John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) Review

In Loving Memory of Lance Reddick (June 7th, 1962 – March 17th, 2023)

So I saw John Wick: Chapter 4 recently and I have to say this movie is incredible. Probably the best sequel in the series. A masterclass of action and storytelling that truly needs to be seen to be believed. I’m going to warn people to see the movie before reading this, I tried not to sat too much but there are still some mild spoilers. John Wick Chapter 4 was directed by Chad Stahelski and stars Keanu Reeves as the titular character, Donnie Yen as Caine, Bill Skarsgård as The Marquis, Lawrence Fishburne as The Bowery King, Hiroyuki Sanada as Shimazu, Shamier Anderson as Tracker, Lance Reddick (Rest in Peace) as Charon, Ian McShane as Winston, Rina Sawayama as Akira, and Scott Adkins as Killa. In this instalment John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes. 

The story and plot line of this movie is effective and pretty good. The best since the first movie. It feels so big and wide-reaching, as John takes his fight to the very table itself, and a person with power above the table. There’s a lot more stakes a play in this movie as we see the result of John’s actions throughout the movie, people he (and we) care about are affected in way that we aren’t expecting. John’s war against the table has far reaching consequences (heh) that are felt throughout the movie. I won’t spoil them but this movie does begin in a big way, and establishes the Marquis as a force to be reckoned with. I really enjoyed how this movie brought it back to the core of the series, John wanting back out after avenging his wife, and we get to analyze this bit more through the use of the new side-characters introduced in this movie. We have new characters that kind of play off of things that make them kind of similar to John in Caine who is a fellow semi-retired assassin, and through Tracker who has a dog and kind of feels like he’s an outer character coming into the world. This story also feels like a good endpoint for the story of John Wick with what happens in this movie, I don’t want to spoil anything so I won’t say too much, but it has that feeling of finality to it. 

Moving on to the characters now, I really enjoyed the characters in this movie. Some of the best characters introduced into the franchise with great performances all around. John is a great character as always and Keanu plays him with the same intensity and care that he always has. He brings the most emotion seen since the first movie for his arc, as this seems to be the final chapter in his story. I don’t want to spoil but I do think this is the best way to end his story and have it be satisfying. Winston continues to be a great character, this time we get to see some different stuff with him as he’s out of his element now and only has John and the Bowery King to go to, and Ian McShane is great as always. The new characters are all great too. I really enjoyed the character of Caine in this movie. He has the connection to John that we all love, but it does feel deeper than a lot of the other rival characters we’ve seen in the series. You can tell there’s a true relationship there, especially with the way they interact with and treat each other. There’s a true camaraderie there, as they both mirror each other. Caine also was out of the life, but his deal was a little different than Johns was and is forced back in. Donnie Yen does a great job in the role, and seems to have had a lot of fun doing it with the interesting choreography as he’s a badass blind assassin in this. The Tracker ( as he’s credited as) is an interesting  character. He’s kind of used too help establish the world a bit more as he’s aware of this massive criminal world, but doesn’t really seem to be in it. We don’t know much about him, but he’s an interesting character. He’s the requisite dog owner of the movie, and has some fun action scenes in it. Shamier Anderson does a great job in the role, playing the character as this experienced novice who could be worth of a spin-off.

Killa was a fun character for the time he was in the movie, an interesting side of the criminal world, as well as an over the top character. Its pretty interesting as he one of the most eccentric characters in the whole franchise so far. Scott Adkins does great in the role, you can tell he had a ton of fun in the time he was in the movie. He also had a great action sequence with John and got to show off a bit of what he can do. He plays this more comedic character pretty well. The fact that he was able to do what he did while in the suit he was in is incredible and shows how awesome he is. Finally we have the Marquis. In my opinion he’s probably the best or one of the best villains in this franchise. He’s the most powerful with the most resources, and he’s the most pompous jackass prick that exists in this universe. He’s so hatable which makes the finale that much more satisfying. He’s one of those guys who you just want to see get what’s coming to him. I find it funny how some of the best villains in this franchise are the smug ones you want to see John get too. Bill Skarsgård does a great job with the character, he’s not eccentric but just has that right smugness to hate. 

This movie is a technical marvel. So many beautiful sets and locations, incredible costuming and wardrobes, some favourites being the Marquis’ suits and the soldiers he sends to siege Osaka. The editing is great as always, paced well. It uses every second of that 2 hour and 49 minute run-time to its advantage. A rare movie where nothing should have been excluded. The soundtrack is great as always. The cinematography was great as well, not just as always has this movie gets pretty creative with the way it handles a lot of the action. A stand-out being a certain action scene that is likely inspired by the Hotline Miami video game series. Since I mentioned it, this movie has some of the best if not the best action of the franchise. Very creative but also very intricate and intense scenes with many elements and variables that probably took a long time to do. So many memorable scenes and moments that happen throughout. From the nightclub fight with Killa, to the Osaka siege, to the roundabout fire/fist fight, to the aforementioned house (I think its a house) firefight, to the staircase. Just incredible action and stunts all around. 

Over-all this is an incredible movie. Well worth the praise its been given. Just incredible and memorable all around and a good way to send-off the character. This should be seen in theatres, Two-Thumbs up!! 

Violent Night (2022) Review

Poster: Violent Night by Bryan Johnson

So I recently saw Violent Night, and it was a fun movie. It works as a christmas movie and uses a lot of christmas movie tropes while also being a violent action movie about Santa rescuing a family from issues of its own creation. Violent Night was directed by Tommy Wirkola and stars David Harbour as Santa Claus, John Leguizamo as Scrooge, Alan Hassell as Jason Lightstone, Alexis Louder as Linda, Cam Gigandet as Morgan Steel, Editor Patterson as Alva Lightstone, Never D’Angelo as Gertrude Lightstone, Leah Brady as Trudy Lightstone, and Alexander Elliot as Bert. When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint (synopsis from letterboxed). This is a movie that directly engages on its premise, and it delivers on it too. Its part gory action movie, part comedy, and part classic christmas movie. It uses a lot of classic christmas movie elements and formulas but also makes them kind of new since they’re being used in a gory action movie about Santa killing mercenaries. This is going to be a bit of stretch, but this movie kind of uses the now well known Hallmark romance formula in a way. Santa is a busy workaholic guy that has lost his christmas spirit. He comes across a family being held hostage and has to stay and help solve the situation. During this he is in contact with Trudy through a walkie talkie radio. This situation and Trudy’s belief in him bring back his christmas spirit and save the day. For this movie it works, and it works well for me. I enjoy how it gives Santa and the main family members an arc to go on through this movie. David Harbour is amazing as Santa and is the stand-out character of this movie. He’s badass but still has that wholesome energy in the character, even during the parts where he’s less than that. I do enjoy what they did with his backstory throughout the film, it does help explain why he’s such a badass and why he has a proclivity for a certain type of weapon. Everyone else in the movie did a great job, and you can see that everyone had a good time making this movie.

Most of the comedy in the movie works for me, but some of it is pretty cringy. Though I found that it was supposed to be cringy, as it was mostly tied to the more comic relief characters we’re not supposed to like. Probably the most effective comedy for me is the stuff related to people not believing in Santa when the actual Santa is in front of them, and the full on home alone scene. If you’ve ever wondered what Rated R home alone traps would be like, this is where you can find out. The action is pretty good throughout the movie. It makes good use of the setting with Santa using whatever he can find as a weapon, with decorations becoming deadly. They also got really creative with the hammer action in the movie. A stand-out action scene for me is when Santa is in the shed while a bunch of armed goons surround it and he finds a sledgehammer. It’s awesome and brutal and creative in what Santa is able to do in it. The action is all well-shot and well edited. No real shaky cam or fast editing. You can tell they put in the work to make it look as good as they can get it. The music is fittingly overtly christmas music and works for the tone of the movie. 

Over-all this is a fun movie and a good addition to your holiday action movie watch throughs. Some may see it as Die Hard in a mansion staring Santa as john Mclane, but I can safely say its if Die Hard was a full on outward christmas movie. Its a fun watch that’s worth seeing, Two-Thumbs Up !