John Wick: Chapter 4

For a conclusion to a franchise (at least the Wick story arc) you'd expect story. Each movie has gotten a little further away from telling an interesting story. I even enjoyed when they layered in more of this far-fetched stuff with the high-table & continental in 2 & 3. But, we still don't know much about this world, how it was created, or who is in charge. I thought this movie would do more with this secret government for criminals, but instead this movie made those aspects of the story pointless. So many elements from the past movies were just glazed over to essentially give this movie no story. No Elder, No Winston's betrayal, No past characters except Winston & The King, No Dog, No Wife. All of those things amounted to a few 1-liners in this movie. Instead they focused on the worst aspect of 3 and multiplied it with fights that last too long, and people that need to be shot 20 times. I personally preferred the realism and tactical focus to the action of 1 & 2.

I'm gonna have to rewatch this one another day. But I found myself beginning to doze off repeatedly like an hour 1/2 into the movie. I can't quite put my finger on it. The villain was definitely boring, the story line and dialogues seemed a bit stretched out. The fight scenes and overall feel of them didn't quite do it for me like the first 3 movies did. I think there's gonna be mixed reviews on this one. I felt there were several plot holes. And I'm in limbo about how I feel about the ending. It seemed fitting but then also didn't...? Lol. Idk man I just think some lazy writing went into play on this one.

Half of this review will be me gushing about the action. Wow. Just wow. I was in complete awe. There were multiple times I was both tearing up and laughing at how unbelievably amazing the fight scenes are. Now this is nothing new for the John Wick series. But for me, this is far and away the best action of the entire series.

I'm an action junkie and am repeatedly disappointed with action movies and their terrible fight scenes, filled with shaky cam, quick cuts and close-up shots (looking at you Snake Eyes and Mortal Kombat). Then I watch a John Wick movie and feel so spoiled, while also being baffled at why other action movies can't learn from this. The fights are so fast-paced yet completely clear and easy to follow.

There is every kind of fighting imaginable. So many weapons, styles, chases, vehicles, animals, everything. So much creativity with the kills. Amazing combinations of weaponry and fighting styles (pistol/sword combo is my fave).

The music is awesome as usual, maybe even a step up. It enhances every action scene. The cinematography is pristine. So many beautiful shots, so many mesmerizing locations for the action. It is stylistically beautiful.

There are a couple of scenes that are shot in such a creative way that I've never seen before. One is an overhead shot one-take that I couldn't believe. It takes the movie to a new level. So many scenes feel like they're a video game brought to life. Numerous times it feels like the VR game Pistol Whip.

Donnie Yen is awesome. End of paragraph.

About an hour into this nearly 3-hour movie, I felt like I experienced enough action amazingness for an entire movie. I was in a state of ecstasy. Not only was this looking like the best of the series, I started wondering if this would be a landmark action flick. Maybe it's my own fault for setting expectations so high mid-movie, but the second half is more flawed, though still awesome.

The subplot with the tracker doesn't seem at all consequential. And his dog attacks were already done, and better, with Halle Berry in Parabellum. A few of the issues I had with Parabellum pop up again, like overdoing it sometimes with the damage he takes. For example, instead of getting hit by one car, he gets hit by three cars. And that's a mild example. Also, it's fairly anticlimactic.

Even with those flaws, I had a BLAST with this movie and will definitely see it at least once more in theaters. Seeing it on a premium screen is a must. Loudest speakers, biggest screen. TRUST ME.

EDIT: I was itching to go again since opening night. I wasn't able to wait more than 5 days. On second viewing, I still felt the same flaws, but I didn't care. The action is incredible. It has at least four* of my all-time favorite action scenes. I want to watch these scenes a hundred times.

It's definitely not perfect, but I still consider it an action landmark (last time I said that was Mad Max: Fury Road). Every other action movie should learn from this. Updating rating from 8 to 9 stars.

(5 viewings, opening Thursday UltraScreen 3/23/2023, UltraScreen 3/28/2023, SuperScreen 4/10/2023, re-issue IMAX 5/2/2023, 9/22/2023)

I can see why people love it and I can see why people hate it. People want different things out of a movie and John Wick 4 delivers exceptionally well in certain areas while being mediocre in others.

A quick summary is I had a fking great time watching it at some points and a little bored during others. The action scenes are fantastic. It's a TON of fun and really cool to watch. A little towards the middle of the film it did feel a bit slow and dragged out. Cutting out 15 mins would be perfect.

Held up by good action and decent laughs is the weak story. I absolutely LOVE the idea of the underground black market, the continentals, and the high table. I wish we got to see more of that world. I wanted more backstory, more exposure, more display of how they ran behind the scenes. Hopefully I'll get to see that in the Ballerina and Continental.

The other thing I think hindered the movie was that the idea of the high table got watered down. They started off as some serious group that mean business that you don't want to mess with. In John Wick 4 I felt like they were kind of a joke and not really as big as mean as people made them out to be. John Wick was just so broken in the 4th chapter. I know it's the whole appeal of John Wick but it does take away from the story and suspense when, even with suspension of disbelief, is just pure absolute absurdity. But that's also why I love it!

I swear John Wick can take more hits than some Avengers. He's like a tank with the body of Wolverine.

But regardless of what you're looking for you have to give it to the crew for how much work and dedication they put in to this movie. The quality really shows here. It's just really fun and exciting to watch. I rate it higher than the other John Wick films even though it's not my favorite just because in 9 out of 10 ways it's bigger and better.

But I love the other John Wick films because we got more backstory, more Continental, and more focus on story.

By now you know what to expect from a John Wick movie. I thought the franchise was losing a little momentum in chapter 3 so I was worried this could be disappointing. It's not. It's even more on steroids than any Wick before! Even close to 3 hours it doesn't feel to long which is very special for a action movie. This franchise has set new standards. If anybody says a movie is good like John Wick, it better f'n be! The set pieces as everyone mentioned before are really insane this time. The Tokyo sceney with illuminated cherry blossoms was beautiful. The only super illogical thing that bothered me was that nobody flinched at the nightclub, eventually they did but after a whole 10 minute beatdown through the whole club, but then again it's a shady nightclub for high table people. If you liked the first three movies, get your ass to the cinema. Yeah.