John Wick: Chapter 4

Official Australian release date: 23/3/23. Viewed: 30/3/23.
Director: Chad Stahelski
Actors: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Ian McShane
Genre: Action
Rating: MA

‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ is perhaps an unexpected fourth film in this franchise, which seems to be getting increasingly longer (2 hours 45min this time), but this film ups the ante on everything. The plot is pretty simple – John (Reeves) wants to stop being hunted by assassins from the “High Table”, so sets out to kill the Marquis (Skarsgard, dodgy French accent), with some help from Winston (McShane) & Bowery King (Fishburne) as in previous films. Then there’s the ambiguous presence of fellow assassins Caine (Yen, great as always) and Nobody (Anderson, good newcomer) who have solid arcs.

It’s pretty impressive they’ve made four of these films in 10 years, when you take covid into account. The film sets the scene a little, then gets right down to business – Wick & his bulletproof suit killing plenty of “bad guys”. I lost count, but would guess it’s over 250 in the entire film, with over 100 to Wick! You pay to see action, and this film certainly delivers. The series now seems to be in a comfortable place with reality suspended – especially the Arc de Triomphe scene. There’s a lack of police, the “magic” suits, no one shooting Wick in the head for some reason – where he’s become a mix of The Punisher (shoots lots & lots of people, revenge in key driver), Wolverine (doesn’t seem to ever die, can use a sword) & James Bond (the suit, good at all forms of combat).

While long, the pacing is good, with enough breathers to keep it interesting. The whole assassin underworld thing is tenuous at best, but doesn’t weigh it down too much. There’s plenty of visually stunning shots and great use of colour, a good score and some exceptional fight scenes, including a long aerial shot in an abandoned building. There’s plenty of great moments where you either chuckle, groan or cheer.

Overall: Really delivers on the action and kill-count

Gav's Rating: 4 stars