John Wick Chapter 4 Movie Review

Welcome back, Mr. Wick. Four years after "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum," director Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves have returned to theaters with "John Wick: Chapter 4," a film that was supposed to hit theaters almost two full years ago. Trust me. It was worth the wait. Stahelski and writers Shay Hatten and Michael Finch have distilled the mythology-heavy approach of the last couple chapters with the streamlined action of the first film, resulting in a final hour here that stands among the best of the genre.

John Wick has been through a lot in nine years. The sullen hitman, played by Keanu Reeves, tried to retire from the profession back in the first movie and mourn his late wife, only to get dragged back into action in search of vengeance for his dead dog. From there, John just can’t catch a break. He’s forced back into service for the sequel, which ends with a contract on his head by the High Table and decides to take the whole hitman enterprise down by the end of chapter three.

In the fourth entry, out this weekend, the renegade assassin closes in on his target, setting his sights on High Table boss Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård) even as the marquis hopes to take John down first.

Per usual with the “John Wick” movies, the stakes of the story are mostly just a giant MacGuffin for John to shoot, punch, and kick his way through highly stylized environments, surviving many impossible ordeals along the way. This time, John somehow manages to make it through some pretty gnarly falls, smashing through glass and, in one of the movie’s most amusing slapstick moments, tumbling down seemingly infinite flights of stairs, yet he still manages to get up and keep fighting his way forward.

Until the ending, that is, where the future of the entire series suddenly becomes harder to figure out.

The final act of “John Wick: Chapter 4” finds John agreeing to a sunrise duel with the Marquis, who nominates blind killer Caine (Donnie Yen) to take his place. After Caine hits John with a bullet that knocks him down and John appears to miss his target, the Marquis takes the gun from Caine in an effort to deliver the mortal shot. But it turns out that John didn’t actually fire his gun, and uses his final bullet to kill the Marquis, effectively destroying the High Table and releasing John from the bounty on his head.

A bloody John staggers to the staircase sits down and remembers his late wife before falling over. In the final scene, John’s pals Winston (Ian McShane) and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) are in a cemetery regarding John’s tombstone and its place next to his wife. They walk away, the camera drifts into the trees, and we fade to black.

So that’s it, right? John’s dead, finally at peace with the love of his life? Not so fast.

“It’s an ambiguous ending,” producer Basil Iwanyck, who produced all four “John Wick” movies, told IndieWire. “I’ll put it that way. We don’t have this answer.”

Potential Sequel

In August 2020, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer confirmed that a fifth film was being developed alongside John Wick: Chapter 4. While it was initially intended to be shot back-to-back with the fourth installment, in March 2021 Lionsgate opted to delay production and solely move forward with Chapter 4. In 2019, Reeves stated that he would continue making sequels, as long as the films were successful.

Stahelski later said there are no plans for an immediate sequel, stating, "In our minds, Keanu and I are done for the moment. We're going to give John Wick a rest. I'm sure the studio has a plan. If everyone loves it and it goes kooky, then we'll take a quiet minute."

A potential fifth film was no longer on the table by the time the film was released, in part due to Wick's death in Chapter 4. Stahelski said that the reason he and Reeves abandoned plans for a sequel was his skepticism over his ability to "deliver two uniquely special experiences".

Lionsgate initially demurred at the duo's plan to retire Reeves' character but eventually acquiesced. Despite Stahelski and Reeves' insistence that Wick was dead, Lionsgate president Joe Drake later hinted at the possibility of a fifth film due to Chapter 4's unforeseen level of commercial success.

Crew Members

Director	Chad Stahelski
Producer	Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Chad Stahelski
Writer	Shay Hatten, Michael Finch
Based on	Characters by Derek Kolstad
Cinematography	Dan Laustsen
Editor	Nathan Orloff
Production Companies	Summit Entertainment, Thunder Road Films, 87Eleven Productions
Distributed By	Lionsgate
Country	United States
Language	English

John Wick 4 Trailer | Hindi

Cast and Their Roles

Keanu Reeves	John Wick, a professional hitman and assassin who has gained a legendary reputation for his set of skills and is now hunted by the High Table
Donnie Yen	Caine, a blind High Table assassin and an old friend of John Wick.
Bill Skarsgård	The Marquis Vincent de Gramont, a powerful member of the High Table whose position is challenged by John Wick
Laurence Fishburne	The Bowery King, a former underground crime boss who was left for dead by the High Table and is now sponsoring John Wick.
Hiroyuki Sanada	Shimazu Koji, the manager of the Osaka Continental Hotel and an old friend of John Wick.
Shamier Anderson	Mr. Nobody/The Tracker, a bounty hunter pursuing Wick.
Lance Reddick	Charon, the concierge at the Continental Hotel in New York.
Rina Sawayama	Akira, Koji's daughter and concierge of the Osaka Continental.
Scott Adkins	Killa Harkan, the head of the German Table and an individual who has one thing in common with John Wick: they have the same enemy.
Ian McShane	Winston Scott, the manager of the New York Continental Hotel and friend of John Wick.

Budget and Box Office Collection

Principal photography began on June 28, 2021, on a $100million budget, and took place in France, Germany, New York City, and Japan.

John Wick Chapter 4 made Rs 30 crores in India and a worldwide box office collection of 137.5 million USD in its opening weekend.

Movie Rating

IMDb 8.4/10

Rotten Tomatoes 94%

Metacritic 78%

Book My Show 9.1/10