Movie Review: John Wick Chapter 4 (2023)

John Wick Chapter 4 (2023) directed by Chad Stahelski

John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is on the run from the High Table, a shadow organization who purpose is not explained in this movie (I haven't seen Chapters 2 or 3, so I probably missed the set-up). He cashes in some favors with friends, including Winston (Ian McShane), the manager of the Continental Hotel in New York. Being friends with John Wick is not good. Winston discovers this when his hotel is destroyed and he is disavowed by the High Table. Wick flees to Japan where he gets the Tokyo Continental Hotel in trouble. In addition to the High Table's thugs (led by the Marquis (Bill Skarsgard) aided by blind Asian assassin Caine (Donnie Yen)), he also has independent bounty hunters after him, including the entertaining Tracker (Shamier Anderson) who has a pet dog who helps out taking down targets. The action ranges all over the Earth, ending climactically in Paris.

The movie has lots of amazing action scenes: gunfights, blade fights, and hand-to-hand combat. Some fights go on too long, though the characters in the movie can shake off pretty much any punishment delivered to them. Also, most of them have bulletproof dress suits, so the blood and gore is minimal. The plot is serviceable, getting from one action sequence to another with at least some minimum of logic (though some scenes are inexplicable except for their cool factor). The drama is overblown, which matches the over-the-top action sequences. I found the movie enjoyable as pure action but it drags on too long. They could have split this fourth movie into two, like in the Twilight or Hunger Games franchises. Maybe they could have thrown in some more character development or pathos beyond the dog being in jeopardy.

Mildly recommended--maybe I should have seen 2 and 3 before watching this. Having seen this, I am not particularly motivated to go back and fill in the gaps.