Written by: Dibyadarshi Sengupta
“It wasn’t just a dog!” People who follow John Wick or have only watched one draft of the atrocity will acknowledge that fact. Now that we understand that it’s not just about the dog then what is it about? Well, you can say that it is about showing a middle finger to the people who are after your ass. But Arnold Schwarzenegger has done that before, so did Sylvester Stallone. Then what is this about?
Well, it is about showing pandemonium in selected color tones. An abundance of red, black, deep blue, silver, and tinge of yellow, green and brown. With craftily built sets, impeccably selected costumes and razor-sharp editing, John Wick 4 transcends the boundaries of an action movie. If the script was less ridiculous and Keanu Reeves could act, this could have been a cult classic. But alas, it falls way short because of the lousy screenplay and a completely expressionless Keanu Reeves.
Speaking of Keanu Reeves, his acting is disappointing as usual. If anyone argues that action movies do not need great acting, please look at Bill Skarsgard in the same movie. The way he says “No quarter given” sitting on the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower will send chills across your spine. I will daresay that even Scott Adkins with his menacing grin did better than Keanu Reeves.
A few inherent defects of this franchise are half-baked characters and ridiculous clichés. It’s about time Hollywood realizes that pseudo-menacingly portrayed Katana-wielding Japanese people and a freakishly fit Chinese middle-aged guy are not essential components of action movies. Get your poison, do not borrow others. Shamier Anderson could have been a refreshing addition but his name as Mr. Nobody just made Sergio Leone turn inside his grave in deep disappointment.
And yes! Why would you make an action movie with 169 minutes of run time? Even The Avenger movies with so much going on are not that long.
The only good thing they have done is to show John Wick dead at the end. He should remain dead and not become undead like someone in the movie where he played Jonathan Harker. Wait! Isn’t his full name Jonathan Wick…
The World of Movies Rating 06/10
You watch this movie on Amazon Prime Video by taking Lionsgate Subscription now!
Movie Title: John Wick: Chapter 4
Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Written by: Shay Hatten
John Wick: Chapter 4 Cast: Keanu Reeves as John Wick, Hiroyuki Sanada as Shimazu Koji, Donnie Yen as Caine, Bill Skarsgård as the Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont, Ian McShane as Winston Scott, Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King
Year of Release: 2023
Genre: Crime, Action, Thriller
Country of Origin: United States of America
Languages: English
Running time: 169 minutes
Production Company: Summit Entertainment, Thunder Road Films, 87Eleven Productions
Distributed by: Lionsgate
Note: “The images used in this article are screenshots taken from YouTube and have been converted into images for the purpose of this article only. The World of Movies acknowledges that it does not hold any proprietary rights over the images and that their use is solely for the purpose of this article.”