If it tops the third one Parabellum, aside from the classic martial arts films, it would be the best American action franchise I've seen personally. Although unless you count comic book movies, the competition isn't that difficult to be honest.
Saw it last night and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Yes it's long and I'm not totally sure it earns its runtime but the action is so well done most probably won't mind. Its pretty three massive set pieces each with a different feel, personally enjoyed the last one which is an homage to The Warriors. The story and character are almost secondary by this point. Keanu is Keanu and it works for this franchise, Donnie Yen and Bill Skarsgård are both pretty fun.... overall A-
Reposted It was great, for me it's likely the best American action franchise recently, and perhaps all time for the quality of action in each film. I still think the third movie Parabellum is the best and an all-time great action movie, but 4 was another enjoyable outing. I think the aerial angle and the weapon he had in that scene were one of the best in the series. Also, there is a post-credits scene as well, short but perhaps setting up additional content or films.
I wish they remade The John Wick series with Chris Pratt, its probably the only thing these films are missing. Will check out the 4th installment later in the year....
8/10 Solid movie: funny, action-packed with believable drama that makes you care about the characters involved. There were some negatives though: - Shimazu's daughter, played by Rina Sawayama, is underused and in a near 3-hour movie that centered around revenge, redemption, honor and family, it was an odd decision to give her such a minimal role. - Keanu Reeves has a limp and barely speaks, so he already seems impaired and so beaten up that he could barely go on, yet he's reaching Steven Seagal and comic levels of invincibility. It is bothersome. - Fight scenes are entertaining, but there are some really bad sequences where facing several opponents, it is obvious one is waiting for the other fight to finish and especially when the camera angle's from the side and just using one vantage point, you can see how slow they move and it's basically like a dance. The constant rolling around as well. Comically bad at times. - It could've been told in under 2 and half hours easily, since some scenes go on for way too long, especially in Paris - Bill Skarsgård is a solid actor, but he was not believable in his role, partially due to his portrayal of the French dialect.
This movie is the best one yet in the franchise, surpasses action behemoths the likes of The Raid 2. All time great movie to be enshrined in the action hall of fame.
Psyched. Seeing it Monday. I think I'm a rare Wick fan who liked 2 a little better than 3, just b/c Common.
I feel the same, 2 was better than 3. That being said, 4 is better than either. I'm still a big fan of the 1st one though, out of all 4 it still has the best story even if the action can't compare.
And miss the marvelous action? This ain't The Last Of Us, cutting action and key moments from the game to add boring needless side story for Emmy buzz. This is John Wick 4 with almost non-stop balls to the wall action. I actually want to see the hour of content they said they left in the editing room. JW4: Hagakure Extended Edition anyone?
I found it to be a bit ridiculous. The Dance floor scene where people are getting Wicked with axes and guns, but they just look at it and keep on dancing? It was comical. The one bad guy waits till the next bad guy goes down was just bad.
I agree, that was hilarious. I see people swinging axes and clubs at my club and I'm out of there. That being said, it was sweet action if you ignore the unlikely crowd response.
You really could see Keanus limitations in the action sequences. The fighting sequences. The gun play was superb, but it was almost Arnols Schwarzenegger Commando level of being impervious. It needed to be toned down and more deliberate. The suit stops all! The Donnie Yen and Hiroyuki Sanada scenes and the Japanese continental were superb.
Yeah, Keanu is definitely getting old, but us action fans love the old fart! Donnie Yen and Hiroyuki Sanada are in a different level when it comes to martial arts display. Yen particularly is a true martial artist, not just an actor.
You gotta suspend belief with this sort of movie. If you want to rationalize it the crowd ignoring the fighting- great ****ing drugs.
Watched this Saturday and enjoyed it...at this point you either like the John Wick movies or you don't. 1st one is still my favorite due to the way they build the mythology behind the character. The rest of the movies are just about what other stars they can bring in and how ridiculous they can make the action. I really like the initial scene with Caine where he's getting the kitchen setup for fighting, but considering all of the follow up fights it doesn't seem particularly necessary. I bet someone was like this would be a pretty cool setup, but too cumbersome and limiting for future scenes, but they did it anyway 'cuz it was cool For the location of the last scene, figured Wick would have picked somewhere more convenient to get to, but these are things don't bother me in the context of a John Wick movie. I was surprised there wasn't any special Lance Reddick dedication since I had read that there would be. Maybe that's just something they did in the domestic market? Unfortunately it's getting more and more difficult for me to separate the art from the artist. I used to really like Donnie Yen
