Greasy hair that falls down the sides of the face when not wet, from water or blood. Quick reflexes, husky voice and barely contained humor. This is John Wick, he has always been like this, and even more so in this one John Wick 4 where the action – and revenge – is greater than ever.
It is well said that, in the cinema, there are elements that look better than in real life. And we’re not talking about effects. It’s the drops of water, the broken glass, the bluish or red lights. They are not fundamental ingredients per se, but for the action of John Wick 4with a Keanu Reeves untied, they look much better on you.
The stylization of the action, or rather the melee, the shootings at a distance (or from half a meter), the car or motorcycle chases that the former action double turned director Chad Stahelski, director of the four john wick, has achieved acquires in this pinnacle? -fifth would be in pre-production- some epic touches.
Precise, lethal, tireless
For those of you new to John Wick, Keanu Reeves’ character is a killer, but not your average guy. Not only is he accurate and lethal, but he is tireless. In this fourth installment of the saga, hundreds of characters are beaten, abused, shot and more. And let’s not exaggerate. The remembered scene from The Bride (Uma Thurman) in kill Bill it is a bean next to everything that happens inside John Wick 4.
The plot of this film is probably the last one, as it looks more and more like a video game. violent, of course Reeves told Clarin: This is the most complex action movie you’ve ever starred in. And for various reasons, not just because it’s the longest in the saga (169 minutes, almost three hours), that it doesn’t suffer at all, at any time, because it’s like riding an endless roller coaster. No break.
Wick’s head has long come with a price. Especially when he commits murder, and La Mesa, that brotherhood of assassins of which he was a part and which he wants to get rid of, wants to eliminate him once and for all.
The one who now has the ultimate power of The Table is the Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), a well-mannered Frenchman – well, so far – a gentleman who will do whatever it takes to succeed. Also, a rich and capricious boy. The Swedish actor who is Pennywise in the saga of Itemhere without makeup, it’s as scary as the character imagined by Stephen King.
Wick – his name can be understood as short for “evil” – has gone from being an anti-hero to a superhero. He doesn’t have superpowers, he’s not even Neo, but he dodges bullets like the protagonist of matrix. One day in your body. It does not matter.
But Reeves is not alone. Besides Skarsgard, there’s a whole cast who back him up, whether they’re on one side or the other of the rift, good or bad killers. The list is led by Donnie Yen, as a blind friend killer (like his character in A rogue one), which he has to deal with. Ian McShane, the recently deceased Lance Reddick and others return.
Since there is a lot of production, and it shows, it doesn’t matter how unlikely it is because John Wick 4 will not claim to be nominated for an Oscar for best original screenplay. There are flak suits, a lot of filming was done at night, there are several long and extended filming sequences (watch out for the overhead shot), scenes shot in New York, Berlin, some desert and especially Paris and its surroundings. Do not miss the Louvre Museum, Versailles, the Eiffel Tower, the Trocadero, the Moulin Rouge, the Opera Garnier.
And there are two highlights: the chase near the Arc de Triomphe and another in Montmartre, on the famous 222 steps of the staircase leading to the Sacré-Coeur basilica.
The heart is not what is missing John Wick 4. And there is nothing left.
“John Wick 4”
Action USA, 2023. 169′, SAM 16 R. From: Chad Stahelski. With: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Shamier Anderson, Hiroyuki Sanada. Rooms: IMAX, Cinépolis Recoleta and Avellaneda, Cinemark Palermo, Hoyts Dot, Showcase Belgrano.
Source: Clarin
