Review: John Wick: Chapter Four – Headshot!
Directed by Chad Stahelski
Starring Keanu Reeves, Bill Skarsgård, Donnie Yen, Ian McShane
7.5/10
Shooting People in the Head: Chapter Four is the latest instalment of the popular action franchise John Wick, which has shown our main man shooting people in the head all around the world until he finds his retribution. There’s plenty more headshots in this one, along with more than a handful of astonishing fights, chases, shootouts, and sword fights.
Things weren’t looking too good for Mr Wick (Keanu Reeves) at the end of the third film. He had what may be the highest bounty ever put on his head, and the price just keeps going up. The High Table head, Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), is outraged over John’s antics and enlists an old friend of his, Caine (Donnie Yen), to assassinate him. John is helped by Winston (Ian McShane) to both avoid the assassins and help him find an end to his vengeance, travelling around the world to Morocco, Osaka, Berlin, and Paris, meeting assassins from all around the world (and shooting them in the head).
Each John Wick film seems to be upping the ante with the on-screen level of action. The first action scene is a bit disappointing, with mostly just shooting about in badly lit corridors, it feels already reiterative of the third film. At least Caine’s character has some interest, as he is a blind assassin, having to use incredible hearing skills and little gadgets to defeat his opponents, making it more exciting.
But the film gets better as it goes on, presenting itself less of a generic action film, with a couple of scenes relying on drawing out tension rather being a burstfire of fighting. It’s moments like these that actually justify the film’s run-time, which is a tad long. Even the characters become more interesting as the film goes on, with their very troubled homicidal relations with each other being tested and twisted. There’s also more humour in the film as it gets towards the end, with one moment involving stairs being a crowd favourite.
Although there’s probably less people getting shot in the head than in the third film (and certainly less than in the second one), Chapter Four still comes through as a hell of an action film – obviously the action is great, but the characters can also be fun, it’s a very handsomely made film, and John Wick, although on more of the gruff and quiet side, is still a stellar action lead because of how single-minded he is on getting his retribution (and on shooting people in the head).
DAVID MORGAN-BROWN