Directed By Chad Stahelski

Starring – Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard

The Plot – John Wick (Reeves) uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into new enemies.

Rated R for pervasive strong violence and some adult language

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023 Movie) Official Trailer – Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård – YouTube

POSITIVES

Stahelski has saved his best for last, combining series best action set pieces with a compelling narrative that once more expands upon the distinct world-building of this fascinating underworld for assassins. It does it by introducing us to a series of fresh-faced characters, with each of them adding something combustible and scintillating to the dynamic of growing conflict, but also in the full circle moment of realization for its titular protagonist’s conquest, who throughout four films and a littany of disposed adversaries that would make Jason Voorhees jealous in body count, finally arrives on the doorstep of resolution in ways that are not only equally gratifying to the character, but also climatic in living up to its potential with the audience, for finally crafting a final chapter where the stakes and cinema couldn’t be bigger. Because action comes first with this franchise, it’s only right to gush about what Stahelski and cinematographer Dan Lausten have conjured for this intoxicatingly brutal fourth installment, combining sleek neon-infused aesthetics and trance-heavy musical score, triggering the Nicholas Winding Refn fanboy in me, with razor crisp choreography that constantly kicks your ass right alongside its many numberless victims. The complexity and creativity of the set pieces are never repetitive, nor nothing short of exhillarating for how they’re continuously pulled off with the kind of immersive sound designs and long takes of editing that transcribe believability and brutality accordingly, and the camera work seems to adapt to the dimensions of the versatility of onslaughts that Wick continuously comes across, with overhead surveillance and side-scrolling styles being just a couple of the humbly respectful methods that Stahelski faithfully homages Japanese sword-wielding cinema of the golden age. As to where typical action films feature one or two memorable sequences that elevate the finished product, “John Wick: Chapter 4” features six of them, proving that every single scene or sequence was given attention to detail in conjuring something rattling and riveting in the depths of this spine-tingling bloodbath. Beyond this, the film is blessed with an abundance of urgency inside of its smoothly unraveled pacing that seamlessly slices through the near three hour run time with ease, justifying the length with its aforementioned abundance of new character arcs and blossoming vulnerability, which through the eyes of its homage to 1979’s “The Warriors”, sees the Wick sweepstakes as the full-fledged realization to a plot that merely teased in the flawed “John Wick 3: Parabellum”. What’s even easier to appreciate with this investment are the benefit of an impactful new ensemble, which help to take some of the burden of responsibility off of Keanu’s shoulders, while cementing a dream team face-off that I didn’t know I needed until now. I’m obviously talking about Kung-fu legend Donnie Yen sliding into the scenery with his balance of effortless charisma and testing physicality that seem to allude to the 59-year-old finding the fountain of youth in his spell-binding portrayal. Bill Skarsgard is also a welcoming addition as the film’s primary antagonist, affording him ways to meticulously chew the scenery, while permeating a nuanced evil from within him that materializes naturally and effectively without the cartoon semantics that saturate most prominent antagonists. However, my readers would be disappointed in me if I didn’t discuss Keanu, and while my interpretation produced mixed results that fully won’t be revealed until later, his dedication and passion for the character can never be called into question, with impressive feats of stunt work and fight choreography that seamlessly inscribe believability and an irreplacable presence to the character, all the while attaining the mystique in the way his opposition view him by mostly letting his actions speak louder than his words.

NEGATIVES

Because I ended with Keanu in my positives, beginning with him in my negatives only seems right, and unfortunately Reeves’ emotional deliveries just weren’t up to par with his impressive feats of physicality throughout. While Keanu has always been a wooden kind of actor in the way he delivers his lines, there’s something about the way he delivers the material here that feels different from the previous Wick trilogy, almost summoning each of them as a question instead of a statement, and for my interpretation, causing me a bit more unintentioned laughter than I could’ve expected during pivotal scenes that were approached with unmistakable urgency and tension in the dynamic that he shares with some very deadly adversaries. For my money, I almost wish that they kept the character silent throughout this film, as the idea that this mythical boogeyman letting his actions do the talking would’ve further played into the disappearing humanity that unfortunately comes with the job, but too often he’s left to interact on more occasions than I wish I had to experience, with some truly jarring instances finding their way into the finished product of this film. In addition to this, the only other problem I had with the film is its desire to continue the one aspect from “Parabellum” that I truly hated, and that’s this invincibility that Wick has to quite literally walking away from devastation that should kill, or at the very least paralyze him. It’s even worse in this film because I counted four instances where there’s no chance that this man gets up as fast as he does, and while it won’t be a problem for everyone asked to go along with it, the trauma suffered in this particular instance periodically took my investment to the many impressive sequences out of question, eviscerating believability as much as hundreds of bodies firing guns at John, and not one of the bullets hit him throughout.

OVERALL
“John Wick: Chapter 4” is not only the best of the John Wick franchise, but one of the very best action films of all time. It’s a gut-wrenching, fist-clenching high stakes epic of a final statement that throughout four films pays off spectacularly in the confines of a visual siesta with enough bone-crunching brutality and thematic impulses inside of its expansive underworld of assassins to deserve every minute of its nearly three hour run time. While John Wick’s humanity is eviscerated in walking away from a few too many devastating blows to maintain believability in the context of an established gritty and unforgiving world, the film is nonetheless the kind of energetic escapism prescribed solely for the theatrical experience, and worth every penny to see it in the biggest and loudest auditorium available.

My Grade: 9/10 or A-