Whether this is the best chapter yet or not – there’s no doubting cinema-goers can’t get enough of Keanu Reeves’ John Wick.
This truly epic fourth chapter of the amiable hitman’s story maybe a bit too bloated for some – running at nearly three hours – but once again the action is violently high-octane to the max. In fact, in a gleeful grinning ‘from-ear-to-ear’ kind of way.
After taking (about) six months out to heal from his injuries at the end of Chapter 3: Parabellum, Wick prepares to exact revenge against the High Table – after being aided by Laurence Fishburne’s equally-vengeful Bowery King – and gets things started by executing the Elder – aka the ‘one who sits above the table’ – in the Moroccan desert.
This opens up a serious ‘can of worms’ in which, in response, the High Table tasks senior member Marquis Vincent de Gramont (played by Bill ‘IT the Clown’ Skarsgard) to bring Wick to justice with unlimited resources.
Consequently, this ‘domino effect’ brings into play multiple characters: from New York Continental hotel manager Winston (Ian McShane) and his concierge Charon (the late Lance Reddick) – with the hotel destroyed due to Winston’s failure to kill Wick – manager of Japan’s Osaka Continental hotel/former samurai warrior Shimazu Koji (Bullet Train’s Hiroyuki Sanada); a bounty hunter/tracker in the form of Shamier Anderson’s Mr Nobody; and Donnie Yen’s High Table assassin (and Wick’s former friend) Caine, taking on another kick-ass blind man role like the one he was famous for in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. And all sensationally play their part.
Via multiple locales from the Big Apple to Berlin – with the vast majority taking place across Paris (and its iconic landmarks) during a breathtaking finale – the action sequences are simply sensational. Especially a near 45-minute-long end set-piece which sees Wick having to battle his way to Sacre-Coeur for his dueling pistols ‘battle to the death’ with the Marquis at sunrise – even though he has put a $26 million (which rises to $40m) bounty on Wick’s head to prevent him from reaching his goal.
And while the sheer amount of non-stop choreographed action could potentially wreak of egotism – Chapter 3 potentially does it slightly better in a more-rounded run-time – once again there’s no disputing that Wick again supremely hits the target.
All four films have been four-star-plus movies. That takes some doing. Epic run-time or not, that’s some achievement.
Movie-by-movie, Reeves has ‘upped’ the commercial box-office viability of his once-indie-esque killer from 2014 – and for that, he and the production team deserve immense credit for keeping the storyline/combat constantly fresh, exhilarating, and most importantly, always entertaining. Reeves as Wick is so charismatic, he barely needs to say a word.
And after this jaw-droppingly commendable outing he clearly doesn’t need to – as no-one can currently hold a candle to him in the action genre.
ESP Rating: 4/5
Gavin Miller
Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough, Out Now
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Ian McShane, Bill Skarsgard, Shamier Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Scott Adkins, Rina Sawayama, Clancy Brown, Natalia Tena, Marko Zaror and Lance Reddick
Running Time: 2 Hrs 49 Mins
Director: Chad Stahelski
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