Movie Review: John Wick Chapter 4 (R – 169 minutes)

We may have finally reached what seems to be the end of John Wick’s ongoing journey of revenge.  In case you aren’t caught up on the John Wick saga – essentially Keanu Reeves plays a retired hit man who was quietly living his life and coping with the death of his wife when he encountered the son of a local crimelord. This jackass broke into his house and killed the puppy his wife had left for him.  John then proceeds to get back into the business to wipe out the kid and everyone around him. 

In the second and third movie, the story expanded as John continued to piss off hitmen and criminals who had been content to let him retire.  We learn about the various Continental hotels that provide safe havens for killers during the course of their business as well as the High Table – which seems to be the organization that collects and directs the various hitmen and assassins.  Although, really – none of that is important.  Wick stepped back in after being allowed out, and has spent the last couple of movies trying to find his way back out. 

In Chapter 4, Wick is still being hunted by just about everybody and the Marquis currently in charge of the High Table is sending more and more after him.  He even sends a Harbinger to close down the Continental in New York that had helped Wick.  As Wick pursues the Marquis, he encounters various allies and foes, battling all the way to the very end.

Again -the story doesn’t really matter here.  Wick is trying to find peace in the most violent way possible. Director Chad Stahelski once again elevates the stunts and action to be on even par with the story – perhaps even to be more important that the story as really what I remember most from this movie is various action set pieces and Donnie Yen being awesome. 

The movie begins with a high-octane desert horse chase as Wick chases down some folks and lets us know what his game plan is for the movie. Basically - eliminate the head of the table and get back to his retirement. 

There is an incredible battle in the Osaka Continental featuring the wonderful Hiroyuki Sanada versus the fantastic Donnie Yen.  I love that John Wick stepped aside so that action movie fans could really watch these two own the screen with the bonus of singer Rina Sawayama as Sanada’s daughter – who gets some great fight moments of her own.  

John also has to go to a raging EDM club to track down and eliminate ‘Killa’, played by the fantastic Scott Adkins in a fat suit for some reason. The battle between he, Wick, his henchmen, and Donnie Yen’s Caine is huge and wet.

Wick eventually gets to Paris to negotiate a duel with the Marquis beautifully framed on the Trocadero in front of the Eiffel Tower. The Marquis agrees to meet him at sunrise, but in the meantime, calls on every single hitman, assassin, and thug in town to eliminate Wick before he can get there.

There is an amazing sequence in a building that is shot from top-down and seems to be a single shot as Wick moves from room to room taking out henchmen as Shamier Anderson’s Tracker named Nobody makes things more difficult. It looks incredible and very much like a video game.

Another epic set piece takes place as Wick gets to Paris and is hunted by a group of killers in various cars around the Arc de Triomphe – if you’ve never been there, the traffic around that landmark is truly insane and this is the first movie I have ever seen that incorporates that crazy traffic into the action as the combatants have to dodge all the cars to make contact with each other.

My absolute favorite set piece happens as Wick is trying to make it to his final duel with the Marquis (played with slick evil by Bill Skarsgard) which will be hosted by Clancy Brown’s Harbinger. He has to make it by a set time, and it is set to take place in front of Sacre Coeur. Again – if you’ve never been there, it is at the top of a hill with 222 steps to get to the top. As Wick climbs the stairs with limited time, he has to battle Marko Zaror as Chidi and his various henchmen all the way up.  The last time I was there, I went up the back way since I had a wicked case of food poisoning.  You can also take a funicular (a little tram that will take you up).  It must have not been working that early in the morning as Wick has to fight up each and every stair. I’ve never seen anything like it and it was both exhausting and exhilarating.

It was a little painful to see the wonderful Lance Reddick reprise his role as Charon in this, and then get killed on screen as he had passed away the week before the release.

Overall, the action was fantastic, the characters continue to be intriguing, and if this is the last chapter – it was a great closer. It was way too long – it’s just shy of three hours, but honestly – I did not feel the length. The action is so consistent you don’t really notice.  I think this may be my favorite of the Wick flicks.

9 out of 10