Since the John Wick franchise began in 2014, I’ve been staying on top of the main storyline and making sure I catch the films as soon as possible so I can review them for our readers.
That being said, ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ is possibly the last film featuring the title character for the foreseeable future – and it’s an awesome feather in the franchise’s cap.
Audiences have followed Wick’s revenge story from the beginning when he was just a has-been assassin forced out of retirement thanks to mobsters killing his dog shortly after his wife passed away.
I guess that’s one way to deal with grief and to certainly teach the bad guys a lesson.
This film installment is no different as Wick fights for his life and to be free of the criminal underworld and his past.
The fight scenes flow with seamless choreography, a stellar soundtrack and highlights Wick’s efficiency in dispatching his opponents.
Plus, it’s arguably the best film in the franchise!
John Wick: Chapter 4 (stylized as JW4) is a neo-noir action thriller film directed by Chad Stahelski and written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch.
The sequel to John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and the fourth installment in the John Wick franchise, it stars Keanu Reeves as the titular character, alongside Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick (in one of his final roles), Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror, Shamier Anderson, Natalia Tena, and Ian McShane.
The movie is 169 minutes long and rated R for pervasive strong violence and some language.
In New York City, John Wick (Reeves) prepares to exact his revenge against the High Table while hiding underground with the Bowery King (Fishburne).
With the Bowery King’s help, he travels to Morocco and kills the Elder, the “one who sits above the Table”.
In response, the Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Skarsgard) - a senior member of the High Table - summons New York Continental hotel manager Winston (McShane) and his concierge, Charon (Reddick).
Gramont advises Winston that the entire High Table has given him unlimited resources to find and kill John Wick.
He chastises Winston for his failure to assassinate John and as punishment, De Gramont strips Winston of his duties as manager and declares him “excommunicado.”
While that’s happening, he has the Continental destroyed and simultaneously executes Charon.
Gramont then travels to Paris and enlists Caine (Yen) - a blind, retired High Table assassin and old friend of John’s - to kill him, threatening to murder Caine’s daughter otherwise.
John takes refuge at the Osaka Continental run by his friend Shimazu Koji (Sanada) with his daughter Akira (Sawayama) as the concierge.
Gramont’s team of assassins, led by his right-hand man Chidi (Zaror), arrive with Caine to kill John in Japan.
Akira orders the hotel evacuated and joins her father, John, and the hotel’s staff in fighting off the High Table’s assassins which leads to Akira being wounded.
In his escape, John fights off another wave of assassins, followed by Caine.
They are interrupted by a “tracker” — a term for a bounty hunter — who calls himself “Mr. Nobody”.
Mr. Nobody (Anderson) lets John go after deciding the contract money to be insufficient.
Akira also escapes, but Caine kills Koji in the process.
Things heat up as John pursues his freedom through Winston and the epic fight scenes continue.
All in all, this movie should tick all the boxes for action, thriller, and Wick fans alike.
Not to mention, it sets up the next possible story in the franchise in an end-credits scene.
