One of the biggest surprises of 2014 was Chad Stahelski and David Leitch’s action film “John Wick,” starring Keanu Reeves as the titular character. The film was not only a huge hit with its’ brutal action set pieces, but revitalized Reeves’s career as an action star, resulting in two more chapters, each one upping the ante, making this a rare film series that only gets better as it continues. After 2019’s “John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum,” which featured the best action in the series to date, many wondered how the franchise could possibly top itself.
With “John Wick: Chapter 4,” Reeves, Stahelski and the stunt team/action design studio of Eighty-Seven Eleven have not only topped themselves, they’ve made one of the greatest action films ever made bar none. This fourth installment brings together everything fans have come to expect from the series cranked up to fifty in a nearly three hour action epic that flies by when you’re watching it because it’s so riveting, brutal and thrilling from first minute to last.
Reeves’s Wick is on the run after a betrayal from his superior and friend Winston (Ian McShane, “We Are Marshall”), leaving him to align with the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne, “The Matrix”) to exact his revenge. With a new power rising in the underworld in the form of the Marquis (Bill Skarsgard, “It”), who wants John dead by any means necessary, John must traverse the globe to find a way out of the assassin underworld he tried to let go.
The “John Wick” films have been known for extreme brutality executed to a brilliant level by pitch perfect choreography and “Chapter 4” is no exception. Guns, knives, cars, fists and even flammable bullets are the weapons at play here, leading to fight sequences that will leave the crowd on the edge of their seats. Not only that, but the locations in which these fights take place are inventive and lead to unique moments within the battles- a highlight is a shootout in an abandoned apartment complex filmed in a one take bird’s eye view.
Speaking of filming, another major strength to this film is that it looks SO. DAMN. GOOD. Dan Laustsen’s cinematography is not only his career high work, it makes this one of the best looking films ever made. Every single minute of screen time has at least one shot that is a masterpiece of choreography and staging, creating a true cinematic experience that must be seen on the biggest screen you can find.
As if all of that wasn’t enough, the film expands upon the world of the franchise with a new cast of compelling characters. Skarsgard makes a menacing villain who test John with brains instead of brawn, Scott Adkins creates a memorable oddball while encased in a fat suit, and Donnie Yen once again plays a blind badass who is also the mirror image of John, creating a moral complexity once the two of them face off.
But the standout is British pop star Rina Sawayama making her film debut as Akira, the daughter of one of John’s old friends who John must trust to survive. Not only does Sawayama bring a new energy to the film from an action standpoint as she takes on legions of assassins without firing one bullet, but she also delivers a powerhouse performance and almost immediately earns the audience’s attention and sympathy, a rare trick for any actor to pull off, let alone one who’s never starred in a film before. She steals the movie and has a very, very bright future on both film and in the music industry, also contributing a song to the end credits.
“John Wick: Chapter 4” does the impossible and makes the previous chapters look like episodes of “Power Rangers.” One of the best films of this year and one of the best action films ever made by any standard. It is a true cinematic experience that you’ll never forget.
“John Wick: Chapter 4” is now playing in theaters.
