After a spectacular first chapter of deadly choreography but thin on narrative (a retired hitman seeks revenge on those who killed his dog, a gift his wife gave him before he died), the world of John Wick is in got bigger as the chapters progressed.
We have discovered the laws that govern the “work” of the assassins, governed by the Big Table, an international organization that brings together representatives of the largest crime syndicates. The quests of the chic and shock killer, personified by the impassive (and perfect at it) Keanu Reeves, have become riskier and deadlier: the death toll there explodes like skulls under a revolver bullet. The CinemaBlend site counts around 375 victims in the first three installments of the franchise alone.
Finally, the feature films narrating said quests, all autographed by Chad Stahelski, have gained in length: from 101 minutes for the original film, we’ve gone to 169 for this John Wick. Chapter 4 (VF de John Wick: Chapter 4) with which the former stuntman who doubled as Keanu Reeves in The Matrix and its sequels makes brilliant use of the tools of the director he has become. Yes, it’s almost three hours. And that doesn’t mean, for once, that it’s too long. Definitely for those who have taken over this universe where the violence, punctuated by Tyler Bates’ impeccable techno soundtrack, is so stylized and over the top (we’re fighting 50 on 1!) that the band more than (wrongly) required. Realism to mission: impossible.
As in Gareth Evans’ The Raid, we wince in pain (by proxy) as we’re knocked out by the bare knuckles and the cat-and-mouse games with guns. We are transported from the streets of New York to the Moroccan desert, passing Osaka and a sweat, water and blood spilling Berlin nightclub before landing in Paris. There, we’ll gape at a dizzying motorized chase around the Arc de Triomphe; and another, crazier, in the streets of a Montmartre where every bucolic echo of Amélie Poulain has been extinguished. Finally, we are stunned when the 222 steps leading to the Sacré-Coeur Basilica are used as “stairs to…hell”.
moving target
All to tell how John Wick, with the High Table placing a target on his back (good thing I saw John Wick: Parabellum here) and now with an enticing bounty on his head, will escape the assassins (or this tried). are after him and destroying (or trying to) the organization he has worked under for decades.
Among others, at his side the executives of the Continental hotels (true havens for murderers who respect the rules), in Osaka embodied by the always spectacular Hiroyuki Sanada; and in New York, by an unflappable Ian McShane and the late Lance Reddick, who died March 17 aged 60 and has the mysterious Cheshire Cat smile in the role he has held since John Wick.
Against the fugitive, alongside hundreds of other enemies, a blind assassin who was already an ally (Donnie Yen, who can do nothing but impress); an enigmatic killer played by Canadian actor Shamier Anderson (who deserves his own spin-off film set within this universe); and The Marquis, a worse-than-evil villain played by Bill Skarsgård, who unfortunately seems to be on autopilot when playing the type of character he’s perhaps offered too often. For the occasion, he adopts a French accent as believable as that of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Philippe Petit in The Walk. No comment.
In the script, Shay Hatten and Michael Finch took over from Derek Kolstad (who created the character) and avoided the falsely ponderous twists and turns of Parabellum that made it seem like the franchise was running out of steam. This monumental Chapter 4 and accepting what it is proves it is not. And justifies that a 5th part and a derived series (Ballerina) are in preparation. To better wait for her, let’s stay until the end of the credits…
John Wick. Chapter 4 (English version of John Wick: Chapter 4)
★★★★
Action drama directed by Chad Stahelski. Starring Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Shamier Anderson, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick. USA, 2023, 169 minutes. indoors