Review: John Wick: Chapter 4

Image courtesy of Lionsgate.

"John Wick: Chapter 4" is a nonstop orgy of incredibly well-choreographed mayhem that is relatively short on dialogue - well, at least from its titular lead (Keanu Reeves) - and there's no use following all the intricacies of the plot, which revolve around the High Table still attempting to seek out Wick and execute him.

There are numerous new elements added into this fourth sequel - lead villain and High Table leader Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard) becomes Wick's primary nemesis, but there's also a hotshot assassin who goes by Nobody (Shamier Anderson) who's hot on Wick's trail for a bounty as well as a blind assassin (a badass Donnie Yen) who was a former friend of Wick but has a daughter being threatened by the High Table in exchange for his cooperation.

Meanwhile, a supporting character from the other films gets bumped early in this one, leading to Winston (Ian McShane) - last seen shooting Wick and making him fall off a building, a gag that gets replayed over and over again in this new film - reaching back out to Wick to cooperate on challenging the marquis to a duel to upset the balance of power at the High Table.

The story here is a little flimsy but that's no matter as the picture is pretty much a nonstop series of jaw-dropping set pieces that get even more elaborate and outrageous as the film progresses toward its climax after two hours and 45 minutes.

The first set piece is a shootout in a neon-lit Japanese hotel, where Wick has come to meet with an old friend (Hiroyuki Sanada) about his present situation. High Table thugs, accompanied by Yen, show up and all hell breaks loose. Each action set piece is more incredible than the last.

And then we get to France, where a bounty is placed on Wick's head prior to his engagement to dueling with the marquis. In one of the film's nuttier choices, a woman DJ plays songs on the radio to taunt Wick as the assassins look for him and, I swear to God, the scene is basically lifted from Walter Hill's seminal 1979 cult classic "The Warriors."

From there, we get the two most incredible action sequences - a balletic feat of choreographed gunplay and martial arts in the middle of the road in front of Paris' Arc de Triomphe and a shootout along the steep streets of Montmartre leading up to the historic Sacre Coeur church - in the film, which rival any scene in any action movie that I can recall from the past however many years. The audience with which I saw the film frequently laughed at the audacity of these scenes, while also being transfixed by how well crafted and intense they were.

"John Wick: Chapter 4" may be simplistic in the story department - while also overly complicated in defining the parameters of this world in which Wick and company exist - but it's filled with breathtaking stunt work, choreography that often feels more like dancing than your typical bland Hollywood action fight scenes, and style to spare. In terms of big budget studio action moviemaking, this is the best example that I can recall in some time. It's also the best entry in this franchise to date.