The first installment in the “John Wick” (2014) franchise resuscitated the career of Keanu Reeves who hadn’t had a bona-fide hit since “The Matrix Revelations” 11 years prior. It was a simple story about a retired assassin who sought revenge for the murder of his dog (given to him by his late wife) and the theft of a prized muscle car.
The movie cost around $25M, took in $86M, ran 101 minutes, and wowed critics and audiences alike. The second cost $40M, made $174M, ran 122 minutes, and mostly everyone was impressed. Installment three cost $75M, made $328M, ran 131 minutes and I, for one, was not all that impressed.
Does More Equate to Better?
Releasing March 24, “Chapter 4” cost $100 million, runs for 169 minutes, and I can say, without hesitation, that it is way better than “Chapter 3.” It also confirms a rather obvious trend: spend more, make it longer each time out, and take in more money in the process. But by doing so, the filmmakers face a few challenges, namely, is “more” always better and is it worth sacrificing story quality solely for the action components?The best aspects of the first film (besides its brevity) was how well it balanced plot, character development, and good ol’ fashioned shoot-‘em-up action. The further the franchise progresses, the less it hits that ideal sweet spot, which is not to say the fourth installment isn’t without its merits. The extended set-piece action sequences, spanning four continents and making up well over two hours of the running length, are choreographed to the hilt by franchise director Chad Stahelski.
A former stunt co-coordinator (and body double for Reeves in “The Matrix” flicks), Stahelski continues to successfully up the ante for each installment as it applies to cinematography and employed weaponry. While not new to action movies in general, Stahelski introduces nunchuckes, hatchets, and shurikin (throwing stars) into the mix. In one of the most impressive set-pieces, Stahelski presents the action from above, showing Wick going room to room and taking out multiple bad guys with a shotgun firing shells, which explode into flames upon impact.
“Chapter 4” picks up where the last left off with Winston Scott (Ian McShane) being admonished by a Table organization higher-up named, wait for it, Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard, best known as the title character in the recent “IT” franchise). Because Scott failed to kill Wick in “Chapter 3,” he will no longer manage the New York Continental Hotel (modeled after the iconic Flatiron Building in Manhattan), which Gramont shuts down and partially destroys.
The $20M Man
With a wardrobe and choices in decor that suggests a less-flamboyant Liberace, Gramont is a sniveling, all talk and bluster guy, and he immediately places a $20M bounty on Wick’s head. This draws every would-be assassin the world over out of the woodwork, including a resourceful tracker dubbed “Mr. Nobody” (Shamier Anderson) by Gramont. Mr. Nobody’s formidable sidekick is an unnamed male German shepherd that proceeds to (understandably) steal every scene in which he appears.
The third new addition to the main cast comes in the form of Hong Kong-based MMA action star Donnie Yen as the blind assassin Caine, a friend of Wick’s who gets pulled into the mix only after Gramont threatens his daughter. The nimble and deadpan Caine is the arguable stand-out of the entire production.
One of the few weak spots is Laurence Fishburne, reprising his role of the Bowery King, a former Table assassin now operating off the grid. A cast mate of Reeves from “The Matrix” films, Fishburne abandons his low-key, low-volume Morpheus approach and replaces it with loud, borderline-obnoxious airs which are severely out of place here.
The final 45 minutes of the film, set in Paris mostly at night, includes three set pieces that, while interesting and certainly fun to watch, frequently push the laws of probability and physics far beyond their breaking points.
There’s good news for Wick diehards: “Chapter 4” will not be the last franchise installment. Principal photography wrapped last month in the Czech Republic for the off-shoot, “Ballerina” which stars Ana de Armas as the title character seeking revenge for the murders of her family. Reeves, McShane, the late Lance Reddick, and Anjelica Huston will all reprise their roles. The story itself will be set after events taking place between the third and fourth installments.
