‘John Wick: Chapter 4’

Movie Review

American neo-noir action movie John Wick: Chapter 4 is directed by Chad Stahelski and written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch. The fourth entry in the John Wick franchise, it is a sequel to John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. Together with Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, and Ian McShane, it also features Keanu Reeves as the title character.

The movie's plot is as follows: while hiding underground with the Bowery King, John Wick gets ready to strike revenge against the High Table in New York City. The Elder, the sole person above the High Table, is assassinated by him when he travels to Morocco. As a result, the Marquis Vincent de Gramont, a prominent member of the High Table, summons the manager of the New York Continental Hotel, Winston, and his concierge Charon. The Marquis reprimands Winston for his inability to execute John. De Gramont deprives Winston of his managerial responsibilities, destroys the New York Continental, and kills Charon as a form of retribution. He then makes his way to Paris and hires Caine, a former High Table assassin who is blind and an old friend of John's, to murder him under fear of killing Caine's daughter.

At his friend Shimazu Koji's hotel, the Osaka Continental, John seeks safety. In order to kill John, Caine and De Gramont's assassins, led by his right-hand man Chidi, arrive. The hotel's concierge, Akira, the daughter of Koji, issues an order to leave the building and helps her father, John, and the other employees in fending off the assassins from the High Table. Koji advises John how to leave the hotel as Akira receives medical attention. John and Caine repel yet another swarm of killers as they leave. A tracker hunting John for a reward known as "Mr. Nobody" by de Gramont interrupts them, but he releases John after determining the prize is insufficient. Akira also makes it out, but Caine kills Koji first.

When John gets back to New York, he runs into a furious Winston at Charon's tomb. Winston advises John to challenge de Gramont to a battle since the victor will be released from his duty to the High Table if they win. John flies to the Ruska Roma's offices in Berlin to obtain a new crest designating his membership in the syndicate as, according to the traditions of the Table, he can only request a duel on behalf of a criminal family after having first severed his links to them. If he kills Killa, a German High Table senior who killed her father, his adoptive sister Katia pledges to do it.

As John visits Killa's nightclub, he discovers that both Caine and Mr. Nobody are also present. A brawl breaks out, and John eventually shoots Killa dead after a chase. In order to publicly request a battle with de Gramont through Winston, who demands that the New York Continental be rebuilt with him reinstated as manager as part of his terms should John win, Katia then marks John's arm with a Ruska Roma emblem. In a meeting presided over by the Harbinger, an agent of the Table, John and de Gramont decide the terms of their duel in Paris.

A hesitant Caine is chosen by De Gramont to fight in his place. The Harbinger warns John that should he fail to show up in time, both he and Winston will be put to death. The duel is scheduled to take place at Sacre-Coeur the following morning at daylight.

The Bowery King, who comes in Paris to offer John a weapon and a new ballistic suit, meets with John and introduces him to Winston. De Gramont has a $40 million bounty on John's head in an effort to keep him away from combat. During his approach to Sacré-Coeur, John battles swarms of assassins, including Mr. Nobody, who stops pursuing John after John prevents Chidi from killing Mr. Nobody's dog. John is helped by Caine as he struggles to climb the Sacré-stairs; Coeur's Chidi almost murders John, but Mr. Nobody kills him before.

Only just making it to the top in time to save Winston, John and Caine. Caine seriously injures John in the first two rounds of their pistol battle. De Gramont requests that John be personally executed for the last round, but John shoots and kills de Gramont even though he hadn't yet pulled the trigger. John is declared debt-free by The Harbinger, and Winston's position is reinstated.

Reeves is still fantastic in this part, and he is primarily responsible for this franchise's continued status as one of the greatest action series ever. Although Wick is a man of few words, Hatten and Finch's script makes the most of them by reminding us of the reason why Wick started this fight in the first place. Reeves can not only provide beatdowns in pretty much every way imaginable, but his fighting is frequently extremely funny in its execution. This is Reeves' strongest performance in the series, and he is what holds the entire narrative together.

A silly, stupid, three-hours of entertainment, John Wick: Chapter 4 manages to not outstay its welcome. Chapter 4 pushes the ambition to the limit as director Stahelski continues to find new methods to keep this series from becoming monotonous. John Wick: Chapter 4 wraps out this section of the story with some of the craziest action sequences ever filmed, but it also demonstrates how much more there is to be done in this world. Well, John Wick has returned and he is better than ever.

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