Review: Chapter 4 Of The ‘John Wick’ Saga Is The Perfect Evolution Of The High Standards Set By 1-3[SPOILERS]
The latest installment in Keanu Reeves’ John Wick series is another action-packed bullet-fest with John struggling to take out enemy after enemy, but despite the plot not being revolutionary, still manages to thrill.
This time he attempts to attack the High Table, the leaders of the worldwide assassin organization he’s a part of, in order to gain freedom from their wrath. With new allies and new enemies, John Wick pushes his mind, body and soul to its limit in this movie.
John, having fully recovered the injuries he sustained in John Wick 2 and 3, is ready to take revenge alongside The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), against the High Table. Said High Table has one member leading the charge to stop John Wick; Marchese de Gran (Bill SkarsgÄrd).
Marchese destroys the Continental that Winston (Ian McShane) and Charon (the late Lance Reddick) maintain as a sign of no tolerance against anyone who sides with John. Marchese then sends his goons to the Osaka Continental, where John is taking a risk by staying with his old friend Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada) who manages it and his daughter Akira (Rina Sawayama) who acts as the Concierge. Naturally wherever John goes trouble follows resulting in one of many firefights.
Marchese also employs two assassins to end John: Caine (Donnie Yen) a blind but deadly assassin who has a daughter the High Table is using as leverage against him to kill John, and Tracker (Shamier Anderson), an expert tracker with a dog companion who is after the increasingly large bounty on John’s head.
John eventually seeks assistance with his previous allies – the Romanian crime family from which he was excommunicated, which shows his lack of reliable allies. But they are the only people able to give John an official shot at Marchese to fight for his freedom, as is High Table tradition.
This film is full of incredibly well-directed and choreographed fight scenes, each one creatively using the environment, weapons and cinematography to entertain the audience to the fullest. Accompanied by a fantastic score and littered with impressively composed visuals, John Wick: Chapter 4 is a natural and exciting evolution from the standards set by the previous films action and stories.