John Wick: Chapter 4 review – The Wick and the Dead

When the original John Wick movie first debuted, born out of star Keanu Reeves’ association with the stuntmen-turned-directors duo of Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, it was a small-scale affair, all sinew and grit, as it told a neon-soaked tale of love and revenge set in New York City. Since then, though, the franchise has exploded outward at Big Bang proportions, birthing a universe filled with complex mythology and an ever-growing roster of characters and relationships scatted across the globe. And just how you felt about that expansion will determine a lot about how you feel about John Wick: Chapter 4, the long-awaited endgame of this action marvel.

No, that not-so-sly wink in the previous sentence was not accidental as besides for the story getting bigger – after being hunted by the High Table, the criminal world’s ruling elite, for the past two movies, John now goes on the offensive against them – the John Wick franchise has also been steadily combat-rolling its way into the realm of comic book superhero action. That rise of physics-defying over-the-top-ness reaches its peak here, as Stahelski (running things solo for all the sequels thus far) goes bigger and more expensive than ever before in constructing clinically insane set-pieces.

Some critics may bemoan this escalation, but I say bring it on. Especially when the Paris-set final act here is some of the best action filmmaking ever put to screen, with Stahelski and co pulling out all the stops. This includes pinballing vehicular mayhem at the Arc de Triomphe and a top-down single-take using a drone-based camera the likes of which you’ve never seen before (but based on how influential previous John Wick movies were, you will probably see plenty after this). It’s the type of action that will leave cinema floors around the world littered in dropped jaws, cementing the director and star’s statuses in the action movie pantheon of gods. However, in upping the action ante though, Stahelski also ups the necessary suspension of disbelief. “How did nobody die while filming this?!”, was a frequent utterance while watching previous John Wick movies. I did that again throughout Chapter 4, but now also added “Why is he not dead yet?!”.

Wick and the many waves of enemies he gets thrown up against absorb superhuman levels of physical abuse, with this point accentuated by some sequences going on for longer than they need to. In a film already boasting a bladder-bursting 169-minute runtime, you could probably do with a few fewer shots of John Wick firing full magazines into some faceless baddie’s torso before flipping them over for the obligatory double-tap killshot to the head. Such feats of ballistic endurance only made possible by the kevlar-lined bulletproof suits that have become the franchise’s staple. These seemingly magical fashion pieces not only stop point-blank small arms fire with nary a flap of fabric, but, in the case of the monosyllabic Wick himself, seemingly also render its wearer immune to levels of pain that would fell a hippo.

But it’s almost fitting that Chapter 4 sees Reeves’ iconic character shrug off mundane bodily harm. Since first declaring his post-retirement return to avenge a very personal loss, Wick has been cutting a bloody swathe through this colourful criminal underworld. However, as screenwriters Shay Hatten and Michael Finch let this tale come full circle, his past actions have now once again endangered those Wick had chosen to keep close in his life. This is his true vulnerability, providing a level of emotional stakes that was sorely missing from the previous two franchise installments.

The most obvious victims of Wick’s vendetta are Ian McShane’s Winston and (the sadly late) Lance Reddick’s Charon, proprietors of the New York Continental hotel, whose decision to repeatedly aid Wick catches up to them in explosive ways. So too Hiroyuki Sanada’s Shimazu Koji, manager of the Tokyo Continental Hotel, and his daughter Akira (Rina Sawayama) see their association with Wick put them at direct opposition to the High Table’s chosen champion, Bill Skarsgård’s deliciously villainous Marquis Vincent de Gramont. However, the standout among all of these people drawn into Wick’s bloody orbit is Caine.

Brough to life with equal amounts tragedy and charm by Donnie Yen, this blind swordsman is easily Chapter 4’s breakout. Yen is a scene stealer in everything he does, whether it be dispatching enemies with electronic doorbells (seriously) or just slurping up noodles mid-shootout, reminding everybody why he was once top of the Hong Kong action superstar food chain. Yanked out of retirement by the Marquis and thrown up against Reeves’ legendary hitman, Caine shares a palpable camaraderie with his target and also boasts proper emotional motivation, to the point that you often don’t know who to root for in his and Wick’s many scraps.

Caine is not the end of the memorable rogue’s gallery in Chapter 4 though, as Stahelski brings in a pair of hardcore action fan favourites in Marko Zaror and Scott Adkins. The former playing the relentless head enforcer for Skarsgård’s Marquis, and the latter having the absolute time of his life under layers of burly prosthetics as an asthmatic German crime boss with martial arts skills that shockingly belie his rotund frame.

Another pair of new additions is Shamier Anderson’s tracker, Mr. Nobody, and his faithful Belgian Malinois. Because what would a John Wick movie be without a lovable canine companion? Mr. Nobody himself is a bit of an iffy role though. Anderson serves his thespian duties admirably, but the character weaves in and out of the story on his own agenda, without said agenda ever really explained. Maybe he’s being set up to reappear in one of the many franchise spinoffs currently in development?

Those planned spinoffs, of course, being born to keep this world alive as Chapter 4 effectively brings its protagonist’s story to an end. And it’s quite the ending for John Wick, dodging in surprising narrative directions but still keeping its sights fixed on the target: A poignantly touching and cathartic bit of closure that takes this gargantuan, bombastic spectacle all the way back to its humble beginnings rooted in love, sold by Reeves’ weary “mass-murderer with a heart of gold” schtick. This is a movie that will wow you with the explosive brutality of a shotgun that fires “dragon’s breath”, throw in several new layers of brilliantly ridiculous mythology, all while simultaneously examining the bonds of friendship and family and what you would be willing to sacrifice for those you cherish. It’s a lot to execute and like Wick himself dispatching unfortunate Henchman #256, the franchise took a few shots to get here, but it’s definitely landed that killer blow.

John Wick: Chapter 4 releases in cinemas on 24 March.

PS: Stay in your seats once the credits roll as there’s actually a key extra scene right at the end.