“10,000 years will give you such a crick in the neck!” I hear you Genie, and I feel your pain…my 32-year-old neck hurts too. But it also feels like 10,000 years since I started this film blog and another 10,000 years since I have had time to consider writing any new posts! According to all the news I don’t read, a lot has happened since December of 2020. For reference, my last review was following the finale of Season 2 of The Mandalorian, and now they’re halfway through releasing Season 3. Boba Fett hit streaming to mixed reviews, then Obi-Wan Kenobi was released to mostly positive feedback for finally giving us another “hello, there,” and Andor soon followed to become the best thing to happen to Star Wars since the final four episodes of The Clone Wars. Oh, The Bad Batch and I have been going steady too. But in all things not Star Wars, a lot has also changed in my life these past years. The biggest difference being that I’m a dad now (soon to be twice-over), which has equated to most of my free time being spent on toddler-proofing the house, playing “pull, dada!” and speaking the words “I don’t understand what you’re saying” over and over again to my kid, my wife, and my dog. Adulting is fun.
It feels good to get back here and write. Words on a page, penned by sheer will and wit; there’s not much like it for someone as talented as I am (please, please, hold your applause for the end). But in all honesty, I can’t re-commit to making this a regular thing again. There just isn’t time in my day, my week, my month, or even my year to pick up where I left off. Heck, I’m writing this now as I put off work for just a few more minutes so I can complete a thought. The days are full, and yet I press on (the keyboard). So let’s just enjoy a good thing and get down to business: John f****** Wick. (friggin, just friggin)
“Really? John Wick? You’ve abandoned us for years to raise a family and you’re not coming back with an exigent review like Avatar: The Way of Water or Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania? Not even the hit new show The Last of Us? What about an Oscar recap?!?”
…
Yes, really John Wick. The Na’vi are old news and everyone and their grandma apparently went to see it, twice. Ant-Man and the who? The MCU needs to get it together, or maybe use Flashpoint to reset their cinematic universe too. I actually considered coming back with The Last of Us. Having never played the game and having zero plot knowledge, the show had me practically drooling in anticipation every Sunday night. And the Oscars were fun because, no big deal, I correctly picked 17 of the winners. Go Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. But no. It’s John Wick. Why? Because he’s a simple man with a simple plan, which makes my review easy. Who doesn’t like to do the easy thing? In the wise words of Burton Guster, “C’mon son.”
Speaking of easy things, you know what didn’t make this review easy? Sitting in my theatre seat for 3 hours and 11 minutes. What the heck, Stahelski?! You think that just because you’re an amazing stuntman-turned-director who has perfectly cast the ageless Keanu Reeves in probably his most memorable and iconic role and surrounded him with incredible, diverse supporting actors that I want to spend 13.26% of my day watching it all unfold? Well…I did. I watched it all, including your 10 minutes of credits for that additional 34 second scene. I’m a glutton for film punishment. And yet, it’s all true. The film is loooooong, and it feels it. But it’s also gooooood, and arguably the best of the franchise. Stahelski (director) is a guy who you don’t know unless you know, even though he’s been in the Hollywood business for nearly 30 years. He did begin his career as a stuntman, finishing the film The Crow after the tragic loss of Brandon Lee. He continued his work and eventually became Reeves’ stunt double for The Matrix, and later coordinating stunts in the final Matrix films. Since that time, he’s worked as a stunt coordinator and fight choreographer in many notable action films of the past 2 decades and began directing in 2014’s John Wick. I give you all this knowledge so that now you know his name too and can appreciate the career that led up to and ultimately went into giving us John Wick: Chapter 4. Is it a perfect film? No. But it has some of the best fight choreography, stunt work, and background/foreground detail that I’ve seen in an action movie in quite some time.
The John Wick franchise has continually expanded with more characters and a wider spread of plot locations. Gone are the days of the confined world of John Wick (New York City, a.k.a. The Small Apple) because this film also takes them around France, Germany and Japan, as well as Morocco for a brief scene. Stahelski makes the most of every location they use to advance the plot, shooting action scenes around iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, the Luxembourg Gardens, the Palais Garnier Opera House, the Arc de Triomphe, and the desert from the Star Wars/Dune/Lawrence of Arabia universe (“a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”). While the focus still rests on Wick as the central character, we also spend more and more time with his supporting cast. The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne, The Matrix, Black-ish) is alive and providing Wick with guns and suits to make his escape from under The High Table’s vengeful hand. Winston (Ian McShane, Lovejoy, Deadwood) also returns after shooting him off of a building at the end of the previous film. He finds himself helping Wick find his peace after being turned on by The High Table himself and losing everything. The man behind the mayhem following Wick throughout the film is the new bad guy, Marquis Vincent de Gramont played by Bill Skarsgård (IT, Barbarian), but the real standout characters are the other newcomers to the franchise: Caine (Donnie Yen, Ip Man, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), a High Table Assassin and old friend of John, and the bounty hunter who goes by “Mr. Nobody” (Shamier Anderson). Shamier was my favorite addition to the cast with his character motivated by both selfish and selfless reasons, often flip-flopping from one scene to the next. The always welcomed Hiroyuki Sanada (The Wolverine, Bullet Train) and Japanese-British pop star Rina Sawayama also make appearances for an action sequence at the Osaka Continental, the place where John is finding refuge after New York and where the action kicks off.
In all, this was a solid addition to the quadrilogy as it currently stands. Personally, I believe the films lost some momentum after the first installment due to a convoluted plot and expanded world of assassins even though they had some of the most inventive and engaging action sequences. But this one rights the ship in spite of its…its…run time…ugh, I hate saying it but it’s true. So it’s a recommendation from me, especially if you man-crush on Keanu like I do. The man is a legend. Let me know if you plan on seeing the film in theatres, and I indeed look forward to returning with more reviews soon-ish. Cheers!
Red Beard Movie Reviews 