The John Wick series infamously began as a small scale movie that was the verge of being put straight to DVD/on-demand into perhaps the best action film franchise of its time. As movie franchises grow in success and number, it gets more difficult for filmmakers and studios to equal the increase in bombast and scale with an increase in quality. This has been a conundrum that the John Wick films have avoided through its first three entries and one that the fourth somehow has also managed to dodge.
John Wick Chapter 4 finds us with a John Wick (Keanu Reeves) who still has a price on his head courtesy of The Table following his rules violation at The New York outpost of The Continental hotel for assassins and his subsequent war against the governing body of international murder-for-hire and those who sought to collect their bounty. John seeks refuge with manager of the Osaka, Japan Continental hotel, old friend Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada), against the wishes of Shimazu’s daughter Mia (Aimee Kwan). The Marquis (Bill Skarsgård) hunts John to Japan and seeks to take him out once and for all on behalf of The Table, with the reluctant assistance of Caine (Donnie Yen), master assassin and old friend of John and Shimazu. Soon, John must travel throughout Europe to find a way out from under The Table, once and for all. All while being monitored by a mysterious tracker nicknamed “Nobody” (Shamier Anderson).
This fourth chapter continues to build out the world and mythos of the shadowy international network of assassins with new deadly killers, Continental Hotel locations and managers, a mysterious new Marquis that represents The Table in its bloodlust for the title character. Yen, Skarsgård, Sanada, Kwan, and Anderson are all standout additions to the series that both expand upon the world in which John Wick inhabits and make their own individual imprint on the film positively. The father-daughter dynamic between Sanada and Kwan’s characters continues the Wick franchise’s emphasis on familial love and the bond that it creates that both fuels the actions of the assassins we meet and puts them in danger. Same for one of the film’s antagonists Caine, played superbly and beautifully brutal by Yen, whose backstory sets him up as a dark mirror for John Wick as his love for his family has forced him into turning against his former brothers in assassination John and Shimazu as implied by the character’s name. His presence drives home the film’s theme that “None of us can escape who we are.” Yen brings his trademark action prowess to the role as the master blind assassin, contributing some fantastic action pieces and an acting performance that contributes to strengthening the film when people aren’t shooting each other and the action makes way for dialogue. Anderson’s Nobody provides much in the way of comedic relief in the film, but also contributes positively to the film’s action sequences. Par for the course in a John Wick film, Nobody is accompanied by a dog who is both loyal and vicious when called for, sure to warm the hearts of the audience as previous Wick canines have.
John Wick Chapter 4 also continues the franchise’s stunning visual flair through its stellar cinematography and production design. Each featured location is lush with neon lighting that utilizes light and shadow perfectly with the actors staged in ways that both show off the set design and keep them focused in the camera’s frame just right. The cinematography in these films continues to be awe-inspiring at times, replete with stunning camera technique and odes to the great moments of the past, as exhibited by a Lawrence of Arabia match cut homage at the end of the film’s opening scene. Perhaps the most inventive and striking work are two elongated, overhead tracking shots of Wick massacring his way through an abandoned building full of assassins. The shots evoke a third-person video game in the best way possible as we observe multiple rooms simultaneously, watching Wick weave his way through the hallways as assassins lie in wait, but fail. It’s an inventive shot you don’t see often, if at all, used to great effect.
John Wick Chapter 4 is a crowd pleaser in every sense of the term. The action is tantalizing, the film itself is a joy to observe with its cinematography and production design, and the actors perform greatly in both their physical work and portrayal of their characters. Going into the film, many expressed concern with its runtime, and while its second act does drag in spots, its bananas third act injects life into the film and more than makes up for the time spent establishing the story with a great and satisfying payoff as it moves toward its climax. Director Chad Stahelski manages to stick the landing with the ending as well, creating a good stopping point for the franchise break he claims he and Reeves will be taking. If this is the last we see of John Wick for a while, he certainly went out on a high note.
Image: Lionsgate
