John Wick: Chapter 4

In the context of the action genre, John Wick: Chapter 4 is polished perfection. This carefully constructed gourmet treat manages to simultaneously evoke physically intense reactions and pure pleasure from the creativity and inventiveness of its choreography. The moment when Wick puts the nun-chucks around his neck brings you to the realisation that you have just witnessed perfection – it’s something like the first time you knowingly gaze at a van Gogh painting or let the music of Bach encompass you, or see The Rock raise an eyebrow. As foolish and faithless as I am, I momentarily doubted whether the filmmakers had anything else up their sleeve after that. But when the camera soars over the hero wielding a shotgun with incendiary rounds, my head exploded. This is where the wheat gets separated from the chaff. The fourth John Wick is a grandiose eruption of genius, talent and enlightenment. At the same time, its creators pay tribute to the entire previous tradition of cinematic martial arts and the greats of the genre – from Bruce Lee and Sammo Hung to Zatoichi. But by avoiding shallow imitation and fanboyish references, they set a benchmark based on their role models and predecessors that they want to surpass, though not arrogantly, but lovingly and with respect. Keanu Reeves remains a tremendous asset to the franchise, which is primarily thanks to his years of levelling up and his willingness to learn new things. Choreographers thus get an unprecedentedly malleable actor with whom they can vary the skills that he has already mastered while also setting new challenges for him. The same is true of the other renowned actors in the film. Other spectacular ensemble action movies of the past – e.g. The Expendables and The Fast and the Furious – got by with merely pitting stars against each other in the manner of wrestling exhibitions and letting them show off their iconic moves from other movies. In contrast to that, Stahelski’s team takes Hiroyuki Sanada, Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror and Shamier Anderson and transforms each of them into a delightfully distinctive character and gives them space to exploit their physical strengths, build on a classic tradition or icon and even go nuts with their acting. In addition to that, Chapter 4 makes absolutely magnificent use of the franchise’s own comic-bookishly overwrought world with its contrasting colour palette, weapons sommelier, style fetishes and surreally idealised clichés. This Downton Abbey with kung-fu and guns has roots embedded in the impassioned essences of genre flicks, ranging from the melancholic crime dramas of Jean-Pierre Melville through John Woo’s heroic bloodshed movies and the samurai dramas of Masaki Kobayashi to the postmodern cool of Cowboy Bebop. John Wick: Chapter 4 thus steers well clear of boastful, Tarantino-style eclectic exhibitionism. Like a true master of the martial arts, it humbly acknowledges its own masters, whose brilliance led it to establish a new pinnacle of the action genre. (09/04/2023) (less) (more)

There may be mild spoilers, but nothing major to the plot, more of a scene-by-scene tease. The best Wick and quite possibly the best action flick that already fully competes with The Raid 2, and in some ways even surpasses it. Stahelski is an incredible dude who made a 3 hour action orgasm; I died in the cinema, saw my funeral, was reincarnated and rose from the ashes as a brand new Phoenix whipped up with fire and pumped full of adrenaline. The whole movie is so sexy and exciting it makes me horny as fuck. (Never happened to me in any movie before!!). The film has four action sequences that are around 20-30 minutes long each and could serve as a finale for another film. (Seeing 4 finales at once makes is awesome!!). The samurai massacre in Osaka Continental had a strong Asian feel to it and I definitely purred with bliss. The likable Rina Sawayama and Hiroyuki Sanada are a great addition and the whole thing has a very dense atmosphere, you slowly hold your breath. The next chapter belongs to Scott Adkins in Berlin, who plays a kingpin and his character is a nice caricature. The table scene definitely has its charm, and is topped off with a gnarly fight at a swanky rave party that I would love to attend as well. The sequence on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris impresses with its unconventional setting. Incorporating fights and gunfire during rush hour traffic is a brilliant idea, and the whole scene is breathtaking in its adrenaline rush. Wick here makes nice use of oncoming cars to take out his opponents – delicious! Then the highlight is the shootout in a building with the use of a 2D camera, where Wick uses fiery shotgun blasts (heart attacks!!!) – one of the best ideas in the history of action movies ever, those camera raids were simply breathtaking. The final set-piece on the stairs to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica are again impressive with the setting and the barrage of adversaries. It simply has the feel of a computer game, with one enemy after another coming at you, and I dig that. The new characters on the stage were a great pleasure. Apart from the aforementioned Adkins and Sanada, the character of Hitchhiker Nobody was very good, as he and his dog were in great sync and it was again a solid insert in the action passages. Bill Skarsgård is not a fighter, so less kudos to him, but he was definitely very confident in the dialogue passages. Marko Zaror is also a decent surprise, he has perhaps the best role of his career and entertained me. The biggest draw, though, is without a doubt the blind Donnie Yen (I understand the filmmakers decision to make him a blind man, otherwise no one would have had a chance) who does some nice stunts with a katana. (A bit of a minor criticism here that he didn't use his famous Wing-chun, but I'll get over it). He's got great character and charisma, and an incredible assassin code. So much for the characters and action, what about the rest. Visually this is a masterpiece, all the locations, interiors and exteriors look sumptuous and lavish, the colours, the staging, the use of the environments to the max (rain, neons, lighting, monuments a great feast for the eyes in that respect), the music is great too (it's great throughout the franchise, but I found it the most intense here). For my part I have to praise the lore around the high table and the assassins, some complain that it could have been more in depth, but I don't know of any action movie that has a more interesting mythology than Wick. I was also excited by the detailed introduction of the Pit Viper gun! My only criticism is the bit of overkill (falling out a window and down some stairs), but a proper fan will just smile nicely at this and move on. This is what it's all about. Stahelski and the entire team should be applauded for their incredible creativity, attention to detail, and all sorts of different ways to disarm a person. It takes more work to come up with all this than any script for an Oscar-winning drama. I once again enjoyed this sublime and luxurious ride and look forward to visiting the cinema again. An amazing 3 hours spent and I would take another hour. I don't understand why someone who doesn't like or understand action movies goes to a preview. Instant bullet to the head. 10/10. (23/03/2023) (less) (more)