John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) Review

Time: 169 Minutes
Age Rating: Bloody violence, cruelty & offensive language
Cast:
Keanu Reeves as John Wick
Donnie Yen as Caine
Bill Skarsgård as the Marquis Vincent de Gramont
Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King
Hiroyuki Sanada as Shimazu Koji
Shamier Anderson as Mr. Nobody/The Tracker
Lance Reddick as Charon
Rina Sawayama as Akira
Scott Adkins as Killa Harkan
Ian McShane as Winston Scott
Director: Chad Stahelski

With the price on his head ever increasing, legendary hit man John Wick takes his fight against the High Table global as he seeks out the most powerful players in the underworld, from New York to Paris to Japan to Berlin.

John Wick: Chapter 4 was one of my most anticipated movies of 2023. John Wick franchise really had an interesting journey. The first film released back in 2014, and people at the time didn’t really expect it to be good, but it became something of a cult hit. With its next sequels it quickly became one of the most notable action franchises of recent years, with each entry somewhat surpassing the previous movie in some way. As someone who loves the John Wick movies, I was really looking forward to how the fourth movie would be, and I have to say that John Wick Chapter 4 isn’t only the best movie in the series, but also one of the best action movies of recent years.

Chapter 4 is unsurprisingly even larger than the previous three films. There’s even more worldbuilding, the scope and scale expands with more locations, a large array of memorable supporting characters, and also a higher body count. It is also a very long movie at 2 hours and 50 minutes, and while I know this will be a turn off for people, I thought it worked really well. In spite of the many action set pieces, the plot takes its time, which helps considering a lot happens across its runtime. It doesn’t wear out its welcome and it never felt boring to me. It’s also the funniest John Wick movie, from the one-liners, to Charlie Chaplin levels of physical comedy. At the same time the story is pretty good and one that I was invested in, even if much of it is stringing one action set piece to another. It is a personal story for John Wick, and touches on themes of loss, regret, and vengeance. It is enjoyably campy and silly without getting self-conscious or snarky, but also is told with a sincerity which helped me get on board with it from beginning to end. There are even some moments that particularly bring the emotions. Then it all builds to a giant climax which is just action perfection, one of the best third acts I’ve ever seen for an action film.  

The cast here are great, in fact it’s probably the best collection of actors in all the four movies. Over the past near decade, Keanu Reeves has made John Wick one of his al- time iconic roles. There has been a real natural progression to Wick’s story during these four movies; his journey is well thought out and I particularly like the places that it goes in this movie. This character may be a man of few words, but Reeves conveys so many feelings and emotions in small subtle ways and through his line deliveries. Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane, and the late Lance Reddick reprise their respective roles and reliably deliver strong performances. The new cast and characters are great and memorable too. Hiroyuki Sanada as usual is a great presence whenever he’s on screen, and Rina Sawayama is really good in her debut performance, especially with the action. Bill Skarsgard is entertaining and effortlessly hateable as the central villain, one of the better antagonists in the series. This movie has many people after John Wick, but there’s a couple that get the most attention; as a mysterious tracker with a dog, Shamier Anderson is really good and adds a unique presence, and Donnie Yen is amazing and might’ve been the standout to me. As blind assassin Caine, Yen’s action scenes are very entertaining, and I loved the scenes, dynamic and interactions between him and Wick. Scott Adkins dons a fat suit and prosthetics to deliver an unrecognisable and scene scenestealing performance, he’s very entertaining in his scenes. Other supporting actors like Clancy Brown and Natalia Tena also bring it to their scenes.

Chad Stahelski has been showing himself as one of the best action directors working today with the John Wick movies, and with every film, he somehow tops what he did before. Everything feels grand and epic, and its fantastically put together. The cinematography is outstanding, with fantastic lighting and composition, and the production design is excellent as always. The highlights of these movies however are the action, and they did not disappoint here. There are some incredible set pieces, the fights are so well choreographed and have excellent stuntwork. The action ranges from silly and slapstick to absolutely brutal (unsurprisingly). I don’t want to spoil the sequences as they are best experienced for yourself, but there’s plenty of variety to make each one feel fresh. It also does a good job avoiding making Wick feel invincible and easily plowing through enemies, as he is put up against harder odds. The third act is just pure masterful action, with stellar set piece after stellar action set piece, all of them thrilling, intense and entertaining. The score from Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard is solid and adds to the action scene, and even to the quieter moments.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is highly satisfying and entertaining, beautifully directed with fantastic set pieces, and with memorable characters and performances. It’s impressive on all fronts, one of the best action movies of recent years, and already my favourite movie of the year.

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Angel Has Fallen (2019) Review

Time: 121 Minutes
Age Rating: Violence & offensive language
Cast:
Gerard Butler as United States Secret Service agent Mike Banning
Morgan Freeman as President Allan Trumbull
Danny Huston as Wade Jennings
Michael Landes as Sam Wilcox
Tim Blake Nelson as Vice President Martin Kirby
Nick Nolte as Clay Banning
Piper Perabo as Leah Banning
Jada Pinkett Smith as FBI Agent Helen Thompson
Lance Reddick as Secret Service Director David Gentry
Director: Ric Roman Waugh

Authorities take Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) into custody for the failed assassination attempt of U.S. President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman). After escaping from his captors, Banning must evade the FBI and his own agency to find the real threat to the president. Desperate to uncover the truth, he soon turns to unlikely allies to help clear his name and save the country from imminent danger.

I really liked Olympus Has Fallen, it was a throwback to R rated action movies from the 80s like Die Hard and it was entertaining for what it was. I even thought London Has Fallen was okay enough, a noticeable step down from the first movie but I found some enjoyment in it. However I wasn’t exactly really excited for the follow up with Angel Has Fallen. Along with the second movie taking a noticeable drop in quality already, the new plot was quite different from the past two movies, and I was getting Taken 3 vibes from the third instalment, and that’s never a good sign. Having watched it, I can say that it was some dumb fun for 2 hours, probably a little better than I expected it to be.

Angel Has Fallen is another over the top action flick, with a plot that you’ve seen many times before and done better. It’s a different plot from what you’d expect from a movie in this series. This time its Gerard Butler’s Mike Banning being on the run after being falsely accused of trying to kill the president. The sudden change in the type of plot seems pointless but I guess it was a better decision then just doing the past two movies set in different cities. It’s rather predictable in plot and you can get a general idea of where it’s going pretty early on. For example there’s a shadowy secret villain presented during the movie, and it’s pretty easy to figure out who it is just through process of elimination. Still, it isn’t too much of a problem once you’re 30 minutes into it. Something that’s interesting is that they almost took like a Skyfall sort of approach with regards to how they treat the main character (if you know what I mean), I guess that’s at least something different that they’re doing with this movie in the series but it doesn’t add up to much really. Side note but for some reason it has a mid credits scene as a joke, and I don’t know why they included it.

Gerard Butler once again does pretty well as Mike Banning, he’s got a handle on this character as his go to action role. Seeing as how this is the third time he’s played him and he’s probably going to reprise his role multiple times, it’s working out for him. Morgan Freeman acts like Morgan Freeman here, he doesn’t even get much to do, despite being the president this time, he’s out of commission for most of the runtime. Nick Nolte plays Butler’s father and he was a standout in the movie whenever he was on screen. Danny Huston makes for a decent villain, his character is pretty one note and nothing special at all, but Huston elevates the role just a bit with his performance. Side note, no, Aaron Eckhart’s character who was the president in the previous two movies doesn’t appear here or isn’t even acknowledged, not a big deal but it was a little weird not having even a mention of him.

The direction by Ric Roman Waugh was fine for a standard action movie. The action is pretty standard but still entertaining. It’s nothing special and the action scenarios aren’t as extravagant as the previous movies, but on the other hand it’s didn’t fall into feeling a little lazy like London Has Fallen did at some point. Some of the CGI was pretty bad at times and could be a little distracting (mainly an early scene involving drones), but I’ve seen much worse.

Angel Has Fallen was what I expected, familiar, generic and pretty silly, but still entertaining enough for what it is. If you liked the other movies in the series then check it out for sure, you’ll no doubt have some fun with it. Otherwise you’re probably not going to get anything out of the third movie. If you haven’t watched the other movies and you’re still interested in it, you can jump right into this with no problem. Recently it was announced that there would be more movies in the Mike Banning/Has Fallen series. While I’m not overly enthusiastic by that proposition, I don’t mind it, they provide some brief entertainment for what they are.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) Review

Time: 131 Minutes
Age Rating: Graphic violence and offensive language
Cast:
Keanu Reeves as John Wick
Ian McShane as Winston
Mark Dacascos as Zero
Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King
Asia Kate Dillon as the Adjudicator of the High Table.
Halle Berry as Sofia
Lance Reddick as Charon
Anjelica Huston as the Director
Director: Chad Stahelski

After gunning down a member of the High Table — the shadowy international assassin’s guild — legendary hit man John Wick finds himself stripped of the organization’s protective services. Now stuck with a $14 million bounty on his head, Wick must fight his way through the streets of New York as he becomes the target of the world’s most ruthless killers.

John Wick Chapter 3 – Parabellum was one of my most anticipated films of 2019. John Wick was a surprise hit upon its release back in 2014, no one expected it to be as great as it was, but with the action scenes, along with Keanu Reeves’s great turn as the titular character, it all really worked. Chapter 2 showed that the first movie wasn’t just a fluke, and continued the story and expanded the lore even further. And now, John Wick Chapter 3 has cemented this trilogy as one of the all time best action trilogies.

Chapter 3 picks up right after the previous film, with John on the run. It is more of a straightforward action movie, but at the same time leave some room to expand the lore and Wick’s story, and these scenes aren’t just used as breathing room between the scenes. The lore is one of the highlights of these movies and the expanding of it didn’t disappoint. Story-wise I feel like nothing could top the first movie because of how personal it is for the main character, whereas in Chapters 2 and 3 he’s forced into situations, in the first movie it’s a decision that he returns to his old life. That’s not to say however that every John Wick post the first movie has a weak story, Chapter 3’s story is actually handled quite well, at over 2 hours long it had my attention from start to finish. By the end I was on board with however long they want to make this series, I’ll be there watching every single one of them.

At this point I don’t think it’s controversial in the slightest to say that John Wick is Keanu Reeves’s role. Of course, everyone knows that he can do the action well, but on a performance level he’s also really good. There is this inner darkness and drive that you can see within him, it’s subtle but he conveys so well. Some cast members from the previous movies also make their appearance and all really add to the movie, particularly Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King, Ian McShane as Winston and Lance Reddick as Charon, they all work well. I also liked the additions, with the shining example being Halle Berry. She’s not in the movie as much as you’d think but she makes the most of the screentime that she does have, demonstrating that her character is at least on par with John Wick. I hope we get to see more of her in a sequel or something similar. Asia Kate Dillon plays the Adjudicator sent by the High Table, who meant to represent them. Unlike the rest of the supporting cast, she comes across as feeling a little weaker but I guess with how she’s written there’s not a whole lot that she could really do in the role. Faring much better as an antagonist is Mark Dacascos as Zero, the main assassin sent after Wick (and is probably the main villain of the movie). He was threatening, entertaining and all around worked perfectly for the movie, especially as a threat to John.

Chad Stahelski like with the past two movie directs this well. The action scenes as to be expected are great, no close up, shaky cam or quick cut editing that plagues some modern action movies, you can clearly see what’s going on and it’s all choreographed really well. The body count is tripled from the previous movies. If you thought that Wick killing people with a pencil was impressive, just wait till you see what he does in the opening scenes. With there being even more action than the past two movies, this could’ve resulted in some action fatigue but Stahelski and co. manage to bypass this by keeping each action scene fresh, with different environments and situations (yes, John Wick even rides a horse at one point). If there’s one small gripe I had with what I watched, its that certain action scenes felt like they went for a little too long, as much as I liked them. The movie like the previous two manage to show off John Wick as clearly being a lot more capable than most of the people he’s up against while making it seem like he could die and isn’t invincible. There are some moments in Chapter 3 where it does feel like he’s invincible but for the most part it’s handled well. Chapter 2 was stunning looking and that continues into Chapter 3, it’s not surprising that both films have the same cinematographer. Tyler Bates’s score works perfectly with the John Wick series, so glad he returned for the third movie, it just elevates everything to a new level.

John Wick Chapter 3 lives up to all the hype and surpassed it, I loved the story and the expansion of the world and lore, and of course Keanu Reeves delivers as always as the now iconic titular character. This, as well as Mad Max Fury Road and Mission Impossible Fallout are some of the most overwhelming cinema experiences I’ve had with regard to action movies. I’m completely on board for this series, I can’t wait to see more of John Wick, the rest of the characters and more of this world.