Rent John Wick: Chapter 4 on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, Derek Kolstad (based on characters created by)
Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Lance Reddick, Clancy Brown, Ian McShane, Bill Skarsgård, Donnie Yen
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table, but before he can earn his freedom Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.
Verdict
This movie lacks story. It's nearly three hours of fights. The run time seemed indulgent, and it is. This crosses the globe with various locations, but the lack of story creates a movie with no goals other than John Wick must win. The final setting was great because the movie finally slowed down and tried to really set the scene. Everything prior is near mindless fighting in different locales. This franchise keeps trying to one up itself, and that peaked in the third movie. Other than the final scenes, this movie just didn't hold my interest. It's trying too hard to be cool.
It depends.
Review
The John Wick movies have gotten weaker on the plot with each sequel. The first movie was great, and the second rivaled it. The third movie was effective but was on its way to becoming a victim of sequel bloat. The fourth installment fully embraces sequel bloat. Rumors are a fifth movie is in the works.
John Wick's (Keanu Reeves) main rival is Caine (Donnie Yen) a blind man that fights better than anyone other than Wick. It's nearly silly, and the movie doesn't do a lot to capitalize on how Caine overcomes that impediment. Caine is great because he is. The Marquis orchestrates the entire situation, and he's very much a cartoon villain. This movie abandons the world building that was so much fun in the first two movies, using it as a plot band aid where needed.
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| Keanu Reeves plays John Wick |
A nearly three hour run time seems excessive for this genre. The first few scenes throw a lot at you. John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is training underground as Laurence Fisburne's character chews the scenery. Next Wick is in the desert on a horse chasing someone down. The fourth installment has gone a bit beyond. The first movie had amazing fights and created this underground assassin world that seemed wild but credible. The franchise lost credibility around the third movie. This one doesn't explain anything. If you aren't familiar with the franchise, you'd be completely lost. With all this showcases, it never builds the story or world.
The Continental Hotel, a hot spot for assassins is destroyed, and I think the reason is because the movie has a lot of budget. I you don't recall the previous movie, this is a consequence of the manager Winston (Ian McShane) helping Wick.
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| Ian McShane, Bill Skarsgård play Winston, the Marquis |
The Marquis (Bill Skarsgård) is only missing a handlebar mustache that he could twirl as he hatches his plans. He's a cartoon villain whose only purpose it to be an over the top antagonist for Wick. The Marquis pulled blind assassin Caine (Donnie Yen) out of retirement. I was really curious how Caine would fair. He's an impressive fighter, but being blind doesn't come into play much. If the movie removed the couple of scenes that address this I wouldn't realize he was blind. The Book of Eli did this much better.
This movie is all over the globe and we travel to the Continental in Osaka. If you're thinking things might kick off at Osaka, they certainly do.
This movie has plenty of action, and it's certainly artistic, but it's too over the top. I get it. How can this franchise keep topping itself? You reach a plateau eventually.
We travel to Russia to set up the final act of the movie en route to France. This has cool ideas, and it's certainly action heavy, but it feels like it's desperately trying to be cool. It's too long, and too full of itself. It often succeeds like with the overhead action shot with Wick wreaking havoc in France, but there's a lot unimpressive fight scenes to get there.
The finally dual is easily the best part. Wick runs the gauntlet just to arrive at the duel, with the Marquis trying to get him disqualified for being late. Part of this drawn out fight, might be the most laughable scene in the movie where Wick tumbles down stairs for much longer than necessary. It's a comically long time. The final showdown is brutal, but part of what makes it so good is that it's the first time the movie has slowed down at all. The change of tempo really adds to the scene. It's only at this point that we realize what Wick was really planning.
This could be a really good one hour forty five minute movie, but it's just too long. That extra obscures the good parts of this movie.
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