John Wick: Chapter 4

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

 John Wick: Chapter 4 picks up where Parabellum left off, with John Wick in the care of the Bowery King and his sights set upon those who reside high upon the table in order to earn his freedom. This film particularly entertains me because you feel like the road ahead is running out for our hero, those he is up against has more money and power than his skills can best. We see him try and take shelter with friends, even move against the higher echelons of power, but time and again he is hunted in force. The fact we start to see the old allies john had when he ran with the Table in this feature is really important, particularly the wonderful parallel established between Wick and Caine. I enjoy the subtle worldbuilding of the John Wick universe; the introduction of new characters and new aspects of this hitman world really enrichs things without having to make these points some big exposition piece. Tonally there's a manic desperation here as John comes closer and closer to achieving his goals. The way it all built up to a final duel, not a big action piece at all, a simple shoot out. Two characters who care for one another, forced to face off against each other for a tyrannical organisation. Regardless of what the scenes after that moment make you feel it was a perfect way to boil the fourth entry in the John Wick series down to.

 

The stunt work here continues to be incredible and creative, just think of new ways you want to watch your action and you're getting it here. John Wick has nunchucks in a scene, there's a big fight scene in the roundabout of the Arc de Triomphe where cars are used as weapons or how about the last massive action set piece where John Wick is literally fighting outside up 220 flights of stairs to confront the final antagonist by sunrise. The action is so incredibly fluid, versatile and will continue to surprise you. But going hand in hand with that is how these scenes are shot which is no small feat, but boy does it look monolithic here. I love that this film is so populated with action sequences but not a single one looks the same, there is great care given to provide a differing aesthetic each time too. There is a sense of grandeur and scale throughout the feature too, massive set pieces that are framed like art. Just wait for thirty seconds into the film in which we have a shot of the desert, four horseman galloping into view and one whom we know to be death. These films know the power they wield as a visual medium and make use of that fact. The score never ceases to impress, when Tyler Bates shows up to deliver a high-paced epic music accompaniement he delivers. I also found the choices of soundtrack to be really complimentary of their scenes and ending the feature on Sawayama's new release 'Eye for an Eye' was just the cherry on top.

 

Keanu Reeves, who played John Wick, continues to be a phenomenal protagonist for this series; Reeves dedicates so much to the choreography of this role and really embodies the unrelenting force that is Wick. Laurence Fishburne, who played the Bowery King, is a character I have flip flopped on in previous instalments but whom I enjoyed this time around; Fishburne feels very snide and boastful here which makes him a nice counter to McShane. Lance Reddick, who played Charon, gives one of his last performances in this feature and it's beautiful; Reddick presents Charon as a hopeful figure who stands for the good and honourable aspects of the Table in a way few other characters do. Clancy Brown, who played the Harbinger, is this very stoic and imposing figure who stands resolute over the business of the High Table; Brown's gravelly voice and cold stare make him a figure intimidating to both our protagonist and antagonist of the film. Ian McShane, who played Winston, has always been a cunning and smug role which we get in spades here; watching McShane revel in his witty delivery to either Reeves or Skarsgård often results in some of my immediate favourite scenes. Bill Skarsgård, who played the Marquis, is one of the more interesting antagonists of the Jown Wick film series; I found Skarsgård quite similar to another antagonist from the series, Alfie Allen, only Skarsgård is what happens if a young upstart wielded unimaginable power and money. Donnie Yen, who played Caine, plays a blind character and combatant really creatively; Yen's entire character here is one of the best aspects of the film and I loved seeing his role bent to service by the Table - it made for interesting character motivation. Shamier Anderson, who played Tracker, is like a shadow haunting John Wick over this film; Anderson's role is motivated by money and you get a distinct parallel that someone like him is who John Wick used to be at the start of his career. Natalia Tena, who played Katia, is quite an angry figure in this film; watching her take her frustrations out of John and bargain with him made for an interesting character dynamic. Scott Adkins, who played Killa, is such a duplicitous and grotesque antagonist that just really made for a high point in the second act; also watching the kind of stunts Adkins performed inside of the prosthetics and fat suit he was wearing is exceptional.

 

However, the best performance came from Hiroyuki Sanada and Rina Sawayama, who played Shimazu and Akira respectively. I really loved the various plays on familial relationships this feature had, one of the best being this father/daughter duo. Sanada and Sawayama had such a cool and casual chemistry with one another, they traded jokes well and shared emotional high points beautifully. Even the way this pair argued felt like the sort of mature relationship an adult daughter might have with her father. Sanada exudes power, discipline and wisdom which should be no surprise to anyone as he has been doing great work with roles bearing these qualities for years. Yet what I liked about this character was that though he had a quiet reserve there was steel in how he presented his commitment to honour and friendship. Likewise, Sawayama has a really interesting performance here; her quick wit as the concierge of the Osaka Continental will hook you in. But I liked that she was more aggressive and uncertain than Sanada's character, she learned a lot from him but was still growing into herself as a person which I really enjoyed. The raw hurt we get from her in her later scenes as well as her unchecked rage really excited me about her character and the potential we have for more Sawayama in the future.

 

While I loved this sequel the most out of all the ones in the series thus far, the issues this feature had are almost identical to the ones evidenced in Parabellum. Chiefly the fight sequences got so long and bled into one another that the pacing got quite messy at times. I will say this is mainly only true in the first act during the Osaka sequences, there was a lot of stuntwork which looked great on display here but the timing could have been trimmed up. I also wasn't sold on the last two scenes, the end rings a little hollow which is another quality this film shares with the third one. Here John Wick departs, we see him keel over and then we see a gravesite. My issue here is the message around futility this sends us, John works so hard for his freedom only to die rings a little hollow. I'm not saying John Wick should never die, but I think they could've walked us to his ultimate death scene better. Of course, I'm sure John Wick: Chapter 5 will drop and I'll be able to eat my words.

Marko Zaror, who played Chidi, feels little more than just a big henchman character; Zaror is quite physically imposing but the role has no character to it whatsoever.

If your four movies deep and still going this strong? You deserve to be known as the greatest action series of the past decade. I would give John Wick: Chapter 4 an 8.5/10.