John Wick: Chapter 4
Year: 2023
Rating: R
Length: 169 minutes / 2.17 hours
One thing I can appreciate with a franchise like John Wick is how it knew when and how to end. Some franchises seem to think that they have something significant to add even if the ninth entry in their long-running universe was the same plot as the previous eight. And while I had lost some of my faith in the John Wick franchise as it became more ridiculous with each iteration, perhaps my low standards made this last entry in the franchise that much better. John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) was a fitting and classy end to a set of movies that re-defined the action genre.
I loved the simplicity and steady, fast-paced choreography of John Wick (2014), but the world-building in John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) started adding too many things that complicated the base elements of what made the first movie work. John Wick: Chapter 4 successfully wrapped up a lot of these loose ends created in expanding the franchise’s universe in a way that was super classy and satisfying. Sure, this movie was perhaps a little long and could have deleted a location or two, but it was entertaining, to say the least.
Of course, there is still quite a bit of suspension of disbelief in this movie. Fighting in a club where the members don’t react to the violence around them. Oblivious French drivers who don’t care that there’s active gunfire near a famous monument. A staircase that seems endless but also is just long enough to give the protagonist time to get where they need to go. I’m able to overlook a lot of these things because of the fantastic choreography and cinematography (like the top-down perspective). It’s a little sad we won’t see more of this kind of movie instead of the previous two, but it’s worth it for a conclusive ending.
A much-improved franchise-ending entry for John Wick, I give John Wick: Chapter 4 4.0 stars out of 5.
