Review: John Wick: Chapter 4 – Dancing with Gun Play

There are standard action movies that try to wow us with their spectacle and cool moves, and then there’s the John Wick series. Those who love seeing crazy action scenes, gun fights that feel like watching violent ballet, and a cool sense of sophisticated style hold the John Wick movies in high regard. And things don’t slow down for anything in the fourth and final film of the series, both figuratively and literally. John Wick: Chapter 4 is an awesome movie that takes everything we love about the previous three films and gives it an extra shot of espresso while arming it up with every kind of awesome weapon you can think of. This is undeniably a must-see action movie that will catch you by surprise.

The plot of John Wick: Chapter 4 picks up right after the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, with Keanu Reeves as John Wick preparing for war with the assassin world’s rulers, The Table. Given a brand new black suit, pistol, and a direction for who to kill next; John Wick travels to new locations evading a countless number of bad guys. Searching for a way to end his involvement with the assassin world, John come across old allies and new foes that push his body to the absolute limit, then goes even further. In the process, we get to meet new assassins that work for and stand beside The Table, including Donnie Yen’s Caine, Shamier Anderson as Tracker, and Hiroyuki Sanada as the Osaka Continental’s manager Shimazu. It’s a long road of bodies left on the ground wherever John Wick goes, with an incredible amount of high-stakes action and a climax that is both shocking and fitting for the series.

Everyone is bringing their a-game skills with every action sequence that plays out on screen. Keanu Reeves looks awesome as the Baba Yaga on the run and battling waves of bad guys. If you thought John Wick was brutal in the last film, Chapter 4 will shatter your perception of what you think brutal is. The fights are fantastic in every way, from the cinematography to the hard-hitting sounds and burst of gunfire. In addition, many of these fights go for a longer time than you might expect, with a few instances that feel like things are coming to a close only to surprise you with even more. One action sequence is an overhead shot of a building we see John Wick taking down a group of bad guys with a shotgun that uses dragon breath ammo, and it is awesome. The best part is that the momentum and high quality of each engagement John Wick gets into never lets up. It’s a constant stream of epic sequences.

But even in the quieter moments of the film, John Wick: Chapter 4 does a lot of good world-building and presents other parts of the assassin world we haven’t seen before. A standout scene in Germany with Scott Adkins as the assassin boss Killa gives us a great, seedy underground club with a Mexican standoff between multiple characters, followed by an amazing gunfight that acts as the appetizer for the rest of the film. There are multiple scenes that feel very similar with varying characters either interacting with John Wick or giving more setup for the climax. While it’s debatable that some of the scenes bring down the momentum of the film overall, they don’t take away from the bigger sequences that make the film exciting to watch. They are completely overshadowed by more fights, shocking surprises, and cool-looking shots that do not disappoint whatsoever.

Some of the characters we know from the previous John Wick films are handled with reverence and taste, with a few surprising moments that many fans won’t see coming. Ian McShane as Winston gives us a lot of great dialogue and remains our guide into this assassin world, explaining the rules and important details that become very relevant in many parts of the movie. His relationship with John Wick is strong and very much in line with previous films but with higher stakes this time around. Lance Reddick has a smaller part in this final installment, with only a few big scenes he was part of.

While the actor’s passing was a shock to everyone, his character of Charon is given solid material to work with that ends in a shocking twist that sparks later parts of the story. His character was a well-liked one in previous films, and it’s great to see it handled with reverence and make sense within the world of these films. This is accented by the movie itself being dedicated to the late actor.

The rest of the cast all get their good moments where it counts, even those who aren’t fighting with someone. The Bowery King, played by Lawrence Fishburne, has plenty of smart lines and jokes with greater meaning. Natalia Tena as Katia has a small part of the story that gives John Wick something he needs to set up the final confrontation that is complimented by a side quest we get to see play out in full, leading to one of the best action sequences in the movie. And the daughter of Shimazu named Akira, played by Rin Sawayama, gets a cool fight at the earlier parts of the movie and stinger towards the very end.

And if you wanted to see a master action movie star at work, Donnie Yen is in incredible form in this movie. His fights are spectacular, his dialogue with everyone is interesting, and his big moments in multiple places are some of his best work. Fans of action movies will have so much fun spotting a few nods to the actor’s previous films that are littered throughout but will love how they’re implemented in cool and exciting ways that don’t feel cheesy or lame.

The good surprise of the cast comes from Shamier Anderson as Tracker, whose scenes are a joy to watch and will hit you harder than some of the punches being thrown. His interaction with his dog companion and how he fights to look great, with a few really good moments with John Wick that will catch everyone off guard. But even more so is how he gets to interact or come across nearly everyone in the story, but not in a cheap or shallow way that doesn’t feel important. How his involvement with this world is shown is very unique and different from the rest of the cast, leading to some great payoffs by the time the final battle comes to a close. All we’ll say is that someone definitely gets their well-deserved biting.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is a movie you need to see right now. The action is exciting and over-the-top with how crazy things can get, with a story that feels like a solid conclusion to the series. There are a lot of incredible setups and payoffs that continuously deliver an amazing movie-watching experience that few other films hope to achieve. One can argue about certain parts that make the movie imperfect, but none of that is enough to wipe away how much of a fun ride it is to watch John Wick: Chapter 4 from start to finish. It may not be over for this world of assassins full of rules and consequences, but nobody would be disappointed if it went out on a high note like this. This movie is awesome.

Are you going to see John Wick: Chapter 4? Have you gotten to watch all of the movies in the John Wick series? Post your thoughts below in the comment section and tell us what you think!