John Wick: Chapter 4
Welcome back, Mr. Wick. After four years and a two year delay, “John Wick: Chapter 4” has finally hit theaters and yes, it was worth the wait. Chad Stahelski returns to direct his fifth film in the series (including an “uncredited” assist on “Chapter 2”), with Keanu Reeves reprising his role as cinema’s most lethal dog lover.
Stahelski and fellow scribes Shay Hatten and Michael Finch have found a way to blend the mythology-heavy approach of the last couple chapters with the streamlined action of the first film to create an absolutely blistering final hour that ranks among the best of its genre.
The movie opens with John (Reeves) on the run again as he runs into trouble with The High Table, aka The Powers That Be. Leading those forces is primary series villain Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard), who keeps raising Wick’s bounty while he cleans up behind himself by potentially eliminating Winston Scott (Ian McShane) and his side of this nefarious organization. These early scenes take Wick to Japan, where he seeks aid from head of Osaka Continental Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada) and crosses paths with blind High Table assassin Caine (the always badass Donnie Yen). Laurence Fishburne pops up here and there as John’s Q when he needs another bulletproof suit, Shamier Anderson plays an assassin who seems to be waiting for the price on Wick’s head to get high enough for him to collect his payday, etc. More than either of the last two entries in this franchise, this one despite its epic runtime (169 minutes!) feels refreshingly focused again plotwise: Here’s John Wick. Here are bad guys. Go!
And boy howdy do they ever go! Stahelski & Co construct action sequences that feel both urgent and artfully choreographed. Filmmakers who overthink their shootouts often wind up with a tone that feels distant, lacking in stakes more stylish than substantial. The great action directors figure out how to film combat in a way that doesn’t sacrifice tension for showmanship. These sequences are long battles, gun-fu shootouts between John and dozens of people who underestimate him, but they have such momentum that they don’t overstay their welcome.
They also have wonderfully defined stakes. At one point in the film, John and an enemy agree upon the parameters of a battle time, weapons, variables. But really this is true of all the major action scenes in which we very clearly comprehend what John needs to do and whom he needs to go through to “finish the level.” The simplicity of the objectives allows for complexity of choreography; we know what needs to happen from here on out so much modern action is cluttered with characters or muddled objectives but the “Wick” films possess such brilliant clarity of intentionality that they can then play within those simple constructs while still moving forward.
So much fun. The action choreography here is breathtakingly simple. I loved how frequently the world continues around Wick and his hapless adversaries. In a sequence that would be the highlight of almost any other recent action movie (but is like 3rd or 4th here), Wick has to fight a makeup-covered Scott Adkins and his gang of unlucky idiots in a crowded nightclub. The dancers hardly even notice. They sometimes part a little bit to let them through, but they don’t stop and gawk. With water pouring into the club, the writhing, dancing bodies make for an incredibly inventive backdrop. Then later, in one of my favorite action sequences ever, Wick fights his pursuers on motorcycles in the traffic circle around the Arc de Triomphe. The cars do not stop. In fact, they seem to speed up. As shots ring out in the streets of this film’s New York, no one opens their window to see what is going on outside it feels like they can’t even see John Wick and two people fighting on top of a taxi cab right outside their building.
And then there’s what I’ll call Action Geography. So many people have tried to mimic the frenetic approach of the “Bourne” movies that results have often been more incomprehensible than not as opposed to making clarity a priority too, like Stahelski does with all these wide angles and longer takes so you can really appreciate where everyone is in relation to each other at any given time during any given fight scene but again: he knows what works for him by now; we’re four films deep into this thing together already; if anything’s broke here after all that trial & error then it ain’t gonna get fixed now) most likely because so few filmmakers understand that pounding fast cuts together doesn’t actually create tension or excitement (or anything else worth noting).
The great cinematographer Dan Laustsen (a regular Guillermo del Toro collaborator on “The Shape of Water,” “Nightmare Alley,” etc.) works with Stahelski to make sure the action here is clean and brutal, never confusing. The stunt work is just so phenomenal, and again, these shoot outs feel more like elegant dance choreography than the bland plot pushing of so many studio movies. There’s just such grace and ingenuity whenever Wick goes to work.
And of course a great cast helps too. Reeves may have fewer lines in this movie than any so far in the franchise, but he completely sells Wick’s commitment while also imbuing him with emotional exhaustion that adds more gravity to this chapter the vengeful Wick of the first film is a different one than the survivor three movies later, and Reeves knows exactly what this character needs at each stage along his journey). So many performers would add unnecessary touches to a character that’s already this iconic or popular or beloved or whatever you want to call it, but Reeves is smart enough not only as an actor but also as someone who has spent years thinking about how best [not] to act when it comes time for another John Wick movie.
This then allows for several supporting players too then shine in different performance registers; Halle Berry surprises as one of those rare people who can keep up with Keanu when they’re both shooting guns (and riding horses!) on screen together; Laurence Fishburne knows exactly how much Laurence Fishburne-ness to bring here which turns out being even less than you might expect given his history with both Reeves & Morpheus), Donnie Yen kicks major ass as another assassin from another part of the world who seems like he could kill everyone else in this movie twice over before anyone else even knew what hit them; Mark Dacascos steals every scene he’s in as the hilariously starstruck big bad who wants nothing more than to kill or be killed by John Wick (and yes, that is as much fun as it sounds).
In fact, everyone involved with this franchise seems to understand exactly how seriously they should take their work (i.e., not too) while also appreciating just how important it is that they take their work seriously enough (i.e., a whole damn lot). And no one embodies that ethos better than Stahelski himself who has now cemented his status as an action visionary of the highest order thanks in large part to his refusal to compromise what he wants from these movies or how he goes about getting it. The entire film industry could learn some valuable lessons from the way he’s handled this franchise which feels like such a rarity these days given how often filmmakers seem content letting studios dictate every creative decision on big-budget blockbusters like these. But then again: maybe there’s just something about John Wick that brings out the best in everybody…
The one minor flaw in Wick’s armor here is a touch of narrative self-indulgence. There are a couple of scenes, especially early on, where it feels like a beat is being allowed to go on for just a hair too long, and I do think there’s maybe a slightly tighter (if you can even say that about 150 minutes) version of this movie that’s just perfect.
But the fans won’t care. We’ve been talking a lot lately about what gets people out to theaters in our post-pandemic, streaming-heavy world, and this is such a movie, it needs to be seen with cheering, excited crowds. It has that kind of infectious energy we love in action movies everybody in the room oohing and aahing at the cleverness or intensity of what we’re all watching together. This is a loud and big film; John Wick fought hard for it.
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