I dunno what John Wick’s threshold for incapacity is, but it’s well above mine. Watching the traffic around the Arc de Triomphe play “Wick-a-Mole,” I couldn’t help but feel a little sheepish about the time I got boarded in a hockey game by a much larger player and did not return to the ice that evening.
Is this comic book violence? Of course it is. Does it matter? Well I stopped counting how many times John Wick (Keanu Reeves) got shot in Parabellum, so I really feel like the time for bringing this up was long before now. Has John Wick, nimble and quick, jumped over the candle shark? Maybe. But maybe it just doesn’t matter.
In Chapter 4 of John Wick’s bloody adventures, Wick is a marked man from day 1. And he wants out. I mean, how many restful nights do you sleep knowing there’s an ever present team of professional assassins paid and paid well to kill you? This film’s puppet master is the Marquis (Bill Skarsgård) who isn’t satisfied tracking Wick. (Wicking track?) The Marquis shut down the green zone hotel run by Winston (Ian McShane) and sent Wick’s match to finish the job else could. That warrior assassin? None other than Ip Man himself, Donnie Yen.
“A TITAN AGAINST A TITAN!”
Also in the mix is an independent dog-owning contractor (Shamier Anderson) who is simply hoping for the Wick bounty to be so high that he can, I dunno, buy New Zealand? Of course, this time around, we learn that John Wick will not only kill for his own dog; he will kill for any dog, even a dog trained to kill him as well. John Wick, animal lover.
What follows is mayhem. This is a John Wick film and John Wick films work because Keanu is wonderful with action and facial expression, and lousy with dialogue. John Wick films never ask Keanu to tell stories with his mouth. The other key is that John Wick films are as well choreographed as any musical that has ever been. The people who direct, shoot, stage, and edit John Wick films are just names to me … however … “the 
person who (directed, shot, staged, edited) John Wick ____” is instant street cred. No question. FWIW, Chad Stahelski directed, Dan Laustsen shot, Jeremy Marinas staged, and Nathan Orloff edited John Wick: Chapter 4.
With John Wick films, I’m always debating between 3.0 and 3.5 stars. I am tempted to downgrade John Wick: Chapter 4 to a mere “good” (not “great”) as, let’s face it, we’ve seen this … or have we? Act III in this film is exceptional. The scenes play not just like a classic John Wick film, but have clearly invoked The Warriors (set in Paris rather than NYC) as well. When I first emerged from the theater, I wrote “like Midnight in Paris, only with bullets, lots and lots of bullets.” That assessment was decidedly glib and distinctly undersold the product; this is an exquisitely shot action film that takes cinematic advantage of several different notable Paris locations. And from several different vantages as well.
We’ve come to a moment in time where it is pointless to evaluate John Wick films, just as it is pointless to rate anything with “Transformers”, ”Paranormal”, or “Madea” in the title. That said, this is a good watch.
It looks like John Wick is still alive
He’s the epitome of weaponized drive
His 35 foot fall
And car-bounced like a pinball
Only guarantees there will be Wick number five
Rated R, 169 Minutes
Director: Chad Stahelski
Writer: Shay Hatten, Michael Finch
Genre: Shoot zem…shoot zem bosz
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Have you enjoyed a John Wick film? You’ll enjoy this
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Have you not enjoyed a John Wick film? You won’t enjoy this
