John Wick: Chapter 4 is an enjoyably pulpy slaughterfest.
Although the plot of the latest John Wick outing offers no surprises, the stunts are mind-boggling. Donnie Yen and Scott Adkins are fun new faces in the franchise.
Given that the director, former kickboxer Chad Stahelski, got his start in the movie industry as a stuntman, serving as Keanu Reeves’s stunt double in The Matrix, you rightly expect that the stunts and fight choreography of a John Wick film will be top tier.
Chapter 4 sets a new standard for production design and cinematography. Locations across Osaka, Paris, Berlin and New York have distinctive architectural qualities, which allow director of photography Dan Laustsen varied opportunities to wash characters in the series’ iconic candy-coloured neon hues.
John Wick: Chapter 4 stands above its predecessors – and the past decade’s worth of action films as a whole – as a modern epic, something Stahelski and lead actor Keanu Reeves have been driving at since 2014. Audiences are flocking to see it, of course, as this appears to be the last of John Wick, at least as embodied by Reeves.
John Wick: Chapter 4, rated 14A, plays at the Patricia Theatre (5848 Ash Avenue, Powell River) from April 14 to 18 at 7 pm, with a matinee on Sunday, April 16, at 1:30 pm. Running time is two hours and 49 minutes.
Gary Shilling is executive director of qathet Film Society.
