John Wick Chapter 4 Flipped The Script

Luke Johansen
May 7
3 min read

The first three John Wick movies are solid actioners in their own right, yet John Wick Chapter 4 is one of my favorite action movies of all time, because for the first time ever, the Baba Yaga appears even fleetingly interested in thinking more deeply about the things he does for a living. Assisted by some truly incredible cinematography and set design, Chapter 4 can occasionally be a strangely beautiful movie with a surprisingly reflective mind. Still, its premise is a simple one - John must challenge the high table, the highest authority in the world of hitmen, if he hopes to ever leave an absurdly high bounty on his head behind. It's an accessible basis for fans of the franchise, but what this movie does with it shows some level of weird maturity and even mindfulness on its part.

The stylized quasi-realism of the John Wick series has always interested me, and I'm pleased by Chapter 4's security in its vision and willingness to push the boundaries of its style, a move that makes this movie look like a proud and neon hall of art from beginning to end. I'm likewise pleased by its willingness to put the franchise foundations themselves on the line and even follow through when it threatens to kill major players and destroy beloved icons of the series. John Wick Chapter 4 isn't trying to stretch out its story in the name of money. It understands that all good things must come to an end, and embraces that fact with an honorable willingness. Its strangely philosophical mind likewise caught me off guard. For a movie that's essentially about an assassin mowing down wave after wave of nameless and faceless enemies, it's got a mind and even a soul that transcends the carnage.

The action sequences of this movie are predictably incredible. They take the color, the creativity, everything that made the John Wick series iconic, and take it to new heights. At their best, they may be the finest I've ever seen in any action movie, though they can briefly become tedious when not prioritizing variety or doing a whole lot to advance the story. Still, John Wick Chapter 4 provides some diversity of scenery by dabbling in intriguing setpieces on the regular, among them a brutal game of the will featuring a knife through the hand, a poker game with life itself on the line, and even a top-down gunfight through a Parisian house with a fiery shotgun, a unique and colorful sequence evocative of some great video games.

I like how this movie lays out the stakes and exact terms of John's duel with the Marquis. We know exactly what's at stake, leaving no doubt in our minds what will happen if John fails to rampage his way through Paris to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur by sunrise. The final hour of John Wick Chapter 4 is one of the most incredible hours I've ever seen in any action movie, a smart and relentlessly exciting series of unique action sequence after unique action sequence that takes the already-impressive style of the movie to the next level, even featuring a radio DJ who narrates much of the fight, the last of which is a small addition that nevertheless adds a throughline to the whole battle, tying what could have been a series of disconnected gunfights into a single living and breathing entity that occasionally roars.

The first three John Wick movies are solid in their own right, delivering all the exhilarating goods an action movie fan could ever want and then some without much of the brains they don't. However, John Wick Chapter 4, while no philosophy class, doesn't just outdo the movies that came before it. In fact, not only is it my favorite of the lot, but it's also one of my favorite action movies of all time, a confluence of high-octane action, crowd-pleasing quips, and intelligently crafted action sequences that play with the stylized reality of Mr. Wick's world like a painter adding beautiful strokes to a familiar picture. And best of all, it seems to me like the creators of the John Wick franchise have finally grown up. The glimpses of a greater mindfulness than I saw in the previous movies are brief, but undeniably present. John Wick is good at killing. He's very good at killing. But it turns out that maybe he's got more on his mind here than killing. John Wick doesn't want to be remembered as a killer. He wants to be remembered as a husband.