Review: ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’
The most recent John Wick movie and the fourth installment of the rated R series with little spoilers.
“John Wick: Chapter 4” cover art. Provided via Wikimedia Commons.
The John Wick franchise is known for being action packed and emotionally damaging. The fourth installment didn’t fail to keep the trend going.
Without spoiling the movie too much, the pacing and storyline was just as grand and intriguing as the previous movies. There would occasionally be near silent scenes where it was simply building tension which left you on the edge of your seat in order to try and catch every word each character was saying.
The lighting and perspective work was something that caught me off guard. The lighting and color scheming has always been eye-catching within the John Wick franchise, but they pulled all the stops with this recent one. There was magnificent use of oranges, blues, greens, reds, and yellows.
Perspective was another beautiful use that the movie directors utilized to a T. The way they’d set the cameras up for certain angles between characters or action scenes was really interesting. A quick spoiler, was during a fight scene, the camera was faced straight up as John Wick–Keanu Reeves–went through the apartment building giving the scene a sort of video game feel.
The movie ran for two hours and 49 minutes. In that time, we were able to learn about a couple newly introduced characters and watch as the directors expanded on the ones that were already established yet also giving us a few curveballs in order to keep us on our toes.
The ending plot twist wasn’t too surprising when you take into account the foreshadowing the movie gives us every step of the way. That didn’t stop my grandma–who I was watching this movie with–from crying when she saw it.
There were even some funny moments which I didn’t quite expect. Especially when these funny moments happened during the action packed fight scenes. It was a breath of fresh air during the intensity of it all.
There was only one thing I’d knit-pick. Everyone knows the John Wick series is known for being action packed and violent, however a few of these fight scenes stretched on for so much longer than necessary. I understand that the fighting is a vital part of John Wick and how it operates, but watching Keanu Reeves beat up wave after wave of hostiles can only entertain an audience for so long.
That doesn’t mean I disliked or hated any of the fights by any means, no. I thoroughly enjoyed the others that were shown. There were just those few that had gone on for a little longer than I could handle, though it was definitely worth sitting through them for the rest of the movie.
The movie itself is another great addition to the John Wick franchise and is worth the watch. Even if you haven’t seen any John Wick movies before, it’s still something worth watching as what it’s categorized as: action/thriller.
