AUTHOR: TOMMY, MAY 08, 2023
Keanu Kills It
Ah, John Wick 4. The film that gave us even more of Keanu Reeves' steely gaze and the satisfying sound of gunfire. While I can absolutely appreciate the talent on display and the bold choices made by the director, there are a few aspects of the film that left me feeling a bit... underwhelmed.
Let's start with the positives. The performances in John Wick 4 are absolutely stellar. Reeves delivers his trademark intensity and physicality, and the supporting cast, including Laurence Fishburne and Hiroyuki Sanada, who bring their A-game. Donnie Yen is.. well Donnie Yen! At this point a gold standard is to be expected. The direction is also innovative, with some truly stunning action sequences that push the boundaries of what we've seen before in this genre - at one point takes the perspective of a top-down shooter video game and it somehow works amazingly!
It All Feels A Bit Shallow However, there are a few issues that I came away with after watching John Wick 4, which I felt in many ways held it back from reaching the heights of its predecessors. First and foremost, the movie is overlong. Clocking in at just over two hours and twenty minutes, at times it's a real slog to sit through. While the action sequences are undeniably impressive, there are times when they feel like they go on for just so. damn. long. It's like the filmmakers were so excited about the cool things they could do, they didn't stop to think it they SHOULD do them and forgot to think about pacing.
And then there's the headshots. Oh, the headshots.
I get it, this is an action movie about a hitman, so it makes sense that there would be a fair amount of violence. But John Wick 4 takes it to a whole new level. It's like the filmmakers had a bet to see if they could top the amount of headshots from the previous movies (..combined). Sure, it's satisfying in a animistic, visceral way, but it starts to feel gratuitous after a while. I found myself wishing for a bit more variety.
But perhaps the biggest issue with John Wick 4 is its lack of depth. While the original film turned out to be a pleasant surprise: introducing us to a fully-realized world of assassins with their own codes and rules. It was a blast to explore that world, learning more about the characters that inhabited it, not to mention John's mythos and motivations adding layers of intrigue. But as the franchise has continued, that world has started to feel a bit... shallow. John Wick 4 introduces a few new faces and concepts, but they feel thread bear and uninteresting. There's no real sense of stakes or consequence to anything that happens, which makes it hard to become invested in the story. This is exacerbated by the one dimensional bad guy: as much as Bill Skarsgard did a great job hamming it up, the characters' motivations felt like they came from a first draft of the script.
All in all if you want to go to the cinema to switch off your brain and watch Keanu Reeves doing his thing (go check out my article on Cocaine Bear), then John Wick 4 is the perfect movie. But it falls short of its potential due to its overlong runtime, gratuitous violence, and lack of depth. If you're a fan of the series, you'll probably enjoy it for what it is. But if you're looking for a movie that will truly blow your mind, you might want to just go back and rewatch the original.
Comentarios