John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
Director: Chad Stahelski
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, George Georgiou Synopsis: John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, he must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes. Runtime: 2 hr 49 min Release Date: March 24, 2023 When it comes to action films today, there are extremely few that come close to matching what you see on screen in a John Wick movie. In fact, it feels like John Wick is in a league entirely of his own, and with good reason: this franchise since the beginning has provided audiences with incredibly well choreographed fight scenes that aren't chopped apart into 1-2 second shots in the editing room----no, these scenes are anchored by long duration, wide angle shots with top-notch stunts with little to no CGI. It's in camera. The premier reason for this is that director Chad Stahelski is a former stuntman himself and knows exactly how great stunt work is accomplished. The franchise itself is an anomaly in the fact that despite being a simple and familiar revenge-driven action movie, it came out of nowhere in 2014 with a mere $20 million budget and resurrected the career of Keanu Reeves, turning him into a first ballot action star in much the same way that Taken did for Liam Neeson in 2008, all the while garnering rave reviews from critics and audiences. It didn't take the box office by storm--grossing only $86 million worldwide, but with such a small budget, the film was more than profitable enough to warrant sequels.
Fast forward to 2023, and John Wick: Chapter 4 has arrived with a budget of $90 million (over 4X the budget of the original) and grossed a franchise best $73 million domestically in its opening weekend alone. Over the past several movies, the franchise has gotten bigger not only budget wise, but also story-wise with its expanding crime world involving The High Table and its many members, rules, and regulations. With each installment earning very positive reviews from fans and critics alike, the question was if the fourth chapter could live up to those already high expectations. I'm very pleased to say that John Wick: Chapter 4 lives up and even exceed those lofty expectations--an extremely rare feat for a fourth installment in a franchise. Stahelski has managed to somehow top himself with another dose of incredibly well-crafted stunts and action sequences. And yes, they are shot in wide angle fashion with long cuts to fully immerse viewers in the fun of Wick taking people out. And, in keeping with the franchise, Stahleski employs heavily stylized lighting and even more lavish, epic scale set pieces. This, put simply, is Wick on the greatest scale that we've ever seen. The narrative, which picks up right where Chapter 3: Parabellum left off, follows Wick as he works to finally defeat The High Table and earn his freedom after that costly mistake of committing murder on Continental grounds in Chapter 2. This is a nearly 3-hour film with a story spanning the globe, with settings including New York, Japan, Germany, and Paris. The lengthy runtime goes by unnoticed, not only due to the highly entertaining action sequences, but also from the screenplay giving more attention to character work this time around. Wick is trying to earn his freedom, all the while contemplating his legacy and what he wants to be remembered for, while meeting up with former friends that have personal issues of their own. Characters have strong and relatable motivations, depth, and needs and desires and growth--all elements of solid storytelling that's wrapped in with the electrifying action sequences. Another important note is that, despite going bigger with each entry, the Wick franchise has managed to not commit mistakes that other action franchises (like the Fast and Furious films) have, which is maintaining their grounded nature. Once again stunts (at least for the most part) are performed without loads of CGI, and most importantly they are plausible and believable. Sure, there are moments (more than previous entries) where any normal human would suffer debilitating injuries and Wick gets right back up, but these are still close quarters action scenes--not driving CGI cars off cliffs or characters showing superhuman strength--these are still grounded scenes that are all set in an engrossing neo-noir world that we just can't help but want to stay in. John Wick: Chapter 4 is a franchise best--which is a very bold statement, but it's the simple truth on both a technical and story level. It's populated with its signature long shot, wide angle stunts, stylized lighting, memorable set pieces, and more well-developed characters. Keanu Reeves also delivers a franchise best performance here as a man on a journey to finally get his freedom back. The Wick films will easily go down as one of the best action franchises in film history, and one can only hope other directors take notes on how to craft action sequences to this high of a level. Grade: A (95%) Written by Anthony Watkins, April 2, 2023 |