'John Wick: Chapter 4' Movie Review: Relentless Action with More Humor
- Details
- Published: Tuesday, 14 March 2023 12:15
- Written by Lupe R Haas
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 is more of the same but funnier thanks to scene-stealer Donnie Yen. The action is relentless from start to finish, and this time around the filmmakers are self-aware of the over-the-top action.
John Wick is still on the run from The High Table. The former assassin turns to old friends for help, and one turns against him.
Donnie Yen, Bill, Skarsgård, and Hiroyuki Sanada join the fourth movie in the franchise.
The action kicks off the movie with Joh Wick chasing two men across the desert by horseback. When the deed is done, he’s miraculously back in New York City. How does the most hunted man on the planet get around the globe without being spotted?
There’s an interesting new assassin with no name played by Shamier Anderson but even without a backstory, he was one of the most intriguing new characters. It helps that his sidekick is a Belgian Shepherd. The man with no name may be set up as a possible John Wick successor.
Bill Skarsgård also plays an interesting character as a high-ranking official for the High Table but the impression we get is that this spoiled brat probably inherited the role versus earning it.
Donnie Yen is the best addition in chapter 4. He will not disappoint in the action department, but what is surprising is the humor he brings to the role. He has some of the funniest scenes in the movie.
Keanu Reeves is a non-stop killing machine but this time he seems to be going through the motion. However, audiences love John Wick, so at this point, we’re along for the ride regardless of how bland the character has become.
In the fourth outing of John Wick, Derek Kolstad, the original writer behind John Wick, is not credited as the screenwriter. That duty went to Shay Hatten who came on board on PARABELLUM and Michael Finch his co-writer. The script is largely humorous with some self-awareness of the ridiculous action scenes. While the fight scenes in the John Wick, franchise are grounded in hand combat rather than big action pieces, the over-the-top scenes require some suspension of belief especially when Wick falls off a building crashing into a dumpster and he still limps away. Wick is some sort of superhero.
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 delivers exactly what you came for. The Keanu Reeves movie hits theaters on March 24.