de facto film reviews 3.5 stars

It’s hard to imagine a franchise that finds new and inventive ways to consistently deliver like the John Wick franchise. What began as a quest for revenge over a puppy has spiralled into a franchise with its own deeply rooted mythology, an arsenal of colorful characters and a balletic sense of action not seen in the West since John Woo was making American blockbusters. The fourth, and potentially final, installment of Keanu Reeves’ now iconic formerly retired assassin is an operatic and sprawling epic that features an endless array of innovative set pieces that continuously tops itself.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is by far the biggest, most ambitious film in the franchise. After the slightly wobbly narrative of Chapter 3, the film begins with a literal punch that wastes no time, dropping the audience right in the middle of the action. Under director Chad Stahelski’s unrivalled eye for action and some of the most impressive stuntwork ever committed to Western cinema, this fourth chapter distills all the best elements of the franchise and cuts back on the shaggier elements. Stahelski’s gift of storytelling through action is truly unlike any other current filmmaker. The ways in which the filmmaker reveals character and motivation through physicality is, indeed, like a beautiful dance.

In terms of fight choreography and go-for-broke sunt coordination, Chapter 4′s only recent rival would be The Raid films. The creativity that goes into these action sequences is on a par of its own. The roots planted by the likes of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin have firmly blossomed with the physicality of not only star Keanu Reeves, but of the entire ensemble and stunt team. For a fourth installment, it’s a huge achievement the filmmakers are able to top themselves, not only in terms of the franchise, but each concurrent set piece simply gets better and better as the film continues. Within the first major set piece, set at an Osaka Continental, you’ll lose track of how many times you’ll think “how did they do that?”. The final act, especially, serves as a guffaw-inducing stunt spectacular that has to be in the conversation for the most intricately crafted hour of action spectacle in the last 50 years. From an absolute stunner of an extended overhead crane shot — echoing De Palma, Gaspar Noe, and even video games like Hotline Miami — that features an incendiary shotgun, to the most deadly usage of nunchucks since the days of Bruce Lee, and a pivotal set piece on seemingly the world’s most extended stairwell, these are moments for the history books.

One sequence I can only describe as a vicious bout of human Frogger would be the highlight of literally any other action film, but it is only the third or fourth best sequence here. The technical proficiency on display never ceases to amaze and is delivered with such panache at every turn. Cinematographer Dan Laustsen’s maximization of the widescreen frame continues to be a major factor in the success of these set pieces, integrating neon-laden hellscapes and intimate spaces from its locales, including Osaka and Paris to mind-melting effect. While the editing lacks the surefire finesse brought by Evan Schiff in Chapters 2 & 3, newly appointed editor Nathan Orloff keeps the film barreling at a fast pace that doesn’t waste too much of its 169 minute runtime.

The most thematically fulfilling of the John Wick films, Chapter 4 subtly weaves its weighted themes throughout its downright biblical narrative. This is Reeves’ most soulful turn as Wick. There’s more tangible existentialism that comes from Reeves’ stoic performance, with this turn in particular channeling the same sense of melancholy as the opening act of the first film. Wick has always been a character of subtle vulnerability, but the events of the previous films clearly is weighing on him, with Bill Skarsgard’s fiendish Marquis de Garmont describing the grieving hitman as “a ghost looking for his graveyard”. Reeves, whose John Wick is equal parts Clint Eastwood and Toshiro Mifune, delivers some career-best work here, from both a dramatic and physical standpoint.

Stahelski surrounds the hero with an even more impressive cast in a franchise with no shortage of great actors. Donnie Yen, who not only gives the franchise a wonderful new character, but a similarly melancholic performance that proves how gifted the martial artist can be as a dramatic actor. Bill Skarsgard’s villainous Marquis, an appointed leader of the High Table with a sadistic twinkle in his eye, takes scenery-chewing to wonderous heights, revelling in a take-it-or-leave-it French accent. Hiroyuki Sanada brings an added sense of gravitas to his role as the manager of the Osaka Continental with singer Rika Sawayama making her impressive film debut as Sanada’s daughter, another badass warrior. Shamier Anderson’s Tracker, aka Mr. Nobody, is an enigmatic figure looking for his bout with John Wick, but at the proper price. Underappreciated actor star/longtime stuntman Scott Adkins is given a, ahem, large role as a German crime boss with Adkins in a full fatsuit, that still doesn’t prevent him from indulging in an exceptional action sequence that blurs the line between absurdity and badassdom. Ian McShane and Laurence Fishburne also return as franchise favorites, Winston and King. And of course, the tragic passing of Lance Reddick is still very fresh in everyone’s hearts, and is extremely bittersweet, but fans should find it a proper farewell for the actor, in the role that introduced a new generation of audiences to his brilliance.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is a breathtaking achievement in action filmmaking. If this is indeed the final outing for the titular hero, I can’t think of a more thrilling fashion for the filmmakers to go out on. This is a gift of cinema that stands mightily alongside the all-time greatest stunt work ever committed to celluloid and will leave you feeling like you just ran a marathon.