John Wick: Kapitel 4

For a conclusion to a franchise (at least the Wick story arc) you'd expect story. Each movie has gotten a little further away from telling an interesting story. I even enjoyed when they layered in more of this far-fetched stuff with the high-table & continental in 2 & 3. But, we still don't know much about this world, how it was created, or who is in charge. I thought this movie would do more with this secret government for criminals, but instead this movie made those aspects of the story pointless. So many elements from the past movies were just glazed over to essentially give this movie no story. No Elder, No Winston's betrayal, No past characters except Winston & The King, No Dog, No Wife. All of those things amounted to a few 1-liners in this movie. Instead they focused on the worst aspect of 3 and multiplied it with fights that last too long, and people that need to be shot 20 times. I personally preferred the realism and tactical focus to the action of 1 & 2.

By now you know what to expect from a John Wick movie. I thought the franchise was losing a little momentum in chapter 3 so I was worried this could be disappointing. It's not. It's even more on steroids than any Wick before! Even close to 3 hours it doesn't feel to long which is very special for a action movie. This franchise has set new standards. If anybody says a movie is good like John Wick, it better f'n be! The set pieces as everyone mentioned before are really insane this time. The Tokyo sceney with illuminated cherry blossoms was beautiful. The only super illogical thing that bothered me was that nobody flinched at the nightclub, eventually they did but after a whole 10 minute beatdown through the whole club, but then again it's a shady nightclub for high table people. If you liked the first three movies, get your ass to the cinema. Yeah.

If you enjoy watching other people play video games then you'll definitely enjoy this.

There's lots of action, weapons and style - all the things we've come to expect from a John Wick film.

Of course it's ridiculous - all of them are. The mere idea that you can deflect bullets with a jacket lapel gives you an indication of how far from reality this film is. Keanu Reeves sustains what would be critical injuries half a dozen times - and shakes it off without any ill effects.

With one exception, the amount of damage a character can sustain appears to be directly related to how important they are to the story. Most of the victims in the extensive gun battles (at one point it appears Keanu Reeves is single-handedly depopulating Paris) are gone after a couple of shots. If you have a speaking part then you can take much more damage than any of the extras.

The whole idea of the "secret assassin society" only works if you don't draw attention to yourself". So having a full blown Blackwater Contracting reunion at the Arc de Triumph isn't exactly the best way of keeping things on the down low.

Throw in a Mr Chow-esque (from the hangover) character and then deciding to make him blind really shows how silly things have got. Last time I checked, gunfighting requires you to be able to at least the person you want to shoot. That said, he is at least still more convincing than Ruby Rose was.

The first John Wick film was such a hit because the audience felt a connection with his loss and wanted him to be successful seeking revenge on what were some nasty (if ineffective) bad guys. At this point I'm not really sure what John Wick is supposed to be fighting for. He just lurches from one noir styled location to the next before embarking on an unrestrained killing spree, leaving dozens dead in his wake - you wonder if these people have families.

If you liked the second and/or third film, then you'll like this. It requires little to no thought and the plot is as by the numbers as you'd expect.

That said, the action, although resembling a video game, is very well shot, there's lots of cool locations and stylish outfits. Despite the tactical nonsense and the fact that the bad guys wait in line for their turn to attack him, Keanu Reeves has genuine skill in martial arts and pistol shooting.

It's as constructive a use of time as playing 3 hours of Call Of Duty in your best suit.

Henchmen just standing there, waiting to get hit, reacting to things that didn't hit them, people in the club just doing the same dance even while people are being killed right in front of them, the cars in traffic keeps moving even while people are getting killed, cars are crashing and bullets are flying, but nope.. traffic just keeps on going. I can't unsee any of it.

It looks painfully unnatural compared to how well the previous 3 films handled the fighting.

There's a ton of wasted movement and shot decisions based on making a scene look "pretty" rather than "good."

I know they can do better. I've seen it.

A couple cute twists of the story doesn't really carry the rest of the film, but it was at least still entertaining.

I'm gonna have to rewatch this one another day. But I found myself beginning to doze off repeatedly like an hour 1/2 into the movie. I can't quite put my finger on it. The villain was definitely boring, the story line and dialogues seemed a bit stretched out. The fight scenes and overall feel of them didn't quite do it for me like the first 3 movies did. I think there's gonna be mixed reviews on this one. I felt there were several plot holes. And I'm in limbo about how I feel about the ending. It seemed fitting but then also didn't...? Lol. Idk man I just think some lazy writing went into play on this one.