By Seth Lukas Hynes
John Wick: Chapter Four
Starring Keanu Reeves, Bill Skarsgard and Donnie Yen
Rated MA15+
4.25/5
John Wick: Chapter Four is a phenomenal action movie and an outstanding conclusion to the John Wick series.
As the global hitman community closes in on him, legendary assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) issues a challenge to Marquis De Gramant (Bill Skarsgard), a nefarious elite member of the High Table.
John Wick 4’s action is excellent as ever. The set-pieces are incredibly creative and feature clear, wide framing and plenty of long sustained shots, and while the fight choreography is quick and stylised, it still has a realistic sense of force and fatigue. The highlights include a really fun skirmish in a speeding Paris roundabout and a brilliantly-composed gun battle shot from overhead (resembling the video game Hotline Miami, as many other critics have pointed out).
John Wick 4 revels in the brutal beauty of great action but still tells a moving story about destructive grudges and how violence can destroy relationships.
The plot never lags despite the nearly three-hour runtime, and themes from earlier in the series – John’s deceased wife, bulletproof suits, pencils as weapons, John’s affinity for dogs – come full-circle.
The world-building is greatly refined, expanding effective elements from John Wick 2 and 3 and discarding details that didn’t work.
Skarsgard plays a cold yet pompous villain whose wrathful ego causes chaos and makes enemies of his employees. Donnie Yen brings deadly skill and wry charm as Caine, a blind assassin and conflicted old friend of John. John and his pursuers fight and work against each other but gradually come together against a common enemy, all building to the crystal-clear dramatic goal of John’s duel with De Gramont.
A deliriously satisfying action banquet with engrossing drama and characters, John Wick: Chapter Four is playing in most Victorian cinemas.
– Seth Lukas Hynes
