John Wick: Chapter 4

Koji: "This doesn't have to end with blood."
Caine: "Then leave."

release year: 2023
genre: action
viewing setting: theater 3/26/23

synopsis: Renegade hitman John Wick makes one last attempt to escape the violent life - an attempt which requires even more violence to be committed.

impressions: The action/violence is once again high, but style has exceeded substance. What once felt like a well-organized secret underworld with rules and consequences now seems to be completely fluid depending on the needs of the plot. Regardless, this movie puts the "action" in "action movie" for sure. I gave up on trying to track a body count after the first twenty minutes. There were both old and new characters, some of whom I suspect might be in line for future spinoff films of their own..

acting: Keanu Reeves, despite showing little range here, makes the character work once again. Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane, and Lance Reddick reprise their roles as allies of him and his cause. Bill Skarsgard is a damn slimy main villain. Donnie Yen is a former friend of Wick who's now forced to hunt him. Shamier Anderson is another assassin whose motives are unclear, and who has a savage dog to help him. Hiroyuki Sanada is another old friend of Wick, and Rina Sawayama is his daughter; both are quite competent fighters. Scott Adkins plays a secondary villain who deals a tough card game. Marko Zaror (who was in Machete Kills) is a tough evil henchman. Clancy Brown, beneath a white beard, puts in a supporting performance as a representative of the organization behind it all.

final word: A fitting end to this series and its main plotline.

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