But you couldn’t blame repeat viewers watching the film later on via streaming for fast-forwarding through the talky parts to get to the action. I won’t make that argument, since I consider the elaborate world the John Wick films have created, which looks so much like ours, to be one of its most delicious elements.

It could be argued that, like so many franchises dealing with fantasy worlds, the creators have gotten carried away with their convoluted constructs. Newcomers to the series would do well to do some research beforehand, because as the above summary indicates, mythology is a strong element. Early in the proceedings, the High Table’s emissary, known as the Harbinger (Clancy Brown), shows up at the New York Continental Hotel, that comfortable downtown haven for assassins, and informs its owner Winston ( Ian McShane, more delightfully droll than ever) and his faithful concierge (Lance Reddick) that the hotel will be demolished in one hour. Things aren’t going so well for Wick’s friends, either. The Marquis also hires the blind but no less dangerous Caine (Hong Kong superstar Donnie Yen), a former friend of Wick’s who only accepts the assignment because the High Table will kill his daughter if he doesn’t. To that end, their representative, the Marquis ( Bill Skarsgard, enjoyably playing a character only slightly less villainous than his Pennywise), puts a huge bounty on his head, attracting such freelance operatives as the Tracker (Shamier Anderson), who doesn’t go anywhere without his loyal, and very lethal, Belgian Malinois. The High Table, that international criminal organization that seems to run the world, is out for his blood.

Things aren’t going too well for the titular character as the film begins, which for him is not unusual. The bloodshed is the point - or, more accurately, the amazingly choreographed and photographed action sequences that make particular use of the combination of martial arts and gunplay battling known as “gun-fu.” This edition ups the ante further, with an impressively executed car chase/gun battle through the streets of Paris - including around the Arc de Triomphe - that brings “car-fu” into the violent mix. And so it is with this hugely successful series featuring Keanu Reeves as the former hitman who thought he was out, only to be pulled back in, after his beloved puppy was killed in the first film.

“The bloodshed was the point,” says another. “The bloodshed in Osaka was not necessary,” one character observes after a typically violent melee in a luxury hotel that leaves scores dead and the premises practically in ruins. Screenwriters: Shay Hatten, Michael Finch If at times it’s hard to avoid the feeling that the excessive mayhem is coming dangerously close to overkill, that seems suitable for a film series featuring body counts higher than some wars.Ĭast: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown, Ian McShane, Marko Zaror, Natalia Tena If so, it makes a strong case for insomnia, since John Wick: Chapter 4 outdoes its formidable predecessors in nearly every respect.īigger, badder, bolder, longer, and featuring nearly more spectacular set pieces than one movie can comfortably handle, this epic action film practically redefines the stakes. The creatives behind the John Wick franchise must lose sleep at night thinking how they can outdo themselves with each new installment.

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