John Wick 4

Review: written Apr 2023

“Welcome back, Mr Wick”

I had expectations.

4 movies into a franchise, with claims things would be ‘bigger and better”, I expected that to translate into ‘running out of ideas’ and ‘longer and duller’.

John Wick 4 is entirely the opposite.. hugely entertaining, it manages to be bigger, better and still feel original and full of ideas.

With John Wick ‘Excommunicado’ from the events of the previous movie (you may want to brush up on the previous movies if you’re new to the John Wick world) we are sent on a round the world tour as Wick traces the steps he needs to take against ‘The High Table’, to redeem himself and find his peace. From deserts to citiscapes, Morocco to Berlin, a feverish nightclub to the steps of the Sacre Coeur in Paris, this time it’s as if the whole world is against him, even while the whole world respects him and regards him in awe.

Donnie Yen is never far behind, and he is the perfect antagonist, with both the gravitas and the skills supporting a fully fleshed character, the incredibly unlikely blind assassin…as good as I have ever seen Yen. Lawrence Fishburne turns up to lend a hand now and again, and Ian McShane plays an ever more involved role in proceedings with the future of his beloved Hotel Continental in doubt.

There’s an epic running time, but events are so focussed and the pace so relentless, that the movie never outstays its welcome, moving from astonishing set piece to astonishing set piece with just enough pause for bandages and a few words to propel the plot. Those action scenes have a unique ability to work both as bone crunching bloody action scenes, and balletic dance, all at the same time – such is the perfect convergence of talent both in front of and behind the camera. We are never confused about what is required of our hero, and the parameters of each outbreak of action are absolutely crystal clear – leaving you to relax and enjoy the inventiveness and indeed gracefulness of the scenes, even as the screen is bathed in blood and your ears assaulted by a cacophony of gunfire, crunching of bones, squeal of tires, clashing of blades and splattering of blood.

The screen itself is wider and the photography more epic, and with all the eye catching stuntwork and action on display it could be easy to overlook just how beautifully shot it is. It’s as if they’ve taken all the best elements of the previous movies, and managed to mash it into the perfect John Wick movie – tight plotting, unflinching action, incredible stuntwork and inventive mythology. And make no mistake – the mythology is a large part of what makes this entertaining. We aren’t looking for real world action. Here, elaborate, noisy and lethal deaths happen feet from the general public who carry on dancing, driving, or walking along the street seemingly oblivious. And in this movie universe, that’s ok and never feels like the wrong artistic choice. It just is the way it is – what matters is believing the lethal skills, emotional exhaustion and physical jeopardy of our hero, and we always do.

Always entertaining and gripping, starting as a samurai movie, morphing through decades of martial arts action genres to homages (both subtle and obvious ) of Spaghetti Westerns, this movie delivers all that you’d hope of those genres, but always remembers what it is. It’s John Wick.

Welcome back.