REVIEW: Keanu Reeves Dominates Paris and More in New John Wick: Chapter 4

John Wick franchise fans are in for nonstop action across Jordan, Japan, Berlin, and Paris, in Keanu Reeves’ latest action flick John Wick: Chapter 4 produced and directed by Chad Stahelski.

Keanu Reeves delivers another powerful role as John Wick in the latest addition to the franchise of films. This time, Wick has to battle a new nemesis at The High Table, The Marquis who has activated a deadly hunt to find Wick for tens of millions of dollars.

The film opens with John in a desert in Jordan on a horse in fast pursuit of an Arabian villain who Wick kills. Viewers are quickly taken to images of The High Table led by The Marquis (Bill Skarsgård) taking over Winston’s (Ian McShane) New York Continental Hotel and killing Charon (Lance Reddick), the hotel’s concierge in search of where Wick is hiding.

The Marquis next, has his highbrow gangsters set on the Osaka Continental Hotel to shake down the owner and another good friend of Wick, Shimazu played by Hiroyuki Sanada. Sanada is a martial arts expert and action film star best known for Bullet Train and Army of the Dead.

Donnie Yen (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) joins the cast as Caine, a long-time friend of Wick who has been ordered by The High Table to kill him. Caine is on the hunt and knows Wick may be hiding with Shimazu who runs the hotel with his daughter Akira (Rina Sawayama). Both Shimazu and Akira try to defend The High Table from taking over the Osaka as they swarm the property for any sign of Wick. Akira sees her father fall to the hands of Caine, which was a phenomenal matchup of legendary actors, after taking a bullet herself. Even Caine vocalizes he will be waiting for her as he knows that she will be hunting him down next to avenge her fallen father. Rina Sawayama’s performance is stellar, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for her; there’s a surprise in the end credits.

Wick heads over to Berlin at the recommendation of Winston, as it’s his only chance to restore his Belarus family ties so that he can challenge The Marquis to a duel to gain his freedom back. The duel which is eventually set in Paris, of course, has something in it for Winston, he wants his hotel back.

It’s not an easy game as Wick must win the loyalty of his family, who then thrusts him into a challenge to avenge a family member’s death. This puts him front and center with Killa (Scott Adkins), an enormous wild card shark and assassin who wants Wick dead for the payout.

A tracker who goes by Nobody (Shamier Anderson) is introduced as another stake in the game for the bounty on John Wick’s head. We saw him having clear shots at Wick at Osaka, only to spare him, as he is waiting for it to rise, which it does, hitting over 20 Million. He’s followed him to Berlin and ends up in a four-way gun battle at a poker table with Killa, Caine, and Wick, which escalates into a chaotic club scene with water falling throughout the club as ravers dance with a massive takedown of Killa by Wick.

The club scene was authentic, with a total vibe of areas I’ve frequented, like Oranienburger Straße in Berlin, which is known for its intense art and club scenes. While it was hard to believe the clubgoers kept dancing despite the gunshots and bodies flying, who knows what they are used to seeing when the club owner is a trained killer.

It isn’t until the fight and chase escalate to Paris, the source of the duel for Wick, that we see the Eiffel Tower turned into an all-female DJ spot, sending signals for the bounties through the hits played to all of the city’s assassins. All of the action scenes were just incredible and Paris added a fantastic backdrop, including the Champs–Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe that served for the infamous black mustang scene, which will have your jaw dropped. Reeves’ performance is simply stellar as he was actually driving the car, and the added effects looked and felt real. Something about Keanu in a suit, guns blazing in a black Mustang spinning in circles around the Arc de Triomphe with the doors off and not breaking a sweat screams satisfying.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is one explosive gun scene and fight battle after another. While that makes you cringe a bit at how Hollywood has the finger pointed at them for glamorizing artillery, the details that went into every scene are undeniably incredible. They literally have a chateau scene that becomes a human video game simulation with cameras aiming downward as though you are witnessing a virtual match. Wick takes artillery meant to be used on him and ends up firing what becomes a flame thrower and obliterates the dozens of bounty killers in his path.

Nobody sees his loyal dog in the firing range of one of The High Table goons. He realizes that John Wick isn’t so bad when he shoots a bullet into the villain and saves his dog while Wick is literally fighting for his own life from Nobody’s line of fire.

Yen gives some of the most spectacular stunt scenes from when Caine ambushes the Osaka hotel kitchen with sensors placed to signal him to take out Sanada’s bodyguards to an incredible scene in Paris that involved hundreds of stairs, which he and Wick had to climb in order to make it to the final duel. The Marquis had every assassin in the city of Paris there to ensure Wick didn’t reach the duel but it doesn’t exactly pan out; the stairs scene is epic.

The final duel included Caine standing in for the coward, that is, The Marquis, who wouldn’t put his own life on the line even when challenged. The Marquis has also threatened Caine with the safety of his daughter. There’s a distinct duality between Caine and Wick, with both of them having this softer side and experiencing love and loss; Wick lost his wife to cancer, and Caine’s daughter’s life is being threatened.

Overall, John Wick: Chapter 4 was entertaining with a surplus of action, making it feel like a really immersive video game where you get lost for hours, only without the controls. I’m torn on a perfect score because I enjoyed all of the action scenes, but it was a tad long and needed a bit more of a narrative, specifically with Wick having such few lines. There’s mystery in Wick’s stoic guarded silence, but I definitely felt there needed to be more substance. What we got in action almost made up for it, which makes this a must-watch, especially with the incredible locations; the movie was filmed in France, Germany, and Japan. 

You’ll have to watch the film for yourself to find out what happens to Wick and if what we are seeing at the end of this film is real or an illusion of peace. Only time will tell if this is the end.

Check out John Wick: Chapter 4 in theaters and watch the trailer below.