John Wick 4 sees the return of Keanu Reeves in the suit of his assassin alter ego. In this fourth go around, the Baba Yaga is still on the run from High Table, the powerful crime syndicate with a bounty on his head. This time, John Wick is determined to clear his debt once and for all. But to do that, he must go on a globe-trotting journey from New York to Osaka, then Berlin to Paris as foes new and old search for him.
This time, the most formidable opponent to his goal is The Marquis (Bill Skarsgård), a High Table envoy who’s been given the organization’s resources to eliminate John. The Marquis is an elegant yet vicious nobleman who never dirties his own hands to enact his plans. Instead, he sends John’s old comrade, a blind former assassin named Caine (Donnie Yen), to go after him. Also hot on John’s trail is Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson), a bounty hunter who seeks to raise John Wick’s reward to his preferred numbers before killing him. Talk about stone cold.
John Wick franchise only gets better and better. Remember, this film began modestly as a lone man exacting revenge on the thugs who killed his puppy and stole his car. Today, John Wick is up against international crime families spread across exotic locations all around the globe. The stunts have also gotten more over-the-top, in the best of ways. In John Wick 4, director Chad Stahelski delivered something no action film has before achieved. The fight choreography in this movie is simply legendary. You’ve got sequence after sequence of all kinds of actions imaginable: gunfights, martial arts, swordplay, hand-to-hand combat; you name it. They are all coordinated with the sort of balletic rhythm that is natural and intricate. A standout sequence early in the movie is when John Wick and his friends are ambushed in a cool foreign location. The scene clocks in at THIRTY minutes long, and through the entire thing, we got nonstop slashing, fist fighting, guns blazing, nunchucks – all set to feverishly adrenaline-pumping music and stylish camerawork. It’s incredible.
It doesn’t stop with the stunt work; the cinematography of John Wick 4 also levels up. There was a moment inside the IMAX theater when we were just distracted by how gorgeous each shot looked. Since John Wick 3, the cinematography has leaned harder and harder into that graphic novel aesthetic, with all the neon colors and bold contrasts.
Thankfully, they manage not to let style triumph over substance. John Wick 4 has a compelling story of a man seeking redemption. It’s no coincidence that religious imagery – cathedrals, sacraments, references to God, Biblical quotes – percolate the entire film. What holds together the brilliant stunts, the stunning visuals, and the terrific performances are the beating heart at the center of it all, played to perfection by Keanu Reeves. This one is a complete package of an action movie to end all others.
