'John Wick: Chapter 4' Spoiler-Free Review

TV&Film

Mar 27

The action-packed fourth installment of the John Wick franchise is finally here, and pulls no punches, literally. It's violent, but also strangely colorful and pretty. The cinematography is some of the best in any action movie. The combination of weapons keeps you entertained. It's truly Keanu Reeves at his best. John Wick: Chapter 4 is the longest in the franchise so far but never slows down. The dialogue-heavy parts are important, but also keep you wanting more. It’s personally my favorite one of the franchise, and one of my favorite movies of the year.

The late Lance Reddick was remembered with a dedication at the start of the movie. It was a wonderful way to honor such an awesome character, who played such an important part throughout the franchise.

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John Wick is in for the fights of his life in this movie. There are more bad guys to kill than ever before, and they're tougher this time. There is also a bounty on his head and it keeps going up. Oh, and the Marquis has the High Table arsenal at his disposal and is out for blood. He really isn’t having a good day. John finds out the only way to truly gain his freedom is to challenge the Marquis to single combat, which he does. He meets up with old friends and familiar faces. The few allies he has left, aid him as best they can, even if it sometimes can cost them their life. At the end of the day, he is the Baba Yaga, and that should be enough to convince them they don’t have a chance against John Wick.

This movie could easily be a John Wick world tour. He goes to Osaka, Japan, where he meets up with an old friend, and of course, fights ensue. In addition to guns, samurai swords are used and sometimes in combination with each other, which makes for gruesome fight scenes. John Wick uses nunchucks at one point, which was rad. He also travels back to New York, where he meets up with Continental manager, Winston, who informs him that the Marquis is after him. He travels to Berlin to get reinstated into a family, and finally to Paris, where he will face the Marquis.

These movies are always action-packed and you know you're in for a good time. These are fight-heavy movies, and the choreography of these fight scenes is always impressive, and this installment is no different. The cinematography however was one of my favorite parts of this movie. Near the end of the movie, John Wick is fighting a bunch of bad guys in a building, and it's filmed with a top-down perspective. It lasts for a few minutes and is my personal favorite from the movie. The John Wick franchise is pretty violent and dark, however, the lighting in these movies is excellent. The fourth installment was the same way. It's amazing that for a franchise that is focused so much on killing, these movies are very pretty. The soundtrack also played a huge part in the movie. Each song that was played, added to the mood of the movie, and the scene that was playing out.

The entire cast was absolutely incredible. Familiar faces returned to their roles such as Laurence Fishburne playing the Bowery King, and Ian McShane as the Continental Manager. Keanu Reeves shines as John Wick. There were also a few new faces in the franchise. Donnie Yen, who played Caine, an old friend of John's, was a great addition to the movie. He played a blind assassin and gave off major Daredevil vibes. Shamier Anderson, played a Tracker who was out to get John Wick. This character was great and even had a dog companion that would help him beat up the bad guys. Rina Sawayama played Akira, who was wonderful. We definitely haven’t seen the last of this character, and will probably appear in future installments of the franchise. By the end of the movie, you were rooting for everyone who wasn’t the Marquis. Bill Skarsgard played the Marqius and played him extremely well. So well, that you were rooting for John Wick to win in that combat, after everything the Marqius did.

Keanu Reeves John Wick — Image Source: Geek Tyrant

John Wick: Chapter 4 was an excellent addition to the franchise. There were moments when John Wick felt like a god, as there were at least 4 different times he should’ve been sent to the hospital. There is no one, and clearly, nothing that can stop John Wick, as he fell off his fair share of buildings, balconies, and stairs in the movie. Even though John Wick: Chapter 5 was greenlit, the film may be on hold for a bit. If that's the case, this was a great conclusion to one of the best action franchises in recent history.

Rating: 9/10

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