John Wick 4 Review: Go for it if you are a fan of mind-boggling action sequences
John Wick 4 belongs more to the stunt and action director that it does to Chad. Every character in the movie delivers in the action sequences
Hyderabad: The one-off movie and its success propelling towards a now new successful franchise is up for the take. This just goes to show how people accept senseless violence. There is no justification for the celebration of violence. Even if it is Keanu Reeves. Especially KR.
Director Chad Stahelski and KR come together for the fourth time to give an out and out action (read violent) film. This is about John Wick wanting his freedom from the High Table.
To the uninitiated, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) has been excommunicated by the New York Continental Hotel and the High Table. Resultantly we have John who is out to get his revenge against the High Table while hiding underground with the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne).
John succeeds in killing The Elder (George Georgiou) – the only man above the High Table. The High Table is angry with Winston Scott (Ian McShane), the manager of the Continental Hotel and his concierge Charon (Lance Reddick) as they have failed to kill John. The rest of the story is about who kills whom and who survives the bloodbath.
The film banks heavily on the relentless action and stunts. Luckily, the movie does not rely on John’s back-story. There is an exponential increase in the cast and thereby an exponential increase in dead bodies. This includes Akira (Sawayama) as a fighter aggrieved by the killing of her father Koji (Sanada), a tracker who identifies himself as Mr Nobody (Anderson) and is accompanied by his “emotional support” dog.
What heightens the intensity of fights and adds emotional heft is the entry of a blind assassin Caine (Donnie Yen), who is Wick’s old friend and not to mention, Killa (Scott Adkins). Other than the violence, it is the length of the film – about two hours and twenty minutes – is the drawback. If you are an action fan, there are a lot of close combat scenes that keep you engrossed and at the edge of your seat. However, if you are not an action fan, do not even think about giving this film a second thought. There is, however, more to this film than violence, albeit a little. Donnie occupies the screen more than KR.
One advantage of the film is that KR and Chad Stahelski know how to keep you engrossed. There are a lot of references to friendship and family. This outing is Chad’s version of ‘actions have consequences’. The movie belongs more to the stunt and action director that it does to Chad. Every character in the movie delivers in the action sequences. You have some jaw dropping, Newton disproving action sequences that are the backbone to movie. There are quite a few one-liners that tickle your funny bone.
Go for it if you are a fan of mind-boggling action sequences, KR and Donnie. If not, this will definitely not be your cuppa.
