John Wick: Chapter 4: Movie Review

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Hiroyuki Sanada, Laurence Fishburne, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Shamier Anderson, Clancy Brown

Director: Chad Stahelski

"Have you given any thought to where this ends?"

It's a statement spoken by a character early on in the near 3 hour bum-busting fourth outing for the seemingly invincible John Wick, but in many ways, it's a nagging thought many of us have had since the story moved on from an assassin avenging his dead dog, and one that should be levelled at the films' writers.

The fourth outing for Reeves' unbeatable Mr Wick is low on character, high on spectacular action sequences and long in duration with much of what transpires in between being nothing more than portentous and pretentious staccato dialogue delivered by most of its cast.

Unless you're up to date with your John Wick-ipedia, there's possibly much of the film that will go past your head - but essentially, it boils down to a one sentence synopsis: Angered by Wick's continual survival, the shadowy cabal The Table demands he be taken out once and for all - and so the Marquis (Skarsgard, all one dimensional menace) assembles the masses to finally wipe out the "idea of John Wick."

Low on characterisation, John Wick Chapter 4 isn't really about the high drama - despite the stakes supposedly seeming much more personal this time around. But it delivers on gun-fu, slickly choreographed action and in one scene on the road around France's Arc de Triomphe, it brings to life car-fu, a mix of Frogger, fists and guns as Wick fends off hundreds of would-be bounty hunters.

Of the newcomers, Donnie Yen's blind assassin Caine is able to deliver something more with his character, with Yen delivering a subtle performance that makes use of both his impressive fight skills and a depth of history with Reeves' Wick. In many ways, he's a figure to rival the Hammer Girl character in The Raid 2.

Anderson also works well as a surrogate Wick - complete with dog - but suffers from the writers not fully being sure of what his character arc is during the film. There's very much a feeling of set up with this pair and hints they'll appear in future installments.

But it's Reeves' film, with him 100% committing to the monosyllabic character and growing more and more weary as the movie goes on. One sequence involving a staircase leading up to Sacré Coeur shows Reeves' dedication to the role - but also serves to underscore how almost cartoony this franchise has become.

John Wick: Chapter 4 could have used some expeditious editing, with a lot feeling like it's mainly for the fans and for Stahelski's celebration of the stunt world and fight sequences. 

Yet if you're into the Wick-world, the slick and highly polished action film will be what the cinematic doctor ordered. But with hints the world is about to expand further for the Wick-verse, it's perhaps to be hoped a little more can be thrown into the story side of things, rather than just endless well-executed and well-shot action scenes being strung together.