180. John Wick – Chapter 4; movie review

 

JOHN WICK 4

Cert 15

169 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong violence, language

If you have seen one John Wick, you've seen them all. Haven't you?

Well, yes and no. Sure, the intense violence has similar if not higher levels in Chapter 4 but I did find the villain and the storyline marginally more engaging.

But, boy, doesn't it go on? Nearly three hours of shooting, stabbing, slashing and any number of other ways a man can meet his maker.

Certainly, those who enjoy high body counts and one-to-one combat in exotic locations will have been sated.

John Wick movies certainly look good. The costumes are flawless, the haircuts smart and the cinematography is top notch.

But where they score on style, they concede on substance.

Therefore, Chad Stahelski's Chapter 4 is little more than Wick (Keanu Reeves) trying to remove himself from the obligations of the mysterious High Table after killing one of its elders.

This time is arch nemesis is a rich French marquis (Bill Skarsgård) who is also something of a psychopath.

Laurence Fishburne and Ian McShane return as tentatively on Wick's side while Donnie Yen is one of his reluctant pursuers.

And that's it - huge fight scenes in Osaka, Paris and other places and Wick demonstrates his enviable energy.

For goodness sake, this is a man who falls from a second story window, gets shot umpteen times and is cut up more than a steak in an Argentinian restaurant.

And he just keeps going and going and going.

Will his fans care? Not a jot. They are here for the action and they receive heaps of it. 

This time I understood them a tad more than I have before but it lost at least a mark for going on far too long.

Reasons to watch: Intense action

Reasons to avoid: Scant plot

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? Director of John Wick Chad Stahelski was a stunt double for Keanu Reeves in the 1996 film The Matrix.

The final word. Chad Stahelski: "You see how hard my stunt team work, and you see how Keanu works. It's all hanging on him, right? I pushed my crew and all this stuff, and now I've got John Wick 4. I've got this story that I really want to tell in a narrative way that I want to tell it, and I need 100 days and nights, and I'm going to push Keanu at 57 even more than I've ever pushed him before." Screen Rant

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