The critics have seen the fourth "John Wick" flick,
and yeah, they're thinking he's back. Here's what early reviews have to say
about the latest installment in the unstoppable hitman franchise.
“People keep asking if I’m back
and I haven’t really had an answer.
But now, yeah. I’M THINKING I’M BACK.”
The much-anticipated "John Wick: Chapter 4" will hit movie theaters worldwide on
March 24th, but the review embargo for the Keanu Reeves-led blockbuster has already been lifted,
and the vast majority of critics are heaping praise on it. The fourth iteration of the saga
holds an 88% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with 26 reviews, as of the making of this video.
"Chapter 4" is filled with things that happen in every "John Wick" movie,
with the most important of those being over-the-top combat sequences happening
at a breakneck pace. This time around, director Chad Stahelski has taken viewers
on a journey across a number of different locations spread out across three continents.
Clocking in at a whopping 162 minutes of runtime, "Chapter 4" follows the titular character as he
strives to break free from The High Table once and for all. Nearly three hours might seem like
overkill for an action-focused film where the plot plays second fiddle, but as most of the
reviews suggest, it was a conscious decision on Stahelski's part. Variety's Owen Gleiberman wrote,
"Is 'Chapter 4' too long? You bet it is. At moments,
it's like an action film as liturgical church service. Yet the movie is conceived
as a knowingly overstuffed gift to 'John Wick' fans, and on that level it succeeds.
It's like Sergio Leone crossed with John Woo as seen in Times Square."
One thing that all of the "Chapter 4" reviewers highlighted, in fact,
was the fact that the movie is by far the longest in the franchise. They were full of praise for
Stahelski's ability to keep viewers engaged for so long while maintaining consistently high quality.
IGN's Tom Jorgensen even called it "a modern action masterclass,"
and gave the movie a rare score of 10/10, writing,
"In an age of increased grumbling about films with two-plus-hour runtimes, Chapter 4's roaring pace
serves as a counter argument that proclaims movies should be as long as they need to be."
Writing for BBC Culture, Caryn James praised the visuals and choreography, writing,
"Knives, guns, and martial arts come into play, often in lovely, red-tinged light to the sound
of glass shattering all around [...] John Wick goes full James Bond, globe-trotting and
shooting his way through glamorous cities, with action that is even more spectacularly staged."
Citing the gripping combat scenes and praising the work of the stunt team,
The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Sheck wrote that "Chapter 4" "outdoes its
predecessors in nearly every respect." This sentiment prevails in other reviews,
with Eric Eisenberg writing for CinemaBlend that "there's a strong argument to be made
that it's the best of the sequels," and Digital Spy's Ian Sandwell summing it up
as "not bad for a series that started out with a hitman avenging his dead puppy."
According to most critics, the action in "Chapter 4" is so good that it excuses the
shortcomings of its plot. At one point in her review for Entertainment Weekly,
Leah Greenblatt posed a question:
"How does nearly three hours of wham-bam noise and nonsense,
unmitigated by any meaningful plot, work as well as it does?"
She went on to answer it by pointing toward Keanu Reeves' ability to remain
likable despite playing a mass-murdering hitman,
writing that there's, quote, "something ineffable in Reeves that you can't help but root for."
Nick Schager of the Daily Beast emphasized how the
actor expresses his character without much dialogue, writing,
"Letting his stares and homicidal skills do the talking for him,
Reeves exudes typically fearsome gravity, purpose, and weariness."
In a Sunshine State Cineplex review, Alan French went further, writing,
"Reeves shows why he's one of the best genre actors in the
world and pours his heart and soul into a soft-spoken performance."
“Good luck, Mr. Wick.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
Although he makes all the stunts and fast-paced combat seem easy,
Reeves admitted in a recent Fandango interview that "Chapter 4" was the "hardest film he's ever
done," but based on early reviews, it looks like it was worth all the effort.