More. More. More.
Such seems to be the mantra of the fourth edition of the very successful John Wick franchise. There’s definitely more action with a whopping 14 action sequences, nearly four times the amount in the previous Wick movies; more locations, including a Bond-like global trip from Jordan to Japan to Paris to Berlin; and like so many recent movies, no more running time at 169 minutes, and you’ll want to stick around until the end credits roll to get your money’s worth.
THE John Wicks are indeed progressively longer and a little more inflated since the tight 101-minute original from 2014, the 122-minute from 2017 Chapter 2and the 130 minutes Chapter 3: Parabellum. This one increased to nearly 40 minutes, but for the most part never slows down and remains a treat for fans of star Keanu Reeves’ mastery of this martial arts/gun fu/now car fu too genre.
Personally, I’ve still never forgiven the first movie for brutally killing John’s adorable little beagle puppy, but I have to let it go, because the rest of the series hasn’t let audiences down – especially the last with a Halle Berry kick and what is still for me this incredible sequence, a masterpiece of action choreography with all these killer dogs doing their thing against humans.
This new film opens with the assumption of the High Table, this unseen cabal of crime lords looking to cut a deal for John’s head, that Wick is dead. He is not, and instead in a sequence that could be described as John Wick meets Lawrence of Arabia, we are reintroduced to him in the Jordanian desert as he rides a horse in the first of many, a lot action sequences which are the signature attraction here, obviously. Director Chad Stahelski, a former martial arts expert and stuntman for Reeves in the Matrix footage, clearly knows what audiences want and expect, and seems determined to kick everything up a few notches. Fortunately, even if it seems right Also a good thing sometimes John Wick: Chapter 4 book.
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In a change of being constantly on the run and the chase, Here, Wick is on the offensive, deciding to take on the High Table instead, issuing a one-on-one challenge against their sadistic emissary, the Marquis, in order to take the target out of his back. This leads to a new set of predicaments and unholy alliances with returning characters and new characters. Chief among them is sometimes Donnie Yen’s friend Caine, but out of necessity here to save his daughter now enemy Also. In yet another role where he is blind (as in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) he’s pitted against Wick, nothing more effective than in a mirrored room adorned with Japanese artifacts where the two face off with Caine using a sword and gun against the samurai sword, rifles and AR15 of Wick. It’s dazzling. The same goes for a Parisian sequence where the series puts this anti-hero in the driver’s seat of a classic muscle car, rampaging through the streets of Sacré-Coeur where Bill Skarsgard’s Marquis reigns. So does another extended set in a Berlin nightclub where he takes on another new foe, the aptly named Killa (MMA star Scott Adkins), and yet another at the Osaka hotel run by John’s confidant, Shimazu (Japanese cinema icon Hiroyuuki Sanada). I could go on. And then there’s the grand finale, a modern martial arts riff on the classic duel to the death, this one presided over by the aging man known only as Harbinger (veteran Clancy Brown).
Reeves continues to truly impress, seemingly improving in this area with each franchise (after four Matrix movies where he honed his early skills). His characters are men of few words, but who needs a lot of dialogue anyway? Casting this one with two genre giants Yen and Sanada really takes the series to new levels, and Skarsgard seems to be having a great time playing a deadly guy we love to hate. Also shout out to new cast member Shamier Anderson as The Tracker, a killer with a loyal Belgian Malinois (this series seems to employ a lot of dogs) who is not only a loyal companion but also quite fearsome when the situation calls for it. . Rina Sawayama is making an impressive feature debut as Shimazu’s talented daughter and concierge at her hotel in Osaka.
Laurence Fishburne returns to the series as the Bowery King, the kingpin who oversees an underground mob operation and remains a mysterious friend to Wick, as well as Ian McShane’s Winston, the owner of hitman’s paradise. the New York Continental Hotel. Lance Reddick again plays the ever-helpful janitor to that one.
Scott Rogers, the stunt coordinator/lead choreographer who helps stage these spectacular sets, would be as big a star as any of these actors. The ending promises more down the road, but which way we’ll have to wait and see the inevitable John Wick: Chapter 5.
The producers are Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee and Stahelski. Lionsgate opens the film Friday exclusively in theaters including Imax. It had its first US premiere Monday night at SXSW
Title: .John Wick: Chapter 4
Section: Special event
Director: Chad Stahelski
Screenwriters: Shay Hatten, Michael Finch Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown.
Operating time: 2h49
Distributer: Lions Gate