It's Baba Yaga...John Wick: Chapter 4 Review.
SPOILER WARNING!
The fourth installment from the "John Wick" franchise is here and boy oh boy does it pack a punch! This franchise started in 2014 and has been a wild ride ever since. The story is there, and the emotion has its moments, but what people really want to see is the violence that is attached to these films. I was able to see "John Wick: Chapter 4" on premiere night and I cannot wait to share my thoughts on it. Let's review.
Before we begin, let's look at the cast:
Keanu Reeves- John Wick
Laurence Fishburne- Bowery King
George Georgiou- The Elder
Lance Riddick- Charon
Clancy Brown- Harbinger
Ian McShane- Winston
Marko Zaror- Chidi
Bill Skarsgard- Marquis
Donnie Yan- Caine
Aimee Kwan- Mia
Hiroyuki Sanada- Shimazu
Shamier Anderson- Tracker
Rina Sawayama- Akira
*I must give my condolences to the family of Lance Riddick as he tragically passed away before the movie released. Rest in Peace Lance Riddick.
Normally when I review movies, I always start with the negatives and then end on a strong note with my positives. In my honest opinion, this movie had very little negatives. This portion of the review will be very quick so let's talk about the cons of "John Wick: Chapter 4". Now, the only reason I have this as a negative was because it will be one of the only cons that people discuss and that is the length of the film. The fourth installment in this franchise sits at about 2 hours and 50-ish minuets long, which is the longest runtime in this franchise. If you were to ask me about how I felt about the length of this film, I would tell you that I never really noticed it! At a glance or hearing about the film, knowing that it's almost 3 hours long might make people a little skeptical and might push people away, but the movie is so fast paced that you really can't tell that it's long. There is your "negative" about the movie and in my opinion, it's not even worth a discussion so let's turn to the positives.
If you know anything about me, you'll know that I have gotten out of the habit of rating movies out of 10 for many reasons and even though I think this movie is fantastic, I still not rate it, but you are free to guess what I would give it if you wanted. One thing I love about this franchise as a whole is that we are on this same storyline from start to finish and while it took 9 years to make 4 movies, this storyline is maybe a weeklong (give or take). This film does a great job at reminding us that John is still being hunted and every so often his bounty gets higher and higher so more and more people are after him. The introduction of Shamier Anderson's character was great because now we can follow someone who knows what he wants but has a certain price he is willing to do it for, oh and he has a dog with him and everyone loves dogs. The Tracker or as he calls himself "Nobody" plays that character that drifts in between doing good and then going after our beloved Mr. Wick which can lead to the viewers holding their breath at times. I also love that this film sets up the future for the John Wick franchise with possible spin-offs and other projects that can (and should) happen all due to one single movie. For example, the post credit scene teases an Akira spin-off as she goes after Caine who killed her father Shimazu in the beginning-ish part of the movie. *As I type this, I am just learning about a prequel that could potentially be on Peacock that deal with a young Winston starting as a hitman hotelier and it would be called "The Continental" and I am definitely watching that if the Deadline reports are true!
I know what everyone wants to talk about, so let's talk about it; the kills. The "John Wick" films are not shy about showing off their different ways to kill someone in these films. From getting hit by cars, being strangled or even falling from a roof top, but the main ones they stick with are with guns and the many (and I mean many) ways to use them. The movie is violent but it's a crazy stupid violent that could only work on the big screen and many people enjoy that, I know I do! The character of John Wick is a mad man and just wants one thing and will do whatever it takes to get that done and I can understand that. There is one scene that really sticks out to me and that is near the end of the film when John is trying to get to a certain destination but many hits are put out over radio so people are running after him. They get into an abandoned hotel it seems and the camera angle goes from being directly on John to above him and follows him from room to room as he kills the hitmen and chases after others. The scene was so neat and interesting because it reminded me of Pac-Man as John was running around corners and into different rooms just mowing down people.
There are so many cool and awesome moments from this film that I could include in this article, but then it would be the entire movie, but I do want to talk about the ending so if you haven't already seen, SPOILER WARNING! We end the film by having John Wick and Caine have an old fashion standoff like they do in the western movie. One bullet to end the other mans life and if you miss, you move closer and closer till you have one man standing. Caine was put in this situation by Bill Skarsgard's character, Marquis, who is the main "villain" in this film. Marquis just wants John Wick dead but won't do it himself and has others paid to try. Caine and Wick go toe to toe until it seems like Caine actually shoots Wick and as he falls to the ground, Marquis jumps in, aims the gun and John Wick but the sneaky man that John Wick is tells him that he didn't shoot his bullet and then kills Marquis. There's obviously more to it but there's the jist of it. As everyone departs and goes their own way, John Wick walks down a flight of stairs and sits down only to slowly fall over and die. After 4 incredible films, we finally see the end of John Wick as he dies a free man. There can only be one Baba Yaga and his name is John Wick.
Overall, I think you can see that this movie was amazing. Even though it was a long film, the action, violence and emotion really make things go back quick and if you blink you could miss an important scene that could lead to more projects under that "John Wick" franchise.
*Huge shoutout to StrangeSJP for the John Wick art used at the beginning!