Last night I finally got the chance to watch the highly anticipated John Wick Chapter 4. I have been a fan of John Wick since watching the first one back in 2014 so the movie came with a high bar given the trilogy before this one. The bar was raised even higher given the amazing reviews it was getting from the critics and audiences alike and I will say it met that bar and then some.
The plot of the film is John Wick 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 foes.
The movie does have a near 3 hour runtime but it doesn’t feel anywhere near that long and soars through given all the action. The movie has a great returning cast as well as great additions like Bill Skarsgård, Hiroyuki Sanada, Donnie Yen and Canadian Shamier Anderson. We get to know some of the story for these characters and feel for some given the position they put themselves in or John puts them in.
The movie had everything from the story, the action sequences, the cinematography even well placed comedy. It is good they don’t seem to have put the story to rest for the time being. I have always said the brilliance of the John Wick franchise was a lot of Keanu action, he does about 90% of his own stunts it was reported, and not a lot of dialogue, which it was counted as him saying 380 words in the entire movie.
Given the massive box office and critical claim Lionsgate is getting interested in a 5th film for the franchise. They do have a spinoff film Ballerina starring Ana de Armas which will feature Reeves, McShane, Anjelica Huston and the recently passed Lance Reddick reprising their roles from the franchise as they are in post-production with a 2024 release planned. Ballerina will take place between Chapter 3 and 4 of the Wick franchise.
It is hard to find faults in the movie, so if you like action movies and the John Wick franchise this is a MUST watch.
It gets hard to write reviews that don’t give spoilers so I will leave it at that.
Final Grade: 10/10
– Everett
