John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Director: Chad Stahelski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård

Synopsis:
John Wick wages a one-man war against the forces of the High Table as nearly every assassin in the world is after the price on his head.

Impressions:
There are generally two kinds of fans of John Wick: those who liked the relatively grounded action of the first film and have not appreciated the escalation in the sequels; and those who simply enjoy the ride, probably enjoying the escalation exactly because it gets crazier and crazier and ever removed from reality. While I enjoyed the previous two films more than not, I can appreciate critical voices who think the first film was enough, but this is still very much in line with what the franchise has become. Make of that what you will. The magic bulletproof suits and Wick's ability to tank getting hit by cars does massively dampen the stakes, but I still tend to find the action set pieces entertaining. I really enjoyed Donnie Yen as John's rival and Scott Adkins was pretty solid as the big bad's main enforcer. The big bad, however, felt much like a retread of Santino from the second film and wasn't all that compelling (though there was one nice scene of brutality that hinted to there being a little grit to him but sadly not enough to make him a truly formidable antagonist in his own right). I also felt that while the character of Nobody was somewhat interesting, he didn't quite feel as fully realized as I would've liked. Also, as fun as it was seeing Laurence Fishburne ham it up in some of his brief screentime, I was hoping for more from the Bowery King taking his big opportunity. It's a mixed bag story-wise, but that's pretty well expected by this point. Despite its flaws, I still enjoyed it for the most part and would recommend giving it a watch.

Rating:
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