Bill GoodykoontzArizona Republic
For some movies, certain words are useless as descriptions — like “good” or “bad,” say.
Or “more” or “less.”
When it comes to films like “John Wick: Chapter 4,” words like “yes” and “no” are more useful. As in, do you want to see John Wick carry out carefully choreographed slaughter for nearly three hours?
Yes.
Does it matter that the movie defies physics, logic and good sense?
No.
The fourth installment in the surprise-hit body-count franchise is too much of everything except a plot that makes a lot of sense, which is not a complaint. Come on, what are we here for?
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Donnie Yen joins Keanu Reeves for 'John Wick: Chapter 4'
We are here to see Keanu Reeves reprise his role as a lonely assassin, dragged out of retirement in the first film by the death of his wife and murder of his puppy. The feel-good aspects of that motivation are in the distant past (the first film came out in 2014), but Wick’s instincts and lethality remain as sharp as ever.
“Everything he touches dies,” one character says during the movie. We’re counting on it.
Chad Stanelski, who has directed all of the John Wick films, is back, and the choreography and filming of the actions scenes are, as ever, stunning, only more so. It’s a deadly dance, but it’s also a meticulous one. Adding Hong Kong action superstar Donnie Yen to the mix only increases the beauty of the fights; when he is moving, he is magnetic.
What is the plot of 'John Wick: Chapter 4'?
This time around Wick, declared excommunicado in the last movie, goes all “Lawrence of Arabia” on his way to doing something that offends The High Table, the shadowy group that oversees all the bad guys in the world. (If that sounds stupid, please. We’re just getting started.) With the Table’s blessing, the Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), a spoiled snot with more money than compassion, which would be true even if he only had a nickel in his pocket, wants to wipe out not only Wick but any remaining vestige of his existence.
Thus the Continental, the hotel that is a safe haven for killers when they are inside its walls, is threatened, and not even its manager Winston (Ian McShane, again excellent) can talk reason into the Marquis. Threats against the Continental Osaka bring the action to Japan, where we meetShimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada), the manager, and his daughter Akira (Rina Sawayama). An epic battle ensues — Sawayama, a pop singer, knows her way around a roundhouse kick — and sets up a tantalizing premise.
Caine (Yen), a blind assassin who was once a friend and associate of Wick’s, now has to try to kill him, thanks to the Marquis’ threats against his daughter. He may have taken the job reluctantly, but once he starts fighting there is no hesitation or mercy. And Yen is so fluid in his moves, so effortless in his dispatching of opponents, you want more.
But it’s a John Wick movie, not a Caine movie (though a spinoff would be welcome). There is, once again, a multimillion dollar bounty on Wick’s head, which sets up any number of insane set pieces, several of which play out against Paris landmarks (this is a globetrotting movie). It’s as if the Paris Opera Ballet incorporated guns, swords and knives into its repertoire.
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Other highlights: The Tracker, also known as Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson), who, along with his trusty German shepherd, has a knack for keeping up with Wick’s whereabouts. As well he might, because he’s interested in the reward.
There are a few slow segments, recognizable mostly because you realize it’s been more than three minutes since you saw someone get killed. Reeves, meanwhile, has honed his character’s delivery to halting grunts, and yet he makes it work. When he says, “Yeah,” he’s saying a lot.
A few bits come off as too much, even for this franchise. For instance, Wick is evidently indestructible as the T-1000 in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” Shoot him up, drop him off a building, kick him down endless flights of stairs. All he requires is a little brush off and he’s good to go. (A suit reinforced with Kevlar helps.)
The final showdown is more old-school than bone-crunching (there is much talk of the “old ways” in this installment), and a post-credit scene is intriguing. But it’s action we come for and action we get.
“John Wick: Chapter 4” is not a great piece of cinema, exactly, but it delivers on what it promises, time and again.
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Where can I watch 'John Wick: Chapter 4'?
In theaters March 24.
'John Wick: Chapter 4' 4 stars
Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★
Fair ★★★ Bad ★★Bomb★
Director: Chad Stahelski.
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård.
Rating: R for pervasive strong violence and some language.
Reach Goodykoontz atbill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook:facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter:@goodyk. Subscribe tothe weekly movies newsletter.
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