Oh, I'm thinkin' Keanu Reeves is back for another installment of the John Wick saga.
Wick wants to defeat The High Table but first, he must combination head/chest shot his way through another army of cannon fodder and throwaway characters in "John Wick: Chapter 4!"
The "John Wick" series started off as a parody of all of those ridiculous "One Man Army" flicks, but it lost that thread somewhere along the way and took itself far too seriously after it made so much money.
Although all of this should've ended after the first sequel, wherein the filmmakers tried and failed to deliver on the promise of The Continental itself. But when does parody become absurd? Somewhere around "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum."
Let's get the uninitiated all caught up. In "John Wick" (2014) Reeves plays an ex-assassin who violently comes out of retirement to track down members of the Russian mafia who killed his dog and stole his car. Seriously.
Multiple head/chest shots and one Kevlar suit later and we get "John Wick: Chapter 2" in 2017, in which Wick finally gets his car back, but gets mixed up with the Italian mafia this time. We're also (somewhat) introduced to thee assassin's lair, The Continental Hotel, and its two unbreakable rules which Wick almost immediately breaks, resulting in a $14 million dollar bounty on his head.
That brings us to 2019's "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" in which basically an entire CITY of assassins is after Wick due to that massive bounty. It brings in the Japanese mafia this time and The High Table (barely) which pretty much runs the show regarding assassins and their contracts and code worldwide. Wick wants out of the game, so he teams up with other assassins to take on The Table.
This brings us to "John Wick: Chapter 4" with its Elder who is somehow higher than The High Table, whom Wick easily dispatches but at least we get a location shoot in Morocco. We certainly get many more locales in Chapter 4, but no new ideas: the Kevlar suit is back but now everybody has them. The bounty on Wick is even higher, so now everybody *else who *wasn't revealed as an assassin in “Parabellum” is now out for blood too, meaning Wick takes on a whole WORLD full of assassins (and not a cop in sight). We get another mysterious, lone-wolf contract killer who - get this - has a dog! And another, brand new headline villain with an accent …but this time he's French! Sadly, none of this is done tongue-in-cheek and you're supposed to take all this rehashed material seriously.
Eventually, after 2 hours into this shoot fest "Chapter 4" remembers its roots and becomes the satire of these films it was supposed to be and does something humorous and even a touch clever with its script. Up until then, it's just more of the same: endless, senseless, repetitive, and unbelievable violence, and most of it not done as well as before, probably because there are fewer cuts and more static shots, which only showcase how choreographed and rote it's all become. New characters are introduced with their entire backstory in a single word. This new mystery man (who calls himself nobody, by the way!) has a dog. This other new threat has a daughter. This guy over here used to be a friend. That’s all you’ll know and all you’ll need to know since most of them don’t matter and won’t be around long, anyway.
it's all further weighed down by dialog meant to sound deeply philosophical but it's just shallow and inane in its call-and-response silliness: "Have you come to say hello?" "I'm here to say goodbye."
“Those who cling to death; live. Those who cling to life; die" Ugh.
It's all delivered in Reeves' trademarked woodiness to the point of farce. After nearly three hours of that and I was *looking for someone to shoot me. at least it looks nice. the cinematography is outstanding. It's lush and rich, and makes the most of its exotic locales, although they all just become a set piece for another tedious shootout in New York! Hey, a shootout in Japan! Hey, a shootout at the Eiffel Tower! Hey somebody shoot me right here!
I know I’m *supposed to be gushing about this flick since everyone else is, but frankly, I found myself wondering from start to finish... what's the point?
Even if you enjoy one-man-army flicks there are those done better than “John Wick: Chapter Four,” which I think is a pretty average entry. Want a good one? Think “Die Hard,” or “First Blood.” If you want a parody of the genre, try “Commando” or “Nobody."
Skip Wick.
