While still having a large price on his head, John Wick travels the globe, looking for his ultimate out and taking his fight directly to the High Table.
When the first John Wick hit our screens back in 2014, the premise was simple: Man loses wife, gets dog, gangsters kill dog, unleash the long dormant killing power of legendary assassin Baba Yaga. A tale as old as time. On the surface, it seemed like a slicker version of the Liam Neeson vehicle Taken (2008). However, after the huge reception (and box office) of the first, the story of John Wick grew arms and legs, upping the stakes and body count, delving into the lore of the world, albeit sometimes to its detriment. By the time we hit Chapter 4, the legend is laid out, all that is left is the man.
With all of his options, as well as his body, exhausted, John Wick sets himself for one last stand against his pursuers, the High Table. From Osaka to New York, the globetrotting Wick looks for any way out of his death warrant. As well as allowing for beautiful location settings for stunning fight choreography, this whistlestop tour introduces us to fantastic cast additions. Hiroyuki Sanada is always a welcome presence on screen, while Natalia Tena performs with a delightfully mad glint in her eye and Bill Skarsgard plays The Marquis with all the panache and arrogance of a classic Bond villain. All are overshadowed, however, by the two cast highlights: Donnie Yen as the lethal and affable assassin Caine, and Shamier Anderson as Tracker, another gun-for-hire with an affinity for canine companionship. Yen as Caine oozes a quiet confidence in his combat ability, despite his blindness, and is always the highlight when he appears, whether it be in the Osaka showdown, or in his verbal sparring throughout. Anderson has markedly less time to go toe to toe with the big bads (and goods) of the movie, but his mysterious Tracker has enough heart and intrigue to perk up your interest throughout.
This is for me Keanu’s most vital career role after Neo, and it could be argued that his portrayal of John Wick surpasses even that, due to the quality of output.
In terms of cinematography and fight coordination, Chapter 4 cements this series as one of the action greats. A stunning, long running chase through an Osaka building, a bone-crunching fight round the Arc de Triomphe, and a finale on the steps of Sacre-Coeur make this the most aesthetically cinematic Wick to date. The hand to hand combat is both brutal and balletic, Stahelski’s previous life as a stunt man allowing him to savour the craft of practical work.
The last word on this has to go to John Wick himself, played for nearly a decade by one of Hollywood’s real life good guys, Keanu Reeves. An actor so often maligned, in the Wick series he has found a character which works to his strengths, and then some. Stoic and steady, Reeves encompasses the workman like nature of Wick across the whole series, but in 4, there is almost a hint of acceptance, of a softness possibly not witnessed before. A man so accepting of his fate, that he is more than willing to charge headlong into a barrage of blades and bullets, damn the outcome. This is for me Keanu’s most vital career role after Neo, and it could be argued that his portrayal of John Wick surpasses even that, due to the quality of output. What comes next for Wick and Reeves, only time will tell. Regardless, The Boogeyman, Baba Yaga, will live forever.
John Wick 4 is out on Lionsgate DVD, Blu-Ray and UHD 4K
