The hitman legend continues.
Well the odyssey is over. After delving deep into the mythos and blood thirsty trail of righteous vengeance that is the cinematic life and times of “John Wick” (Keanu Reeves) during the past few days, and stretching back nearly a decade when I first watched the original, I have returned from the cinema after accompanying my two favourite people in all the world, and we all had a riot of a good time. I believe I stated in my review of the original film in this franchise that I take life and indeed film rather too seriously and that films such as these are both an antidote and a break from my norm of watching more “serious”, hard edged fare. But sometimes you’ll listen to a piece of music you wouldn’t ordinarily listen to (and enjoy) or watch a film that grabs your fun muscle and allows you to simply enjoy the spectacle on the big screen, and John Wick is very definitely in that exalted category for me.
I only missed the original at the cinema. All three subsequent chapters have been outrageously enjoyed on the big screen with my son and today, well it was the best of all possible worlds as I/We were joined by my other favourite person in all the world and another unabashed fan of the grieving hitman simply not allowed to retire. I’ve also had a huge amount of fun compiling the spoiler free reviews of the first three chapters linked immediately below and should you be interested in my take and a little of the backstory before continuing with this particular review, each of these contains a scene-by-scene breakdown of the opening to each film together with a little colour around the edges of the remainder of each of the chapters.
“John Wick” (2014)
The Legend begins.medium.com
“John Wick — Chapter 2” (2017)
The return of “Death’s very emissary”.medium.com
“John Wick” — Chapter 3 (2019)
“I have served. I will be of service”.medium.com
There’s only really one place to start with this barnstorming fourth chapter in the saga:
“You ready John?”
Recovering in the underground lair of one of his only true remaining friends left, and one clearly unafraid to assist his friend despite John being strictly “incommunicardo” from “The High Table”, we find John literally underground with “The Bowery King” (Laurence Fishburne) and a re-teaming once more with his guide from The Matrix film franchise. As I noted in my review for chapter three, this film retains a feel for that particular series of films too and not just because of the Reeves/Fishburne combination.
Even more devastating than being spurned and expelled from the fraternity that spawned him, John has taken revenge to a whole new level by executing an Elder and yet again his actions reverberate around not only this secretive assassin’s circle, but around the world. The “Marquis Vincent de Gramont” (Bill Skarsgard) a high ranking member of The High Table, not only seeks revenge for this horrific slight but sees an opportunity to dispense with John Wick once and for all, as well as setting down a marker to prevent any further assassins from following in his wake and challenging the higher authority he represents. One by one, Marquis sets out to destroy The Continental Hotels in New York and Japan, managed respectfully by “Winston” (Ian McShane) and “Shimazu Koji” (Hiroyuki Sanada) as a chain of events escalates that sees “Caine” (Donnie Yen) a blind assassin and “former associate and friend” of John blackmailed and forced out of retirement to hunt him down.
“Indulged for too long” and tellingly “no-one escapes The Table”, Skarsgard is arguably the high point in the series for repugnant, self obsessed villains, with his performance as Marquis riveting every time he appears on screen. He has a slow, calculating deliberation about him akin to a chess player with his next two moves already planned ahead, and together with Hiroyuki Sanada and Donnie Yen, all are top class additions to the franchise. The same can be said for Rina Sawayama and Clancy Brown and especially so Shamier Anderson who brilliantly portrays a money hungry tracker named “Mr Nobody” with real aplomb.
Whilst Laurence Fishburne is relegated here to a somewhat cameo role, the same cannot be said for the ever dependable and ever likeable Ian McShane who once again can’t resist calling our anti-hero “Jonathan” and is once again self assuredness personified. Keanu Reeves? What more needs to be said? He’s carried the franchise and Kung Fu kicked it through cinemas for nearly a decade now and his performance, suffice to say, is magnificent as always.
Whether it’s the desert of Morocco, the darkness of Berlin, the returning to New York (amid the pouring rain, naturally) or the beautiful cityscapes of Osaka or Paris, this is a beautifully moody and often quiet chapter in the series that begins and ends with sunrises rather than the oft rain of New York and is quite beautifully depicted by director Chad Stahelski and his cinematographer Dan Laustsen. Whilst the film begins frenetically enough, it soon settles into somewhat of a reflective and yes, moody piece of cinema that sets The High Table for the madness that follows.
And what madness and mayhem it is! From the beautiful calm and serenity of the earliest scenes and especially so from the rooftop garden settings of Osaka and Paris, we dive headlong once again into yet more murder on the dancefloor (or strictly speaking, a gun running, hatchet wielding killing spree on the dancefloor) and another incredible, elongated shoot-out, Samurai Sword, Kung Fu and Nun Chucks flying massacre in yet another call back to the series as a whole in a Hall of Mirrors, and a very long scene that has to be seen to be believed. The Paris street fight (Car Fu anyone?) is another stunt riddled set piece that has to be seen to be believed too, and all before the incredible shoot-out in the darkness en-route to Sacré-Coeur which director Stahelski shoots largely from above ala Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill and all before, again, THE set piece of the entire film and the much talked about bloody shoot-out as John attempts to climb the innumerable stairs to Sacré-Coeur for the film ending duel at sunrise.
I could pick holes at the ridiculousness of the whole escapade as I do have reservations. But I’ve had a lot of fun and escapism along the way and for that, John Wick, I thank you.
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film articles are linked below or there’s well over 250 blog articles (with 500+ individual film reviews) within my film library from which to choose:
“Supercell” (2023)
Father and Son tale. Watched together by a Father and a Son.medium.com
“The Unforgivable” (2021)
Everything in its right place.medium.com
“In Bruges” (2008)
In retrospective praise 15 years on.medium.com