John Wick 4 – extreme action

John Wick 4 clocks in at 169 minutes. The Keanu Reeves action series that started as a straight to video title – has grown with each sequel.

Much like is a few Liam Neeson flicks since his resurgence, (and Keanu himself and co-star Fishburne in the Matrix a generation ago) the ‘Gun-Fu’ is front and center here.

You’re lining up for John Wick to see all kinds of hand-to-hand action hanging on a threadbare plot. Like the amped up antics Jason Bourne or Mission Impossible, without all that international intrigue.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t great locations around the world.

A great extended sequences through a dance club with Scott Adkins, and Nowhere to Run needle drop as well. The action is as crazy as The Matrix – and this movie is rooted in realty.

The staging of the action in John Wick 4 is the best I’ve scene from beginning to end in a film – a Frogger-like battle in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe is great stuff.

This being said – the bad guys after Wick are as bad a shot as Storm Troopers, and anyone shooting at Steven Seagal back in the day.

The Wick formula is simple: huge battles alternating with conversations between people with titles only. Here it’s a bit of Japan and France – a great mix.

The cinematography in this film is fantastic, and Bill Skarsgård is in full Bond villain here.

Throw in some The Challenge from Scott Glenn a lifetime ago, some Ronin from half that time ago (oddly enough both directed by the talented John Frankenheimer) – and that’s what you have in the piece.