One Good Movie - Yeah

Hey,

Coming in late because I had to see this week’s movie in a theater.

John Wick: Chapter 4

Did we need a fourth one? No.

But I didn’t like number 3. It was bloated. Tedious. The mythology tired.

Thankfully Chapter 4 clocks in at brisk 69 minutes.

Yeah, no.

It’s 169 minutes.

But this one feels lighter. It moves faster. The direction is more assured. Specifically, director Chad Stahelski lets scenes play out in wide masters so we can take in the artistry of the combat.

The story revolves around...

The story is dumb.

Keanu Reeves returns to fight and kill a bunch of stuntmen. Either you like this sort of thing or you don’t.

Straight-to-video action elevated with a massive budget. The costumes, production design, and weaponry are all white glove Bergdorf Goodman.

The ugly Skarsgård brother plays the villain.* His wardrobe is on point. As are the massive sets and locations in which he hunches and jaunts. His scenes are played straight but are rich with dry humor. He’s having a blast.

Movie martial arts favorite Scott Adkins has a prominent sequence. I’m a fan of his low-budget vehicles, but his talents are often wasted in larger movies. Not here. The play on his physical presence is inspired.

Likewise, martial arts LEGEND Donnie Yen plays a retired, blind assassin called back to kill our beloved Jonathan.

Again, you either dig these jams or you don’t.

I love action movies because they can exist only on the big screen. Painting, radio, photography, theater, music, dance, ceramics, these art forms cannot capture movement in time like the action genre. It’s pure cinema.

Video games probably come close. At times Chapter 4 resembles a video game as Wick takes on an endless series of bad guys. But where animated graphics fail, the human factor of stunts creates a visceral connection.

There’s even a De Palma-esque overhead sequence that resembles a 2-D shooter. John Wick is heir to Don Siegel’s Dirty Harry and Capcom’s Commando.

None of that is meant as a dig. The film keeps going the extra mile and treads the line of parody but never succumbs due to Reeves spare, knowing performance.

Also, there’s an attack dog and a cool gun.

Buy yourself a ticket.

-Guy

*Still good-looking.

Epilogue

These Wick movies are straight-up firearm fiestas. Should we be worried about it? Absolutely not. Worry about the gun loons in your neighborhood, not the gun porn.

Demographics

My 4 pm show (early for Spain) was dominated by women in their twenties and thirties. I don’t think they were all there for Ian McShane.

One Complaint

The movie is not perfect, but I loved the dance club set piece, where everyone kept partying despite being feet away from men fighting with axes. I attributed this to the number of club drugs the patrons ingested.

Then the movie fails. It shows civilians fleeing the club at the conclusion of the fighting. No way! They should do more drugs and dance the night away.