It’s the high point of the film, and it’s distressingly over in the first act. The hotel, managed by Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his daughter Akira (singer Rina Sawayama in her acting debut) becomes the location for a showdown between John and the High Table henchman. The first, taking place at The Continental in Osaka, is spectacular - stunningly designed in a neon Japanophile style that combines traditional and modern symbols: cherry blossoms and samurai swords, rich reds and nightclub lighting. “John Wick: Chapter 4” is structured roughly in three parts set in different locations across the globe. The new leader of the High Table, the preening, poncy Marquis (an excellent Bill Skarsgard) hasn’t just put out a huge bounty on Wick’s head, he’s also compelled the Zatoichi-like blind swordsman Caine (an even more excellent Donnie Yen) to kill John Wick in exchange for protecting his daughter.Īnd so it unfolds.
Keanu Reeves as John Wick in “John Wick: Chapter 4.” (Murray Close/Lionsgate/TNS)Īll you need to know is that John Wick is fighting for his freedom, that the governing body of assassins, the High Table, doesn’t want to grant it, and he’s going to duel to the death for it. Reeves seems aware that he is merely a vessel for violence here, and though the script, by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, is laden with lore surrounding the Continental Hotel for assassins (gamely delivered by Clancy Brown), feel free to simply let it wash over you.
These films are long on style, but narrative complexity is not on the menu here - the “John Wick” films are merely conduits for long dream ballets of stunning fight choreography set amongst richly production-designed scenery. It also dares to embrace bold aesthetics - color, style, production design and location shooting - which feels downright revolutionary in the age of endless greenscreen and computer-generated landscapes. Together, these two have offered up a completely unique blockbuster action franchise, one that dares to be somber, centering the doleful Reeves as the grieving John Wick. The nearly three-hour fairy tale of firearms that is “John Wick: Chapter 4” is a sprawling, Shakespearean orgy of violence, a salute to stunt choreographers, and a return to the original film’s roots - at the heart of the matter, it is the fundamentally the story of a duel, and a dog.įor four bloody installments, Keanu Reeves has played the sorrowful, taciturn assassin John Wick, directed by his former stunt double Chad Stahelski, who has proven to be quite the cinematic stylist.
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