole as potentially the greatest action series of all time.

Star Rating: 10/10