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John Wick: Chapter 4 is everything one can expect from a John Wick movie. It is the culmination of a saga that stops beating around the bush and focuses the peephole on a very specific objective: action as spectacle. Shoot with pinpoint accuracy and hit the target squarely. Keanu Reeves reprises one more time as Jonathan Wick, a man who seeks his revenge and turns Mesa Alta upside down, the criminal organization that drives everything.
John Wick 4 rules and consequences, that's his motto. The power structures are reeling, so they name the Marquis de Gramont as an emissary. Her promise to him? End once and for all with the threat of Wick. It is a Machiavellian villain, cruel, corny and ornate, who does not hesitate to use his resources to fulfill his mission. Still, this trigger-happy, sugar-coated French aristocrat can be stingy, a flaw that may cost him dearly. Played with ease by Bill Skarsgård, the character becomes obnoxious from the start.
Considering the previous three John Wick, director Chad Stahelski's challenge was to continue to amaze viewers. The fourth installment fully complies, it is a product that takes care of the action to the maximum. The choreographies are impressive and varied, also because they play a lot with the locations. For example, those of the Continental in Osaka show us the mix between traditional Japan and the elegance and contemporary luxury of the hotel. Instead, in France we witness an agonizing persecution in the heart of Paris. Wick visits other places like Berlin or New York, where of course the madness breaks out.
To the most current pistols and weapons, we must add the samurai fights with katana, which provides different options to channel the action. In addition, the filmmaker uses the different shots to blur the feeling of repetitiveness, although it is inevitable that repetitions occur in the choreographies.
Humor, sometimes black, has been one of the defining elements of John Wick, an aspect that is still very present. In that sense, Tracker (Shamier Anderson) is a peculiar character beyond his status as a contract killer, because he is always accompanied by a docile-looking dog. Some of the funniest sequences are carried out by him, when his behavior changes and he becomes a dog that not only protects his owner, but also follows his every command... even biting the private parts of any enemy that comes his way. cross the road.
Leaving behind the lifestyle of people like John Wick is almost impossible, since it does not depend only on oneself. In this delicate balance, friendships are relative, since one day you can be an ally, another an enemy. Donnie Yen, Caine in John Wick 4, eats up the screen and represents the figure of an unconventional antagonist. The old High Table assassin, blind but no less skilled, fervently wants freedom, so John and Caine share the same goal, but find themselves on different sides. The development of this relationship is one of the most interesting points of the film at the plot level. As if that were not enough, his blindness contributes to give another approach to his action sequences.
John Wick 4 does not stand out for his story nor is he interested in doing so. The few moments of pause serve to provide brief pause intervals that draw the contours of the plot. His thing is action and choreography, and in that he shines with his own light. He barely gives the viewer a breather, leaving him glued to the chair before the most frenetic enjoyment. Three hours may seem like a lot and it is, since sometimes repetitive situations are generated. And yet, those 170 minutes passed in a flash, in less than the time it takes Wick to kill someone. Has anyone counted how many have perished so far?.
After three films released in 2014, 2017 and 2019, the fourth (and apparently last) installment of this saga with a present and cult destination will soon be arriving in theaters around the world. And the closing could not have been better, since it is the most risky, ambitious and successful bet of the Stahelski-Reeves duo: almost three hours of a festival of the best action cinema in all its variants and modalities.
John Wick 4 (John Wick: Chapter 4, United States/2023). Directed by: Chad Stahelski. Cast: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown, Ian McShane, Marko Zazor and Natalia Tena. Screenplay: Shay Hatten, Michael French. Photography: Dan Laustsen. Editing: Nathan Orloff. Music: Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard. Distributor: BF Paris. Duration: 169 minutes. Suitable for over 16 years.
Those who despise football say that there are 22 people running after a ball and those who minimize the scope of John Wick 4 could argue that they are three hours of guys hitting and/or shooting each other. I'm not with one or the other. I will not write here in defense of the art of soccer, but rather an exaltation of the achievements and discoveries of the saga in general and of this fourth installment in particular.
That of John Wick is a unique (or very rare) case of a saga that grows in all aspects over time. The first film (2014) cost 20 million dollars, lasted 101 minutes and grossed 86 million in theaters around the world; the second (2017) lasted 122 and had 172 million income; the third (2019) went to 130 minutes, cost 75 million and got 328 million at the box office, while this fourth had a budget of 90 million, lasts 169 minutes and will surely have the best collection of the entire franchise.
Such "inflation", against all odds, does not affect but even enhances the final result of this fourth installment. Anyone will say that the final cut could have been 20, 40 or 60 minutes less, but it is precisely in the accumulation, in the overflow, in its excessive airs, that the film finds its distinctive aspect, its reason for being. In fact, after an impeccable but rather generic first part, John Wick 4 reaches in its second half (filmed in the most emblematic places of Paris such as the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe or the Sacré-Cœur basilica in Montmartre) the peak not only of this film but of the entire saga.
With very few dialogues, minimal character development and basic plot excuses, John Wick begins his journey through New York, Osaka, Berlin and will not stop until the aforementioned Parisian outcome. Wick will be pursued throughout the world by fearsome organizations (such as the so-called High Table led by Bill Skarsgård's The Marquis) and individuals (from Caine, Donnie Yen's blind and blind fighter, to Shamier Anderson's Tracker and his ferocious dog) and In principle, it will have some help: the Bowery King by Laurence Fishburne, the Shimazu by Hiroyuki Sanada and his daughter, the Akira by Rina Sawayama, or the Winston by the great Ian McShane, whose hotel is blown up in the first few minutes Continental and his loyal concierge Charon (Lance Reddick) is killed in front of his eyes.
John Wick's influences are well known (Bruce Lee's choreography, John Woo's stylization and 1980s Hong Kong film thrillers, the Danish neo-noir Nicolas Winding Refn, but also the Matrix saga, the aesthetics of action video games, comics and the animated universe of Tex Avery) and in this fourth installment Chad Stahelski takes that mixture to new dimensions with long sequences inside a nightclub, in the middle of the street or on some stairs; underwater or in a virtuous sequence shot with a camera always from the top.
And there will be a duel in the spirit of a spaghetti western a-la-Sergio Leone. And a closing with a lot of epic and romantic touch. If it is indeed the end of the saga, with John Wick 4 it ends in style, so that the universe conceived by Stahelski-Reeves remains in four cult installments, with its own mythology and an indelible legacy.
With the return of Keanu Reeves as the title character, John Wick: Chapter 4 is the latest and possibly the best in this surreal and consistently amazing action saga. Following the suspense at the end of "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum", Hurt , John gets up and decides enough is enough. He fights the High Table directly to escape his criminal obligations, but his aggressive behavior only leads to shocking retaliation from the higher echelons of the criminal underworld.
In addition to Reeves, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, and Lance Reddick returned as Winston, Bowery King, and Charon, respectively, all becoming stakeholders in Jon's fate. It includes Koji Shimadzu (Hiroyuki Sanada), the manager of Osaka Continental and in a list of enemies is the Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard), the most villainous representative of the High Table, and a German crime boss as grotesque as he, led by Kira (Scott Adkins), who is dangerous.
In addition to the legions of mercenaries tracking Jon across the globe, there are two assassins the Marquess puts on Jon's tail: Tracker (Shamiel Anderson), an old-fashioned hitman with his trusty dog, and Cain (The martial arts legend Donnie Yen), a blind assassin, as deadly as his old friend John, and sick of killing.
Love. I love playing that role. I love the world of John Wick. I love opportunities and telling stories. We're really making it up and I'm part of it. It's great to play in the world of John Wick and keep exploring and creating.
In this movie, you get to work with two martial arts legends, Donny and Hiroyuki.
Wow, they are three very tall and real martial artists. I'm a movie martial artist. They are real. what do you mean? When you combine that with the art of cinema, their control, their speed, the way they work together, especially timing.
I've worked with Hiroyuki twice, just to see how he's fighting if he's fighting with you and you're after him, he'll be in that hole that Donnie Yen can improvise and take care of you. [has] his speed and skill. Scott Adkins' technique, his passion is on another level. I was very grateful to have met these three artists.
everything you can do We shot for 100 days, mostly at night. When I do an action sequence, it takes about 10 hours, 11 hours, so I wake up, do it all over again, and try to make my sequence dreams come true. That's recovery… but that's the biggest challenge. It's about being able to go to the John Wick bar every day.
You did four “John Wick” movies. He recently revisited characters like Ted Logan in "Bill & Ted Face the Music" and Neo in "The Matrix Resurrections." We may see you return as John Constantine. What do you get out of it? .
It's great it never occurred to me at first, so it's special to get the chance to reprise a role, especially one that I love. I'll admit it. Being in "John Wick: Chapter 4" is like.
No, I think they have an idea of what to do with it. Hopefully, we'll get to reprise the role of John Constantine, but we haven't seen him yet.
Most of your franchises are set in the original world, but people are also trying to put you in the Marvel Universe. At this point, can you enter the preset world and find a place there?.
Looks fun. I love those movies. It's great to be in a fictional world like that and to be in a great movie and have fun like that. I hope one day they will find something suitable for me.
Are there any other action movies similar to John Wick 4 that I can watch for free?. Yes, there are many other action movies that you can watch for free on websites such as Popcornflix or Tubi. Some similar movies to John Wick: Chapter 4, Friday the 24th.
Then came the sequels, each more expensive but also more successful. This has led to 'John Wick 4' having a budget of 90 million dollars when the first installment barely cost 20. That is also noticeable on the screen, since we are facing the most brutal and ambitious film in the saga. That does not mean that it is the best, although it does easily exceed the third installment.
One thing that this franchise has taken care of quite well is its mythology. In the first installment it was a curious addition that served to give it its own identity, but its importance has not stopped growing since 'John Wick: Blood Pact', and soon it will do so even more with the development of different spin-offs with those that Lionsgate wants to fully squeeze the popularity of this universe.
However, 'John Wick 4' feels like a kind of closure for the symbolic trilogy started by the second installment. The character played by Reeves is still dealing here with the consequences of the drastic decision he made at the end of that film, and of course the dangers he faces continue to grow exponentially.
I don't forget that at the beginning of 'John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum' he was persecuted by an inexhaustible number of hired assassins, but in 'John Wick 4' they have managed to far exceed that, and also without the need for highlight it so much from the first moment. Here the script written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch prefers to bet on a narrative that goes from less to more, with the particularity that the first big action scene is already impressive.
The miraculous thing is that then the film does not stop surpassing itself without feeling like a mere concession to the spectacle. It is true that there comes a point where the excesses on the screen are such that there are situations in which the only possible reaction to what happens on the screen is to laugh.
The fact that John Wick went from being a legendary action hero to almost a superhero invulnerable to any kind of physical contact could have turned very against him, which has already happened in the case of John McClane at the time - it still hurts me how horrible it was 'The jungle: A good day to die'-. Here is something with which she flirts in more than one moment and forces the viewer to adopt a different perspective when facing her.
Of course, the film makes all this clear from the first moment, marginalizing any type of realism in favor of the search for a continuous catharsis that culminates in an outcome with a clear farewell flavor. From those "Yeah" with an unmistakable pronunciation by Reeves to those impossible falls, 'John Wick 4' is such a playful film that it is difficult not to get carried away by what it proposes.
For my part, the saturation of action had to end up working against it, an evil that the third installment suffered from and that here could be aggravated by being, by far, the longest film in the saga. However, director Chad Stahelski seems to have taken note of what didn't work so well in 'Parabellum' and here he seeks at all times for the different set pieces to shine as much for their fit within the story as for what they contribute individually.
