Review: ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ delivers an action stunner for fans

Keanu Reeves marvels, but Donnie Yen nearly steals the show.

Sequels should enhance what came before it, bringing the story and characters of those previous films into the new world they have built without much effort or notice. While Marvel is busy world-building left and right with mixed results and DC Studios tries to keep up, the John Wick film franchise is producing a blueprint on how to do it right. 

Director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves first came together on one massively popular film franchise, “The Matrix,” before reuniting for the Wick adventures. It’s those fights and gun battles, ones fueled by a dead dog and stolen car, that continue to expand as the sequels stack up. 

It’s carefully configured expansion that lends itself as a best friend to movie franchises, because the setting changes and the world evolves without the viewer tiring. The first John Wick film started in New York and “Chapter 2“ traveled to Rome before finding Casablanca before finding Paris in the new film. 

Mr. Wick travels to France in “Chapter 4“ to find a way out of excommunicato purgatory. Since losing his “privileges” at the end of Chapter 2, Jonathan (as Ian McShane’s Winston lovingly calls him) has literally been on the run from The High Table, the sharpest hired killers on the planet, and everything in between. All of this means for viewers is more action, the craziest stunt work, and scenarios that connect old fashioned westerns to a modern day action saga. 

Watching a John Wick movie is akin to entering a luxurious world of kinetic cinema thinking you know what’s coming only to find out it’s even better than you imagined. For a movie to be nearly three hours long and still leave me wanting more is not a common thing in Hollywood, even if they try hard to push a lot of longer films. 

At the end of the day, we’re essentially watching David vs Goliath play out over four movies. One guy taking on a giant organization with the hopes of finding the retirement bliss that fleetingly touched his life when that dog arrived way back in 2014.  And in case you’re wondering, a dog is harmed in the movie, but that animal does a lot of damage herself. 

After leaving behind a ton of bullets and bodies before going over the roof of the Continental, Wick finds a possible way out in Chapter 4: defeat the Marquis de Gramont (a devilish Bill Skarsgard), and find a release from the contract and the High Table’s wrath. But that task comes along with dozens of killers on his tail at all times, including a face from his past in Caine (Donnie Yen). 

One of the things Stahelski’s action saga does is build the world from the original outward with each entry. Instead of endlessly building for 5-7 movies down the road, he fills in the blanks of questions viewers may have from the first three movies. Caine is one of those shadows from Wick’s past, and I’ll let the soup simmer on that thought instead of revealing more. Suffice to say, it’s not a typical Wick-off, yet a fully developed story thread that stuck out as one of the best parts of the film. 

Yen, a martial arts movie star veteran, is exactly what this chapter needed: an antagonist that isn’t just another body for the protagonist to eventually drop in cool fashion. The “Rogue One” actor imbues Caine with a near metaphysical  perspective on his line of work, one he left behind before the events of the film. There’s humor and despair wrapped up in this enthralling character, including engrossing technical gadget help for a blind man with a gun in his hand. 

Along with the untenable McShane, Laurence Fishburne returns to assist the unstoppable Mr. Wick. Everything sounds prophetic coming out of his mouth. It’s hard to not think about Morpheus and Neo working together in a different universe when the two actors share scenes together. They are both in the film’s opening, the best in years. Whatever you’re imagining, think louder. 

It’ll also be hard not to be sad when the late Lance Reddick graces the screen as Winston’s right hand man and hotel concierge, Charon. His words carry the impact of a bullet, even if he doesn’t have to use a lot of them. I watched the movie before he died, and now tie together words about it after his sudden death on Friday. He’s terrific again in a small yet key role. 

The esteemed Hiroyuki Sanada shows up when Wick pops up in Japan. There must be a rule in Hollywood that when samurai swords are in play, Sanada is cast. It’s a great rule if you ask me. Playing another ally for John, he adds a lot of wisdom to a nice part. Rina Sawayama pierces a hole through a few unfortunate souls with a blade of her own, switching from Osaka Continental concierge to warrior in a second.

Shamier Anderson can handle a gun pretty well, but it’s his eyes that do a lot of work as the roving killer who is waiting for a certain moment to go after Babayaga. Marko Zaror and an unrecognizable Scott Adkins both have their moments as walls in front of Wick’s journey.

 No one takes on a bigger responsibility here though than Reeves. Calling him a marvel of a leading man is an understatement; he’s an incomparable man of action. While Tom Cruise is jumping bikes off a ramp in Norway, Reeves is whipping reverse 180s in a circle drive in Paris while shooting bad guys. That’s him doing just about every ounce of stunt work and fight choreography. He’s in a league of his own. 

But don’t sleep on the heartbreak he injects into the role this time. Less has always been more with his repertoire, and that continues soulfully here. The emotional connection between him and his dead wife grounds the outrageous action, which multiplies by three in “Chapter 4.” Reeves’ understated dialogue and visually stunning physicality power this film like the previous three.

Here’s the thing. What “John Wick: Chapter 4” reinforces is how alone the films are when it comes to stunt work and action scene construction. Here, the star of the show is the action, which means the film lives or dies on its stunt team. If there was ever a nail to pound into the ground about the Academy Awards needing a stunt category, look no further than Mr. Wick and friends. And Reeves’ suited up gunslinger does have plenty of friends. Make no mistake. There’s honor among thieves, but also honor among killers. 

“John Wick: Chapter 4” is better than anything I watched in 2022, and that’s not easy for a 2 hour, 49 film with a straightforward setup to pull off. It delivered exactly what the trailer and hype promised, leaving the audience ready for round 5 if it happens. 

Verdict: Run, don’t walk, to this one on opening weekend. This Wick is too legit to quit.