[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up]
Whew.
‘John Wick 4’ is freaking exhausting. And long. And really, really starts to push the boundaries of ridiculousness and believability. It’s insane and mind boggling and a lot of it is wholly unnecessary. But it is, without a doubt one of the most jaw dropping, eye popping, and exhilarating action movies perhaps ever made by human beings.
The plot of John Wick: Chapter 4, which does not get a cool subtitle name like the last movie (Parabellum), really doesn’t matter. I could explain it to you but honestly, I could be explaining any of the sequels and you’d never know the difference. Picking up not long after Chapter 3 — JW (Keanu Reeves) has had some time to recover from the brutal few days that the first three took place over — the new flick finds our hero getting ready for war (again), lying low with Laurence Fishburne, who is at his over-the-top best. John wants to clear his name, and get the High Table off his back and be able to walk off into the sunset without having to watch his back for the rest of his life.
Good luck.
Many of Wick’s former allies and enemies return (most anyway…missing John Leguizamo here, unfortunately). Ian McShane returns as Winston (dude is just trying to get his hotel back), along with his trusty sidekick, Charon (the amazing Lance Reddick, rest in peace dude. You were awesome in everything). And a few new faces including Shamier Anderson as Tracker, an assassin who rolls around on these death missions with his sidekick, scene stealing dog; plus the always reliable Clancy Brown (Lost) and last but never least, the legendary Hiroyuki Sanada (Bullet Train).
Let’s talk about Donnie Yen. This dude is freaking fantastic. If you haven’t seen the IP Man films you are doing yourself a great disservice. He is one of the baddest-assed dudes on the flipping planet. I’m not gonna say anything crazy, like Donnie steals the movie, but yeah….Donnie kinda steals the movie as a badass blind assassin and old friend of Mr. Wick, who is forced into the hunt for the legendary Baba Yaga by the new leader of the High Table (Bill Skarsgård). As amazing as it is to watch Reeves perform these bone-crushing stunts, Donnie just makes it look pretty, sooooo pretty. Give this man his own trilogy!
This is an amazing action movie. It just might be the Citizen Kane of mindless, ridonkulous action movies. And because so little time seems to have been spent on writing a new screenplay or coming up with literally anything to shake up the plot structure, director Chad Stahelski and his amazing team of stunt coordinators, stuntmen, and Keanu himself have plenty of breathing room to just go fucking bonkers with the action. The movie opens with a nearly 30-minute action sequence through a Japanese version of the Continental (the assassin hotel safe haven). It doesn’t need to be that long but it’s insane, so whatever, I guess. Then about halfway through there is another beatdown, shootout in a nightclub with a waterfall, with literally hundreds of ravers dancing like there aren’t a hundred dudes killing each other in this club. And then there is the third act show-stopper, a nearly 40-minute fight, chase sequence that takes place in, through and around the Arc de Triomphe and a 205-step staircase that might be one of the greatest action sequences you’ll ever see.
But it’s not all gold in the fold….there are things are just like: ummmm okay?? What?? First off, how are there always like a hundred and fifty assassins within a city block radius every time the High Table ups the bounty on this dude? Sometimes characters are introduced and seem important and then an hour goes by and you’re like, whatever happened to that dude? And are you freaking kidding me with the kevlar suit? Maybe this an actual thing — I googled it, but sometimes the Internet lies and I didn’t have time to research enough to find out how much of this is BS and not.
Either way it is just an excuse for John Wick to run around in his black suit and tie costume and be able to literally be shot dozens of times at point blank range and all he has to do is kinda shield himself with the canvas of the kevlar. It’s ridiculous and at times threatens that fine line of being able to suspend our disbelief as an audience but it all looks so amazing and its so much fun to watch — especially on IMAX — that it becomes easy to just shut off the old thinking noodle and enjoy the chaos.
Also, it’s almost three hours long. Yes, at two hours and fifty-one minutes, John Wick 4 is an hour and ten minutes longer than the original movie. It’s a movie longer than the first movie. And there is not enough plot to fill that time. But this is, what could be the final installment in one of the most creative action franchises ever, so Stahelski and company swing for the fences on every single pitch, and they make contact almost every time.
That being said, let’s face it. You’re not going to see John Wick 4 unless you’ve seen the other three. And even then, you’re not expecting Keanu to suddenly wax poetic and quote his dialogue like he’s tuning up for his Oscar moment. He really doesn’t even have much dialogue anyway. He mostly just says, “yeah”, and “I need a gun.” John Wick says all he needs to say with guns, lots and lots and lots of guns.
Finally, Keanu Reeves. Man. Props to this dude. He has truly established himself as one of the greatest action stars of our generation. This cannot be argued. The man puts in the work and it shows. John Wick 4 may or may not be the last time we see our man, John, but the universe will continue. Ana de Armas is set to star in a spin off called Ballerina. If it is our last round with Mr. Wick, he goes out with a bang, that’s for sure.
Or maybe it’s a bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang…..bang. Bang-bang-bang. You get the point.
Lover of movies and tacos. Ad man. Author. Member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. Founder of the Terror on the Plains Horror Festival. Creator and voice of the Reel Hooligans podcast.
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