After a long awaited three years period following the suspenseful ending of John Wick Chapter 3 – Parabellum, the 4th installment is finally here and it delivers. John Wick : Chapter 4 can easily be considered as the best of its franchise and even action genre with their immaculate delivery of choreographies and stunt actions. Every praise you heard of John Wick : Chapter 4 is not only accurate but if nothing else, has been watered down.
Everything we come to love and expect from this franchise is present and even better, though it still requires the viewers to suspend their disbelief and just enjoy the fun action rather than putting too much thoughts into specific scenarios, for example how John has an infinite amount of ammunition in his gun. Barring that, the movie is still realistic in majority of its action sequences and how the fight plays out, John is not an invincible killing machine throughout the movie and we watch him progressively getting more injuries and being more inefficient in every subsequent fight.
Ever since the beginning of the franchise, a myriad of characters with unique personalities and memorable moments were introduced to the universe of underground crime, this movie did not just bring one but two characters that are equally interesting. Donnie Yen portrays the assassin Caine, a friend of John who is tasked to hunt him down and the dynamic between the two assassins work perfectly with how Caine has a witty and sarcastic personality in contrast to John’s stoic personality. Donnie Yen has always been a fan favorite in various action films in the past and fans could definitely expect his stunt performance in movies such as Ip Man and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story being transitioned into this movie. On the other hand, we were introduced to another character known as Mr.Nobody portrayed by Shamier Anderson, a tracker accompanied by his dog who constantly tracks down where John is in the chance that the bounty reaches a satisfactory amount before making his move. Mr.Nobody and his dog serves another purpose in the story where it reminds us where it all went wrong with John, his love for his dog.
The existing characters were not outshined by the newcomers with memorable moments. Ian McShane and Laurence Fishburne once again delivers with their performance as Winston and the Bowery King, especially Fishburne with his constant over the top monologuing and grandeur speeches that would made anyone question his sanity while no one in the movie seems to bat an eye with his antics.
In an age where action films are plagued with shaky cameras, repetitive choreography and compensating with CGI, Chad Stahelski proved once again that he is a man of focus, commitment and sheer will when it comes to choreographies and stunts. Part of the charm of the franchise comes from their innovative way in delivering new action sequences and with this being the fourth movie, viewers would probably start wondering if the wall of making creative scenes has been hit, and the answer is no. Without delving into spoiler territory, John Wick : Chapter 4 managed to find new ways to surprise audiences with different filming methods while retaining their highly detailed action scenes. The franchise has always showcased assassins from all over the world fighting with weapons and style from their country and this one is no exception. Making a fast paced action movie always comes with the challenge of not making it repetitive and being the 4th installment in the franchise, the difficulty to face this challenge is as high as it could get yet they managed to find new ways of choreography and cinematography to stay fresh.
As amazing as John Wick : Chapter 4 is, it definitely comes with details that might be considered as minor gripes to the viewers. Questions were raised in the previous movies that John battles assassin in full public view yet no one seems to be bothered by it and proceed with their daily life and only decided to start panicking once John murders an assailant in a gruesome manner, it is not an exception for this movie as scenarios such as this is present yet again and even after suspending disbelief to watch the movie it sure would raise viewers eyebrows. Ultimately, these are just minor gripes and seem distracting, it would not be enough to put off viewers with the amount of excitement that the movie would put them through.
Overall, I highly rate and recommend John Wick : Chapter 4 to anyone whether they’re a fan of the action genre and I for one planned to go for another viewing. It has the complete package of amazing action, fun and fast pace storytelling, a great cast of characters and creative shots and stunts.
