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John Wick: Chapter 4

Welcome back, Mr. Wick. Four years after “ John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ,” director Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves have returned to theaters with “John Wick: Chapter 4,” a film that was supposed to hit theaters almost two full years ago. Trust me. It was worth the wait. Stahelski and writers Shay Hatten and Michael Finch have distilled the mythology-heavy approach of the last couple chapters with the streamlined action of the first film, resulting in a final hour here that stands among the best of the genre. 

“John Wick: Chapter 4” opens with its title character (Reeves) on the run again as the villainous Powers That Be known as the High Table get in his way. The main villain of the series is the Marquis de Gramont ( Bill Skarsgård ), a leader of the High Table who keeps raising the bounty on Wick’s head while he also cleans up the messes left behind, including potentially eliminating Winston Scott ( Ian McShane ) and his part of this nefarious organization. The opening scenes take Wick to Japan, where he seeks help from the head of the Osaka Continental, Shimazu ( Hiroyuki Sanada ), and runs afoul of a blind High Table assassin named Caine (the badass Donnie Yen ). Laurence Fishburne pops up now and then as Wick’s Q when the killer needs a new bulletproof suit, and Shamier Anderson plays an assassin who seems to be waiting for the price on Wick’s head to hit the right level for him to get his payday. More than the last couple of films, the plot here, despite the movie’s epic runtime (169 minutes), feels refreshingly focused again. Here’s John Wick. Here are the bad guys. Go!

And go they do. Stahelski and his team construct action sequences in a manner that somehow feels both urgent and artistically choreographed at the same time. Filmmakers who over-think their shoot-outs often land on a tone that feels distant, lacking in stakes, and feeling more stylish than substantial. The great action directors figure out how to film combat in a way that doesn’t sacrifice tension for showmanship. The action sequences in “John Wick: Chapter 4” are long battles, gun-fu shoot-outs between John and dozens of people who underestimate him, but they have so much momentum that they don’t overstay their welcome. 

They also have wonderfully defined stakes. At one point in the film, John and an enemy decide on the parameters of a battle, including time, weapons, and variables. But this is really true of all the major action scenes, in which we very clearly understand what John needs to do and who he needs to go through to “finish the level.” The simplicity of objectives allows for complex choreography. We know what needs to happen for John to keep pushing forward as he has since the beginning of the first film. So much modern action is cluttered with characters or muddled objectives, but the “Wick” films have such brilliant clarity of intention that they can then have fun within those simple constructs.

So much fun. The choreography of the action here can be simply breathtaking. I loved how often the world goes on around Wick and his unfortunate combatants. In a sequence that would be the best in almost any other recent action movie (but is like 3 rd or 4 th here), Wick has to battle a makeup-covered Scott Adkins and his army of unlucky idiots in a crowded nightclub. The dancers barely notice. They sometimes part a little bit to let them through, but they don’t stop and stare. With water pouring into the club, the writhing, and dancing bodies make for such a visually inventive backdrop. Later, in one of my favorite action sequences of all time, Wick and his predators battle in the traffic circle around the Arc de Triomphe. The cars don’t stop. In fact, it feels like they speed up. As shots ring out in the streets in this film, no one opens the window to see what the hell is going on. The world outside of Wick and the mythology of this world almost feels like they can’t even see the legendary assassin and the hundred or so people he ends up killing. It’s a fascinating, visually striking choice.

And then there’s what I would call Action Geography. So many people have tried to mimic the frenetic approach of the “Bourne” movies, and the results have often been more incoherent than not. The amazing cinematographer Dan Laustsen (a regular Guillermo del Toro collaborator on “ The Shape of Water ,” “ Nightmare Alley ,” and more) works with Stahelski to make sure the action here is clean and brutal, never confusing. The stunt work is phenomenal, and, again, the shoot-outs have the feel of dance choreography more than the bland plot-pushing of so many studio films. There’s just so much grace and ingenuity whenever Wick goes to work. 

Of course, a great cast helps too. Reeves might have fewer lines in this movie than any so far in the franchise, but he completely sells Wick’s commitment while also imbuing him with emotional exhaustion that adds more gravity to this chapter. The vengeful Wick of the first film is a different one than the survivor three movies later, and Reeves knows exactly what this character needs. So many performers would add unnecessary touches to a character that’s already this popular, but Reeves is smart about streamlining this performance to fit the film around him. It also allows for a few supporters to shine in different performance registers, especially Yen and Anderson. The legendary Yen is fantastic here, not just in combat but the moments in between. Most people who know who Donnie Yen is won’t be surprised to hear that he fits in here perfectly, but he’s even better than you expect. Anderson also gives a fun performance as a man who just seems to be a mercenary waiting for the right price, but fans of the series will note from the beginning that this badass has a dog, and this universe values puppies and people who love them.

The only minor flaw in Wick’s armor here is a bit of narrative self-indulgence. There are a few scenes, especially early, when it feels like a beat is going on a bit too long, and I do think there’s a slightly tighter (if you can say 150 minutes would be tight) version of this film that’s simply perfect.

Fans won’t care. Much has been made of what brings people out to theaters in the post-pandemic, streaming-heavy world, and this is a movie that should be seen with a cheering, excited crowd. It has that contagious energy we love in action films—a whole room of people marveling at the ingenuity and intensity of what’s unfolding in front of them. It’s a movie that’s meant to be watched loud and big. John Wick has fought hard for it.

This review was filed from the North American premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival. “John Wick: Chapter 4” opens on March 24 th .

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

• Keanu Reeves as John Wick
• Donnie Yen as Caine
• Ian McShane as Winston
• Bill Skarsgård as Marquis de Gramont
• Laurence Fishburne as Bowery King
• Clancy Brown as The Harbinger
• Hiroyuki Sanada as Shimazu
• Lance Reddick as Charon
• Shamier Anderson as Tracker
• Rina Sawayama as Akira
• Scott Adkins as Killa
• Marko Zaror as Chidi
• Natalia Tena as Katia
• George Georgiou as The Elder
• Chad Stahelski

Cinematographer

• Dan Laustsen

Writer (based on characters created by)

• Derek Kolstad
• Evan Schiff
• Joel J. Richard
• Tyler Bates
• Michael Finch
• Shay Hatten

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John Wick: Chapter 4 is unrelenting in every sense of the word

John wick 4 is a supersized all-you-can-eat buffet of the franchise’s signature dishes: bullet-riddled revenge, teeth-chattering action sequences, and gossamer-thin characters..

By Charles Pulliam-Moore , a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.

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Lionsgate’s John Wick movies have always been over-the-top action / thriller joyrides more focused on dazzling you with visceral, expertly choreographed action sequences than trying to tell the most coherent stories about stylish assassins . Director Chad Stahelski’s John Wick: Chapter 4 is no exception. And it abundantly delivers on the franchise’s hallmarks — snazzy guns, lovable dogs, and one very haggard man in black — by picking up right where 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum left off.

Were this just any old chapter in the John Wick saga, it’d be fair to call the newest film slightly above average compared to its predecessors — and a testament to how far the franchise has come. But John Wick: Chapter 4 wants to be as monumental and seminal as it is bombastic — aspirations that the feature doesn’t quite manage to achieve despite giving it its best shot.

After three films of simply wanting to be left the hell alone, then wanting revenge, wanting to be left alone some more, and then being forced to go on the run, dog-loving widower and super-assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is tired but still very intent on making sure that the High Table gets what’s coming to it for trying to kill him. John Wick: Chapter 4 presumes Parabellum is still fresh in your mind as it immediately drops you right back into Wick’s jet-setting life of journeying to far-off places and popping off as many shots as it takes until his various targets are chock full of bullet wounds and quite dead.

With Wick still running around the world and demolishing virtually every single person who crosses his path, the High Table’s powers that be have every reason to be scared that he’ll find them and put them in the ground. That fear is what pushes the shadowy organization to start making the bold changes that set John Wick: Chapter 4 ’s story in motion.

Though John Wick’s just a man, Chapter 4 leans into the idea of him being the man (in black) — an assassin so clad in plot armor that he simply can’t be killed by conventional means or by following the ancient rules that made the High Table into the thriving operation that it is.

The Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård) isn’t just another trained killer gunner for Wick’s head. He’s a high-ranking High Table member who speaks for the entire organization when he lets Wick’s longtime allies Winston Scott (Ian McShane) and Charon (Lance Reddick) know that their ties to him will bring nothing but ruin into their lives. But John Wick: Chapter 4 also frames the Marquis as the High Table’s destructive arbiter of change — an embodiment of the future clashing with the past — and the existential fear he elicits in his fellow killers is one of the more interesting elements of the film.

The Marquis also gives Wick a singular convenient target to focus on as he works toward making the High Table pay for what it’s done to him and giving him back his freedom. But between Wick and the Marquis are hundreds, if not thousands, of trained killers, like blind swordsman Caine (Donnie Yen) dead set on collecting the ever-increasing bounty looming over the excommunicado-ed man’s head.

When Chapter 4 ’s purely focused on detailing how Wick methodically mows down his pursuers, you can feel just how in their elements stuntman-turned-director Stahelski and Reeves are. But in its many moments where the movie’s either building up to or cooling down from its big set pieces, there’s both a wobbliness and a narrative thinness that ends up highlighting how overlong and somewhat repetitive Chapter 4 ultimately feels.

While Chapter 4 does eventually pit Wick against the Marquis, it’s only after the former goes on a globe-trekking journey to get all the right tools and make the right alliances to be able to challenge the High Table head-on. Wick’s quest takes him to a Japanese branch of the Continental run by series newcomers Koji Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his daughter Akira (Rina Sawayama) — neither of whom know what to make of the mysterious Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson), a notebook-toting tracker who travels with a German shepherd.

Because Chapter 4 ’s really about contemplating the future, and because the movie couldn’t just be about Wick taking on the world, all of the new faces are welcome additions. Both Sawayama and Anderson are captivating as two of the movie’s most distinct, personality-forward fighters who — because of their charisma and solid acting choices — stand out in sprawling fight sequences overstuffed with large groups of stunt performers brawling. But John Wick: Chapter 4 spends so much of its 169-minute runtime focused on Wick doing things we’ve seen him do a few times over at this point that few of the movie’s characters end up feeling like real people.

The John Wick movies are about action first, character second, and plot maybe fourth, after tailored suits, but there is so little depth to a lot of the Shay Hatten and Michael Finch script that even John Wick himself sometimes comes across as if he isn’t sure why he’s fighting or how he feels about it. As with the previous John Wick movies, Chapter 4 ’s prolonged fight scenes are kinetic, brutally beautiful odes to the art of stunt work, and each feels crafted with diehard fans of the franchise in mind. But the film’s approach to fan service — letting less action-filled scenes run more than a bit too long and making sure that almost every one of its background fistfights gets ample screen time — has the effect of making John Wick: Chapter 4 feel needlessly drawn out.

The ability of the John Wick movies to make you feel the blows as you watch Wick take and dole out beatings is one of the more impressive things about them, and it’s something Chapter 4 ’s able to do well to a point. But the movie is so chock full of battles that feel like they were stuffed into the movie to make it bigger that they start to mean less as the story unfolds and the body count rises.

The movie’s length also has an interesting way of emphasizing just how little John Wick actually says, which has a curious way of making him seem a bit checked out and disengaged from the people around him, who all speak almost exclusively in grim aphorisms. But Reeves’ aloof deadpan does work as a counterbalance to Chapter 4 ’s forays into goofy physical comedy. Some of them work, like a scene involving Wick fighting his way up a flight of stairs and then falling back down it. But others, like Wick’s fight with an obese High Table head from Germany named Killa (portrayed by Scott Adkins in a fat suit), do not — and come across as cringe at best, mean-spirited at worst.

John Wick: Chapter 4 isn’t a movie you casually sit down to watch apropos of nothing. It’s a commitment, both in terms of how long it is and in how invested you really have to be in the idea of John Wick for the film to be engaging. To its credit, John Wick: Chapter 4 does an admirable job of leaving open possibilities for a future filled with stories of some of the movie’s new supporting characters. It comes as a pleasant surprise given how much time this story spends trying to remind you that Wick is the baddest man in town.

John Wick: Chapter 4 also stars Laurence Fishburne, Clancy Brown, Natalia Tena, Marko Zaror, Bridget Moynahan, and George Georgiou. The movie hits theaters on March 24th.

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‘john wick: chapter 4’ review: latest entry in keanu reeves franchise is pure, over-the-top action spectacle.

Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard and Scott Adkins are among the newcomers for this new installment of the big-screen series about the hitman who just can't stay successfully retired.

By Frank Scheck

Frank Scheck

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The creatives behind the John Wick franchise must lose sleep at night thinking how they can outdo themselves with each new installment. If so, it makes a strong case for insomnia, since John Wick: Chapter 4 outdoes its formidable predecessors in nearly every respect.

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“The bloodshed in Osaka was not necessary,” one character observes after a typically violent melee in a luxury hotel that leaves scores dead and the premises practically in ruins. “The bloodshed was the point,” says another. And so it is with this hugely successful series featuring Keanu Reeves as the former hitman who thought he was out, only to be pulled back in, after his beloved puppy was killed in the first film. The bloodshed is the point — or, more accurately, the amazingly choreographed and photographed action sequences that make particular use of the combination of martial arts and gunplay battling known as “gun-fu.” This edition ups the ante further, with an impressively executed car chase/gun battle through the streets of Paris — including around the Arc de Triomphe — that brings “car-fu” into the violent mix.

Things aren’t going too well for the titular character as the film begins, which for him is not unusual. The High Table, that international criminal organization that seems to run the world, is out for his blood. To that end, their representative, the Marquis ( Bill Skarsgard , enjoyably playing a character only slightly less villainous than his Pennywise), puts a huge bounty on his head, attracting such freelance operatives as the Tracker (Shamier Anderson), who doesn’t go anywhere without his loyal, and very lethal, Belgian Malinois. The Marquis also hires the blind but no less dangerous Caine (Hong Kong superstar Donnie Yen ), a former friend of Wick’s who only accepts the assignment because the High Table will kill his daughter if he doesn’t.

Newcomers to the series would do well to do some research beforehand, because as the above summary indicates, mythology is a strong element. It could be argued that, like so many franchises dealing with fantasy worlds, the creators have gotten carried away with their convoluted constructs. I won’t make that argument, since I consider the elaborate world the John Wick films have created, which looks so much like ours, to be one of its most delicious elements. But you couldn’t blame repeat viewers watching the film later on via streaming for fast-forwarding through the talky parts to get to the action.

To recount the highlights of those elaborately staged set pieces would take up too much space, because there are so damn many of them. (Fourteen in all, according to the filmmakers. I can’t vouch for accuracy, since I lost count.) Besides the aforementioned car chase and hotel battle featuring guns, swords, bows and arrows, and a large variety of improvised weapons (a Wick specialty), there’s an amazing fight scene set in a water-drenched, multi-level nightclub featuring hundreds of revelers who barely notice the face-off between Wick and the gold-toothed Killa. The latter is played by action movie star and former MMA fighter Scott Adkins, amusingly outfitted with prosthetics and a huge bodysuit that somehow doesn’t hamper his fighting skills.

Director Chad Stahelski , who helmed all the previous films, and his formidable stunt team have outshone their previous work, and that’s saying something. These sequences play like the great dance numbers in old MGM musicals, complete with incredibly complicated, lengthy continuous shots that feature the full bodies of the performers rather than kinetically edited snippets of a gun here or a limb there. They’re so virtuosic you practically want to stand up and applaud when each one is over.   

Unlike so many films set in exotic locales that deliver a few establishing shots of local landmarks before filming in nondescript spots somewhere in Canada, John Wick: Chapter Four uses its many locations in Paris and Berlin to fantastic effect. A particular hoot are the scenes involving the dandyishly dressed Marquis, who only seems to conduct his business in such venues as the Paris Opera House and the Louvre, both of which he seems to have at his personal disposal.

Reeves, at one point outfitted with a Kevlar suit and shirt that enables him to get shot seemingly thousands of times without getting hurt (he uses the lapel like Dracula’s cape), commits so thoroughly to the role’s insane physical demands that he should get an award, if not for acting, then merely surviving. But he plays Wick so perfectly that he manages to rouse the audience merely with a passionately expressed “Yeah!”

Running nearly three hours, John Wick: Chapter 4 can certainly be accused of being too long. But I doubt many fans will be complaining.

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‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ Review: There Will Be Blood, Yeah

In the latest and longest movie set in Wick World, Keanu Reeves’s titular assassin visits Paris and paints the town red.

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By Manohla Dargis

A vulgar pleasure of the “John Wick” series is that it aestheticizes violence without the usual blah-blah rationales and appeals to conscience. At once basic and off-the-charts nuts, each movie — the fourth opens this week — centers on a laconic assassin with a hazy back story and extraordinary skills. A virtuoso of death, Wick (Keanu Reeves) has his reasons, or so the series insists, but he kills because it is what he does. It’s his thing. “Deserves got nothing to do with it,” as Clint Eastwood says in “Unforgiven.”

Eastwood is in the DNA of the “Wick” series — and in the way Reeves deliberately draws out the word yeah — and so too are Jean-Pierre Melville, Jackie Chan, Buster Keaton, John Woo, Fred Astaire, “ Point Blank ,” the Three Stooges and “ Get Carter .” That said, the overall story is stripped down to the point of minimalism, especially when compared to the average superhero bloat-a-thon. In the first Wick movie, the assassin resumes his bloody ways after gangsters kill his puppy — a gift from his dead wife — and steal his car. Before long, he has antagonized his former employers, a villainous syndicate called the High Table.

Despite its seemingly Hobbesian aspect, Wick World does have rules, and by the second movie, the character is declared “excommunicado,” a word that underscores the High Table’s profile as a shadowy, quasi-religious elite manifestation of absolute power. The conceit of an all-knowing, all-seeing group of underworld puppet-masters is primo movieland conspiracy-theory and very of the moment; it’s silly, nebulously political, and it gives viewers wide latitude to interpret the movie however they prefer — or they can just groove on the plush trappings, exotic locations, exploding heads and bodies in glorious motion.

The series’s director, Chad Stahelski, is a stunt veteran (he’s doubled for Reeves), so he understandably likes to show off bodies as they move — pivot, soar and fall — in space. He uses plenty of close-ups and medium shots, but he also likes to pull back for full-figure framing à la Astaire. This allows you to see and luxuriate in the performers’ physicality, in their grace and steely power, as well as to appreciate the geometry and precision of the fight choreography. This focus underscores the frailty and impermanence of these bodies, their humanness, especially Wick’s as this seemingly invincible man is repeatedly brutalized.

Written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, “John Wick: Chapter 4” pretty much plays out like the previous movies, though at a generally fast-moving 169 minutes it’s longer. Even so, it rarely drags because there’s relatively little dialogue and down time. For the most part, Wick chases or is chased by other assassins, shooting and stabbing, grappling and grunting in a series of visually distinct, meticulously staged and filmed set pieces. Every so often, he confers with old comrades, notably the sonorous, bassy trio of Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne and Lance Reddick ( who recently died ), performers who add luster and history to the series with their singular faces, hard-boiled résumés and perfectly tuned arch deliveries.

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‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ Review: Keanu Reeves in a Three-Hour Action Epic That’s Like a Spaghetti Western Meets John Woo in Times Square

It's conceived as a knowingly overstuffed gift to "John Wick" fans, and on that level it succeeds.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

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What no one could have anticipated is how well the counterintuitive casting worked. Reeves, an actor who even at his most stoic can’t hide his innate likability, was warmer than the role called for — and that’s just what made it connect. His John Wick was a savage badass looking into the abyss…with a quiver of decency. He started off as a noirish antihero, but with each film the series grew more grandiose, as Wick, his name a reference to his short fuse (but it’s also short for “wicked”), got elevated into a kind of superhero. He didn’t have unearthly powers, but he had the quality of invincibility, which is the only superpower you need. “John Wick: Chapter 2” and “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum” were styled as pulp revels, built around action set pieces that were now knowingly and gloriously over-the-top. It almost didn’t matter if the plot and dialogue were cut-rate. The fans experienced those scenes like drugs.

“John Wick: Chapter 4” is 2 hours and 49 minutes long, but it has a story that, if it were told more briskly, could fit into an 83-minute potboiler that you might have seen in a grindhouse in 1977. Yet the way that Chad Stahelski , the series’ stuntman-turned-director, has staged it, full of hushed, portentous, ritualistic verbal showdowns that are meant to be hypnotic as they build up to each new action scene, “Chapter 4” feels like the first “John Wick” movie that wants to be a Clint Eastwood spaghetti Western. It’s like Sergio Leone crossed with John Woo as seen in Times Square.

The film completes the series’ cosmology with an elemental revenge-meets-liberation plot. Wick is still chained to his obligation to the High Table, the shadow-world consortium that controls…everything. Because of the high crime he committed at the Continental Hotel (a strict breach of High Table law), it’s as if he’s now under lifetime contract to the devil. But the devil has a face: It’s the Marquis de Gramont, a fascist preppie played by the baby-faced Bill Skarsgård (who’s like the young Matt Damon or Stephen Dorff as the world’s most entitled rich kid). And there’s a way out of the contract. Wick can challenge the Marquis to a duel to the death, which will take place at sunrise in front of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Paris.

Is “Chapter 4” too long? You bet it is. At moments, it’s like the 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. The Marquis keeps trying to assassinate Wick before the morning of the duel, and this results in several delectable fight sequences. One is set in the middle of the speeding centrifugal traffic that surrounds the Arc de Triomphe, one is shot thrillingly from an overhead doll’s-house view, and then there’s the spectacular climax, which unfolds on the Rue Foyatier in Montmartre, the 222-step stairway that leads to the Basilica. With Wick spinning into action (and, at one point, rolling down the entire flight), it becomes an exhilarating stairway to hell, one that winds up delivering John Wick to the gratifying karmic destination he has spent this series earning.

Reviewed at AMC Lincoln Square, March 8, 2023. MPA Rating: R. Running time: 169 MIN.

• Production: A Lionsgate release of a Summit Entertainment, Thunder Road Pictures, 87Eleven Productions production. Producers: Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Chad Stahelski. Executive producers: Keanu Reeves, Louise Rosner, David Leitch, Michael Paseornek.
• Crew: Director: Chad Stahelski. Screenplay: Shay Hatten, Michael French. Camera: Dan Laustsen. Editor: Nathan Orloff. Music: Tyler Bates, Joel J. Richard.
• With: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown, Ian McShane, Marko Zazor, Natalia Tena.

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In John Wick: Chapter 4, There’s No Such Thing as Overkill

The fourth John Wick takes the action and spectacle to jaw-dropping (and jaw-breaking) new levels.

In the John Wick movies , there’s no such thing as overkill. This is a world where a headshot doesn’t guarantee a kill and loss of limb is just part of the job. It’s a world where Keanu Reeves can take a bullet to the chest, fall off a rooftop, and return stronger and more vengeful than ever. But in John Wick: Chapter 4 — director Chad Stahelski’s brutal ballet of jaw-dropping action filmmaking and jaw-breaking stunts — overkill takes on a whole new meaning.

Each John Wick movie already feels like a miracle of action filmmaking. The first injected a simple revenge thriller with the bloody beauty of a Hong Kong action movie, the second took the franchise to mythic new heights, and the third delivered all-star action crossovers. But the fourth manages to one-up all of them in the greatest display of action spectacle this side of Mad Max: Fury Road . John Wick: Chapter 4 is Stahelski’s magnum opus, a bone-crunching showcase of everything the director has honed and perfected over the course of the franchise, playing out over a massive three-hour runtime that absolutely breezes by.

Keanu Reeves returns as John Wick, in the most over-the-top, action-packed John Wick movie yet.

John Wick: Chapter 4 picks up a few months after Chapter 3 , with Wick healed from his injuries and ready to take on the High Table, the council of crime lords who rule over the assassin underworld. But the price on his head is only growing, and even the Baba Yaga can’t dispatch all the assassins on his tail — no matter how many times he growls that he will “kill them all.” With his allies, including the anarchic Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne, making a meal of his every scene) and the now- excommunicado Winston (Ian McShane, always imposing), also being targeted, John turns to one of his oldest friends: Osaka Continental Hotel manager Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada).

The two are soon crestfallen to learn that the High Table has turned their other old friend against them: Donnie Yen’s blind assassin Caine, another former hitman who left the life for love. Caine is being forced to kill John Wick at the orders of the High Table’s new frontman, the Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), who is threatening the life of Caine’s daughter as an added incentive.

Things are more personal than ever for John Wick.

This is the first John Wick movie not written by franchise creator Derek Kolstad, with Shay Hatten (co-writer of Chapter 3 ) and Michael Finch penning the script instead. Kolstad’s absence can’t help but be felt in what is the most narratively simple franchise entry. The second and third films expanded the mythology to an almost awe-inspiring degree, introducing an underworld that felt heightened and lived-in all at once. But apart from a few fleeting remarks about the High Table and brief glimpses into the Marquis’ lavish lifestyle, the worldbuilding of John Wick: Chapter 4 feels mostly like a retread of the previous films. Even the narrative seems rehashed — John Wick is on the run again, he runs into secondary and tertiary antagonists who are dangerous thorns in his side again, and there’s a cute dog sidekick, again. But one of the key things that prevents John Wick: Chapter 4 from feeling like a pale shadow of the past films is the supporting cast, led by the inimitable Donnie Yen.

Yen’s Caine is a mirror image of John Wick and (to an extent) an even more sympathetic fire than the dog-loving Baba Yaga. Introduced in disguise watching his daughter play violin in a Paris courtyard, Yen brings the earnest melodrama of Hong Kong cinema that the John Wick films had been lacking (despite all their homages to the Hong Kong action movies of the ‘80s and ‘90s). Yen is that missing piece, providing the strongest emotional arc of the film through Caine’s turmoil over his fierce loyalty to his daughter, and his guilt over betraying his longtime friend. When Yen, Reeves, and Sanada are onscreen together, their unspoken history becomes tangible and helps shape the most personal arc for John Wick outside of the first film. It’s a testament to the trio’s charisma and chemistry that it’s so easy to buy into their offscreen history with two characters we’re just meeting now.

Donnie Yen is the MVP of John Wick: Chapter 4 .

It also helps that Yen elevates every scene he’s in — almost to the point of stealing the movie right from under Reeves’ feet. Appearing exclusively in shades and a slick black suit, Yen has the effortless, laconic cool of Chow Yun Fat in every John Woo movie (and the best fight scenes of the film). Stahelski wisely dials back the gun-fu when it comes to Yen, letting him show off his natural prowess with Wing Chun that Yen is known for in scenes that breathlessly whip back and forth between hand-to-hand combat, sword fights, and good old-fashioned headshots.

It almost feels impossible for the rest of the cast to keep up, both emotionally and physically, but keep up they do: Sanada exudes a mournful gravitas in his handful of scenes, action movie mainstay Scott Adkins hams it up as what is essentially a kung-fu version of Colin Farrell’s Penguin, Rina Sawayama impresses in her first feature-film role, and Clancy Brown and Natalia Tena both add exciting color to the ensemble. Shamier Anderson is a refreshing addition as The Tracker, a mercenary bent on raising the price on John Wick’s head and the one guy who reacts normally to having his hand stabbed — though he does feel somewhat secondary as if the writers wanted to include at least one “dog guy” in the movie. Still, John Wick: Chapter 4 has the best supporting cast of a John Wick movie yet on the strength of Yen and the film’s main antagonist, the Marquis — Bill Skarsgård’s boyish looks and chilling, laser-focused grudge against John Wick making the Marquis out to feel like a hedonistic, tyrannical boy-king.

The longest John Wick yet, Chapter 4 is also the funniest.

Perhaps that relatively simple narrative is what makes the cast shine. It certainly becomes a great boon for the action, which Stahelski takes to incredible new heights beyond anything that John Wick has ever done before. The signature long takes that allow the action to play out in one frame? Those are taken to the next level in an astonishing five-minute sequence where the camera soars to a bird’s-eye view as John fights his way through an apartment filled with assassins. It almost feels like a marriage between the steady Hong Kong action of the first film with a revitalized video game-inspired approach. Stahelski takes the spectacle to such lengths that the film starts to knowingly wink at the absurdity. Chapter 4 is also easily the funniest John Wick yet, with Reeves tapping into the character’s Buster Keaton roots in a recurring gag where John gets hit by at least seven cars throughout the film; or several scenes in which John shoots men multiple times in the head as they lay dead on the ground (just for good measure).

Given a relatively simple narrative and a script that was less beholden to the complex mythology of the franchise, it’s clear that Stahelski went into Chapter 4 no-holds-barred. The action, the spectacle, the humor, and the melodrama are all turned up to 11 in a film that is the most John Wick movie, for better or worse. Some might call it overkill, but with John Wick: Chapter 4 , overkill is underrated.

John Wick: Chapter 4 opens in theaters March 24.

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John Wick: Chapter 4

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 tur... Read all 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. 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.

• Chad Stahelski
• Shay Hatten
• Michael Finch
• Derek Kolstad
• Keanu Reeves
• Laurence Fishburne
• George Georgiou
• 1.7K User reviews
• 329 Critic reviews
• 78 Metascore
• 36 wins & 46 nominations

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• Bowery King

• (as Asuka Riedl)

• (as Milena Rendon)
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• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Keanu Reeves and Cast Talk Getting Into Character

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• Trivia Keanu Reeves gifted each stunt worker with a personalized t-shirt detailing how many times that performer met their demise in the film. His five-person stunt team also received Rolex Submariner watches, each costing around $10,000, with a personalized message on the back of each one when filming wrapped.
• Goofs The Arc de Triomphe is missing the eternal flame which crowns France's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. As its name suggests, it is never ever allowed to go out.

Shimazu : Friendship means little when it's convenient.

• Crazy credits There is a small scene after the credits have finished where you can see Caine on the way to his daughter encountering Akira.
• Alternate versions The end title for the theatrical version shows "John Wick Baba Yaga" while in home media version shows "John Wick Chapter 4".
• Connections Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Most Anticipated Franchises Returning in 2023 (2023)
• Soundtracks Nocturne No. 20 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. Posth. Written by Frédéric Chopin Arranged by Joel J. Richard Performed by Lola Bates (as Lola Colette) and Mark Robertson

User reviews 1.7K

• markvanwasbeek
• Mar 22, 2023
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• Where was John's dog throughout the film?
• Do I need to watch the previous John Wick Movies, to fully understand and enjoy this one?
• March 24, 2023 (United States)
• United States
• John Wick (Japan)
• John Wick 4
• Wadi Rum Desert, Jordan (location)
• 87Eleven Entertainment
• Lionsgate Films
• Studio Babelsberg
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $100,000,000 (estimated)
• $187,131,806
• $73,817,950
• Mar 26, 2023
• $440,180,275

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• Runtime 2 hours 49 minutes
• Dolby Atmos

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John Wick: Chapter 4 Review

“rules and consequences”… heavy emphasis on rules..

John Wick Chapter 4 opens in theaters on March 24, 2023 (March 23 in Australia)

From the moment the Baba Yaga first dropped a gold coin in front of Charon at The Continental, the John Wick series established an instantly fascinating mythology: a global chessboard where an archaic code pits those of service to the villainous High Table against those looking to suplex 300-pound bodyguards through that very table. In Chapter 4 of this story, John Wick’s vendetta has forced the Table into open warfare, and it thrives on John’s acceptance of the fact that even he can’t win that war on his own. The rules and consequences the John Wick universe has taken such care to establish provide its fourth chapter a rock-solid structure that allows for director Chad Stahelski and star Keanu Reeves to stage an symphony of onscreen action, with every component driving to elevate the others. It is the longest John Wick movie. It is the most John Wick movie. And it is the best John Wick movie.

An early maneuver on John’s part forces the High Table past the point of no return: Wick must be made an example of, and that task falls to Bill Skarsgård’s very willing Marquis de Gramont. With Skarsgård, the John Wick universe gets its first supervillain. As the High Table’s emissary, he drips entitlement and hypocrisy with each very French-accented word he purrs. In contrast to Chapter 2’s Santino D’Antonio, whose primary leverage over John was personal (an unpaid blood debt), the sadist Marquis wields the authority of the High Table like a dandy Darth Vader, and the cruelties in which he indulges go a long way towards making him an ideal foil to John and his cohorts. The High Table bureaucracy has long hidden behind intermediaries like Winston (Ian McShane) and The Adjudicator, and Skarsgard does a great job of embodying the decadence and rot that permeates the organization with increasing severity the higher up the ladder you go.

John Wick 4: The Cast of the Action Sequel

Chapter 4 firmly cements John Wick as standing shoulder to shoulder with The Matrix’s Neo as part of Keanu Reeves’ nearly unparalleled action hero lineup. The raw-nerved rage of the freshly widowed Wick that wowed in the original movie has progressed into something even more deadly: resolve and focus. Reeves conveys these qualities with practiced restraint, so complete here that the occasional one-liners or subtly raised eyebrow come off as authentic to the character and not beholden to representing any cliches of the genre… sometimes if you bake your cake well enough, you get to eat it, too.

Reeves’ (not to mention Stahelski’s) contributions to The Matrix’s success can’t be overstated, but the Wick films have always felt like more personal celebrations of the actor’s dedication to the craft of highly choreographed action. The pure thrill of seeing John Wick’s continuing battle to reclaim his soul work so well is doubly gratifying when you consider it as the labor of love it clearly is for Reeves.

John Wick may be the namesake of the franchise, but his journey has increasingly emphasized the importance of social contracts and shared history. That investment fully blossoms with Chapter 4’s Murderer’s Row of John Wick characters. Winston, Charon (Lance Reddick), and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) serve as John’s counsel, and while Reddick and Fishburne’s presence is limited to only a few scenes, their impact is maximized thanks to those performers’ signature gravitas and command of their characters. Despite having shot John off the roof of the Continental at the end of Chapter 3 (something no one’s got any hard feelings over; that’s like accidentally tripping someone in this world) Winston continues in his role as a surrogate father to John, and McShane’s characteristic confidence both bolsters the myth of John Wick and maintains the Continental manager’s reputation of being the smoothest operator in the game.

Of all the excellent new additions to the cast, Donnie Yen’s Caine stands apart. An imposing antagonist introduced as a longtime contemporary of Wick’s, the blind assassin’s reluctance to enforce The Marquis’ orders without question echoes John’s rejection of his own call to “serve and be of service.” That parallel adds a surprising amount of empathy to their encounters, but it doesn’t keep Caine from going after John with everything he has. Yen’s affable demeanor and brutal efficiency give his flavor of the series’ “Gun Fu” a lightness and style all its own, and Caine’s wild ingenuity in battle leads to delightful, laugh-out-loud finishers.

What's your favorite John Wick movie leading up to Chapter 4?

Also in the mix is Shamier Anderson’s unnamed Tracker, an operative who bears the heavy burden of having a dog in a John Wick movie. Tracker’s shifting allegiances, combat skills, and close relationship to his canine companion provide a nice, simmering paranoia for Chapter 4 to employ when a wildcard is needed to spice up Wick’s progress. There’s also Klaus, and I just need to shout that dude out. I know two things about him: he’s a big boy and his name is Klaus. His involvement takes up less time than you’ve spent reading about him here, but I promise he’s both unmissable and unforgettable.

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. Over the course of three Wick chapters, director Chad Stahelski has developed a keen sense of when to speed John through a room full of heavies with surgical precision and when to let him and those of us watching luxuriate in the carnage he can unleash in more intimate encounters. Stahelski’s attention to detail across every element of the action in Chapter 4 is appreciable, and well-communicated by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch’s script.

For instance, it’s established early on that the High Table forces that are now coming after John wear impenetrable body armor from head to toe – which yes, sounds like something out of a video game. But Stahelski pays that off through action, not dialogue, as the armored foes force Wick to adjust his traditional strategy of shooting people in whatever part of their body was asking for it most. I hope you came hungry for neck shots, because you’ll be leaving Chapter 4 well-fed. Similarly, the droll introduction of homemade incendiary rounds is established in a throwaway line of dialogue… one which will very likely instantly resurface in your mind the first time an unlucky thug gets obliterated by one. To call a movie that’s nearly three hours long “economical” may sound contradictory, but nothing established in Chapter 4 goes to waste.

The High Table’s lengthy siege of the Osaka Continental may just be the single best action sequence in the John Wick films to date – and this is a series that has already outdone nearly every other contender in that category. Stahelski balances multiple perspectives on the assault expertly, and sustains the momentum of each character’s efforts through the extended bloodbath. Chapter 3 gave us a taste of what happens when a Continental manager crosses the Table, but as Winston’s counterpart in cool, Hiroyuki Sanada’s Koji Shimazu faces their full wrath with unwavering conviction.

Stahelski uses Shimazu’s relationship with his daughter Akira (Rina Samayawa) to underline what morality looks like in a world full of killers, and Sanada is just as impressive in their tender father-daughter moments as he is with a blade in hand. What makes the Osaka sequence even more satisfying is how it reinforces Chapter 4’s friendship theme: Wick doesn’t try to escape the Table with any great speed or stealth; he’s going for maximum damage, and only because he knows that he’s responsible for bringing this mess to his friend’s doorstep. The action’s close tie to John’s interior condition is wonderfully demonstrated later in a sickeningly stressful chase and fight around the Arc de Triomphe, deployed when John is at his most harried. The most effective action sequences in films also reflect and reinforce character, and Chapter 4 never forgets that.

For a series which has always looked stylish as hell, Chapter 4 sets a new standard for production design and cinematography. Locations across Osaka, Paris, Berlin, and New York have distinctive architectural qualities which allow director of photography Dan Laustsen varied opportunities to wash characters in the series’ iconic candy-colored neon hues. The Osaka Continental’s hyper-modern light installations, Paris’ warm streetlamps, a Manhattan sunset cutting through a story-tall bank of shades in the Marquis’ office all give each movement of the story a quickly readable palette that bestows each city a unique visual identity and makes sure we always know exactly where John is. That’s all complimented by a punchy score from Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard, which traces Chapter 4’s movements from culture to culture and converses with the action in ways that alternatingly emphasize and undercut big moments to great effect.

It seemed like an impossible task, but the Baba Yaga has a history of delivering on those: John Wick: Chapter 4 stands above its predecessors – and the past decade’s worth of action films as a whole – as a modern epic, something Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski have been driving at since 2014. Wick’s world war is bursting at the seams with creative, thrillingly staged action choreography and cinematography, perfectly pitched performances from an outstanding and unforgettable cast of allies and villains heralded by a merciless Bill Skarsgård, all without losing its grip on the sensitivity that keeps John’s struggle for absolution at the heart of every bullet fired and every edged weapon swung. Slide Chapter 4 a gold coin across the table and see what happens when John Wick lands a perfect shot.

More Reviews by Tom Jorgensen

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John Wick: Chapter 4 Review: Better Than Ever with Keanu Reeves vs. Donnie Yen

Four movies in, John Wick star Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski are still finding ways to surprise us.

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I’ve had a sort of Star Trek thing going on with the John Wick franchise : the odd-numbered films have never fully impressed us, while the even-numbered John Wick : Chapter 2 was a dazzling tour de force that elevated the series to a whole new level of action filmmaking. So I’m happy to report that the odd-even rule continues to be in effect. John Wick: Chapter 4 is a frequently astonishing epic that moves the story forward from the relative wheel-spinning of Chapter 3 , using its whopping two-hour-and-49-minute runtime to deliver more stunning action, a heavier dose of humor, and even some moments of reflection and character development that may make the pace flag a little but ultimately provide satisfaction.

The film, once again directed by Chad Stahelski and of course starring Keanu Reeves as the title assassin/avenging angel of death, also brings John’s story to a possible conclusion of sorts, although there’s just enough ambiguity to the proceedings to leave the door open for further adventures. But first, there’s the story at hand to get through, which opens with the bounty on John’s head continuing to rise as the High Table—the sort of Illuminati of crime organizations around the world—still wants our hero dead for breaking its rules and doing his best to wrest his freedom from their reign.

John, however, has just about had enough. After a brief opening training session and the delivery of a new suit by returning underground crime lord The Bowery King ( Laurence Fishburne ), John takes the fight to the High Table in shocking fashion, launching a chain of events that not only keeps him squarely in the sights of that still-unseen governing body but also has dangerous repercussions for New York Continental manager Winston (Ian McShane) and his loyal concierge Charon (Lance Reddick).

The High Table’s latest counter-attack against John and his dwindling roster of allies is spearheaded by the Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård, channeling some of the mirthful, dead-eyed malevolence that made him so effective as Pennywise in It ), who has a vast wealth and armies of killers at his disposal, yet still sends two more deadly adversaries in search of John. One is a fringe assassin known only as The Tracker (Shamier Anderson), whose old-school tactics and canine companion belie a laser-like focus on claiming the bounty, while the other is Caine (Donnie Yen), an old friend of John’s who’s been forced back into the High Table’s employ via threats to his daughter.

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Once the game is fully afoot, the film takes John from New York City—where most of the saga has been thus far set—to locales such as Jordan, Berlin, Osaka, and Paris, the latter of which features three jaw-dropping fight/chase sequences that are as captivating for their humor as their stylized choreography. Through it all remains Stahelski’s ability to map out the action in fresh new ways.

Also joining the festivities this time are legendary Japanese actor/martial arts master Hiroyuki Sanada as Shimazu, manager of the Osaka Continental and another old friend of John’s, Rina Sawayama as Akira, Shimazu’s daughter and concierge, and an unrecognizable Scott Adkins as Killa, a massive, grotesque German gangster who, naturally, has a bone to pick with John as well. Clancy Brown ( The Shawshank Redemption ) also appears as the Harbinger, who represents the High Table and gives orders that take the story through some surprising turns.

While all the cast acquit themselves well—McShane is dependably cynical, Skarsgård is deliciously evil, Brown is sinister and magisterial, and Adkins definitively steals his entire section of the movie—the standout out is Donnie Yen. Although it’s a little jarring to see Yen once again play a blind warrior-type after his high-profile turn in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story seven (!) years ago, Caine is one of the more fascinating creations in the John Wick character roster.

World-weary, reluctant to spring into action, but possessed of effortless poise and grace, Caine is clearly conflicted by his assignment and projects a deep sadness over the turn his life has taken as well as a fierce devotion to protecting those he loves. Yen is sensational, imbuing Caine with a subtle depth that recalls Tony Leung’s underrated work as Xu Wenwu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings .

In addition to his impeccable physical skills, Yen brings a gravitas to his role that is matched by fellow vet Sanada, whose own long, distinguished career has brought him to a place where his mere presence is a bonus. As for their leading man, even after his own long career, Reeves may not have quite the range and depth of these legendary actors, but there’s a sense here that he’s always working on upping his game, and the script gives him plenty of moments to do just that.

As we mentioned, John Wick: Chapter 4 is easily the lengthiest film in the series, and that extra space both acts as a hindrance and an opportunity: The former because it does tend to slow the pace of what has been a reliably fast-moving saga, and the latter because it gives the characters and filmmakers (and us) a chance to pause, catch a few breaths, and add more texture to an already strangely rich universe.

But the three most appealing elements (besides the cast) of the John Wick franchise are all present and accounted for: the surreal nature of the world of John, the Continental, and the High Table, a reality that exists hidden in the shadows of ours and never explains itself too much; the sly humor that permeates the film, letting us know that the filmmakers are self-aware of how far they push this heightened reality; and the action/fight scenes that are the series’ trademark, which also push the boundaries of reality while dazzling us with their structure, composition, and geography.

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It’s true that John, his allies, and his enemies are operating just one level below that of superheroes these days (he’s been wearing Kevlar suits since the second film), and that it takes a lot to keep them down, which is best represented in a genuinely hilarious scene that finds John doggedly trying to climb hundreds of steps to reach a plaza—only to be sent tumbling down. That scene, along with a gripping set piece at the Arc de Triomphe traffic circle in Paris during which a staggering amount of fighters weave in, out, over, and under a relentless onslaught of oncoming vehicles, has a decidedly over-the-top tone that incorporates aspects of Tex Avery and Sam Raimi (play a little game during the traffic circle sequence and count just how many times John collides with a car).

On the other hand, another scene in which Stahelski takes a bird’s-eye view of a labyrinthine Paris apartment as John and his enemies battle their way through that—complete with a weapon that fires incendiary bullets—is breathtaking in its expertly staged anarchy.

It’s moments like these, plus the highly stylized sets, costumes, and performances, that keep the John Wick franchise alive and fresh, and with this chapter, Stahelski, Reeves, and company have not only earned the right to stretch things out a bit, but they give the story a natural and almost intimate climax. How you interpret that ending and where things go from here will remain, like John himself and his reality-adjacent world, an enigma for now, although you should stay all the way through the end credits for one possible hint.

John Wick: Chapter 4 opens in theaters on March 24.

Don Kaye | @donkaye

Don Kaye is an entertainment journalist by trade and geek by natural design. Born in New York City, currently ensconced in Los Angeles, his earliest childhood memory is…

'John Wick: Chapter 4' review: Inject this movie into my veins

After delivering three of the best action films of the past decade, you might think that the John Wick franchise was at the risk of running out of steam. After all, how much longer could such a great streak last? Yet John Wick: Chapter 4 proves that these films have the same boundless energy and seemingly unkillable quality of their protagonist. With elevated action, great new additions to the cast, and a relentless performance from Keanu Reeves, John Wick: Chapter 4 may stand the test of time as the best John Wick film yet.

We pick back up with impeccably dressed assassin John Wick (Reeves) on his continued quest to take the down the crime lords known as the High Table. As always, the odds are against him. He's excommunicado, so he no longer has the privileges and access he once did in the criminal underworld, and there's a $14 million bounty on his head. To make matters worse, the High Table has unleashed the Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård) as a cruel emissary who will stop at nothing to rid the world of even the faintest idea of John Wick. The Marquis's dogged hunt will send John from Berlin nightclubs to the Osaka Continental to the storied streets of Paris, all with one goal: Fight his way to freedom.

John Wick: Chapter 4 knocks it up a notch with its new cast of characters.

Reeves is always great as the bedrock of the John Wick films, and returning actors Laurence Fishburne (as the Bowery King) and Ian McShane (as Winston) continue to chew their scenes for every ounce of drama they're worth. But Chapter 4 belongs to franchise newcomers like Skarsgård and Donnie Yen.

As the film's primary antagonist, Skarsgård delivers an exquisitely love-to-hate-him performance. He wears "spoiled tyrant" just as well as the Marquis wears an assortment of luxurious suits — some glittery, some velvet, all showstoppers. Whether he's holding court in the Louvre or conducting bloody deals in his personal stables, he's a loathsome joy to watch, and he couldn't be more different than Wick.

The opposite is true of blind assassin Caine (Yen), whom the Marquis sends to kill Wick. A friend of Wick's from long ago, Caine has a fair amount in common with John Wick. The two of them both tried to escape the criminal underworld to spend time with people they love. For John, that was his late wife Helen. For Caine, that's his daughter, whose life the Table threatens unless Caine does exactly as he's told. So when given the choice between saving his daughter or saving an old friend, of course he chooses to try to kill Wick. The legendary Yen delivers a brilliant performance here, imbuing Caine with a resigned sense of duty and clear respect for his quarry. He and John have lived parallel lives, so when the two cross swords (or guns), the results are nothing short of explosive.

The rest of the cast is outstanding as well. Hiroyuki Sanada, another legend, brings a deep sense of gravitas to his role as Shimazu, manager of the Osaka Continental. He, Wick, and even Caine share something akin to a brother's bond, although only Shimazu chooses to stand by Wick. Truly, I could watch these three talk — and fight — for hours.

As Shimazu's daughter and concierge Akira, pop star Rina Sawayama exudes ruthless amounts of cool. Yet she and Sanada both find breaks from the badassery to give a compelling look at a father-daughter bond in a cruel criminal world. Elsewhere, Shamier Anderson proves an exciting addition as the Tracker, a man hell-bent on raising the bounty on John's head. He's accompanied by a John Wick staple: a very good dog with whom he has a very good rapport . Finally, there's Scott Adkins, whose unfortunate fat suit doesn't completely dampen his gleefully unhinged performance as club owner Killa.

John Wick: Chapter 4 features franchise-best levels of action.

With all these new allies and adversaries in place, John Wick: Chapter 4 sets to doing what John Wick does best: delivering pulse-pounding action sequences that will send your jaw smashing to the ground with every blood-splattering headshot and bone-cracking punch.

It wouldn't be a John Wick movie without staggering amounts of gun-fu, but John Wick: Chapter 4 also incorporates archery, full-on MMA brawls, and stylish swordfights. The latter are particularly effective whenever Yen and Sanada are on screen. And of course, Reeves excels, whether he's emphatically reloading a gun or pounding a man's head in with nunchuks.

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The entire film is a showcase for director Chad Stahelski as one of the best action filmmakers we have today — especially the last hour. An extended fight sequence uses a god's eye view to guide us through a Parisian apartment, providing an impeccable map of the battle playing out below us. A car chase and shootout around the Arc de Triomphe is an adrenaline rush like no other. Then there's an action sequence involving stairs that had my theater whooping and groaning in equal measure.

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In Stahelski's hands, even non-fight scenes carry the same energy as a brutal action sequence. At a fiendishly fun card game with Killa, the thunderous turn of every card feels like a blow. A negotiation between John Wick and the Marquis bristles with tension. John Wick: Chapter 4 may be nearly three hours long, but when every scene has stakes this big and performances this commanding, that runtime flies by.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is strangely haunting.

John Wick: Chapter 4 sticks with you — and not just because of its outstanding kills and Reeves one-liners. This is a film that continues to reckon with all the death John Wick has caused and what it will take for him to get out, but that reckoning is especially poignant as he meets his match in Caine.

"We're damned," Caine tells John the night before a pivotal fight. The two claim to want their freedom from the Table, but now that they've emerged from retirement to end countless lives, is there really any kind of freedom for them? Or will they always be drawn back into this monstrous world?

I know, I know...It's a John Wick movie; you don't necessarily come to these for philosophy lessons. Yet the specter of death and regret hangs more heavily over this installment than any other, thanks largely to the masterful way the film sets up the film's final fight. Dread, satisfaction, and anticipation war in you right to the very last gunshot. That's proof of the power of John Wick: Chapter 4 : Not only are its action sequences top-of-the-line, but they're backed by the emotion to match.

John Wick: Chapter 4 hits theaters March 24.

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Belen Edwards is an Entertainment Reporter at Mashable. She covers movies and TV with a focus on fantasy and science fiction, adaptations, animation, and more nerdy goodness.

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“John Wick: Chapter 4,” Reviewed: A Slog with a Sensational Ending

“John Wick: Chapter 4” is by far the best of the four films starring Keanu Reeves as the eponymous hit man, the first of the cycle that I’d recommend—albeit with an asterisk. The new film (which opens Friday) has many of the same problems as its predecessors; although these problems are interesting, they’re far more fun to contemplate in the rearview mirror of thought than in the real-time forward motion of viewing. But something happens, fairly late in the game, that converts the film’s merely technical displays of bloody murder into something suspenseful and romantic, if no less silly. The details are too good to give away, but there’s no harm and much pleasure in considering how the movie climbs, slowly but surely, to that light-headed summit.

One of the curiosities of the John Wick series is that, as an entirely original creation dependent on no prior properties, it has nonetheless given rise to an alluring and self-perpetuating mythology of its own. The premise of Wickworld is cleverly paranoiac, built around the tentacular connections between the crude underworld of contract killers and the shadowy overlords who keep them in action. That wicked authority is called the High Table; it dispenses orders to kill on pain of being killed, ratifies contracts for murder, and brokers the deals for bounty hunters. It commands John to kill, and it sets him up to be killed, but it also sets the tone of the movie. The High Table exemplifies a super-élite of secret societies with elaborate rites, deeply rooted aristocracies, a flaunting of mind-bending wealth, and the executive ruthlessness of a transnational shadow government that has the power to wreak havoc in public with impunity.

It also has the power of information—an enormous database on its registered killers (it apparently goes back centuries) and a terrifyingly comprehensive surveillance network that tracks the hunters and the hunted during their mortal maneuvers and discloses their whereabouts to devastating effect. Its agents hide in plain sight at, for instance, a hotel called the New York Continental, in Manhattan’s financial district. ( Delmonico’s plays the role of the hotel.) Its stern manager, Winston (Ian McShane), is John’s handler, and is aided by his discerning and tight-lipped concierge (played by Lance Reddick, who died on March 17th). Another High Table agent on John’s team, the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), disguises his crew of spies as unhoused people in a shelter that he runs.

The High Table itself reveals its enduring traditions in the anachronistic equipment and furnishings of its central intelligence office (complete with card files, blackboards, rubber stamps, and switchboards). The venerable sect of hired killers can trace its lineage to a few authorized families, an aristocracy of blood (pun intended) that pulls the death dealers out of the grubby streets and endows their gruesome trade with a faux dignity. Their rigorous code of conduct dominates the movie’s, and the franchise’s, over-all tone and import: the intricate set of seemingly nonsensical rules plays the role of military discipline and order, but it also signifies, with a politicized wink at the rites and manners of high society, the implacable law of violence, which pretensions to refinement both embody and conceal.

“Chapter 4” takes off from the third installment , which concluded with John killing a High Table assassin at the New York Continental, with Winston’s help, and then teaming up with the Bowery King to fight against the High Table. At the start of “Chapter 4,” the King gets John suited up for battle, and the High Table takes devastating revenge against Winston for helping John—for starters, Winston is excommunicated, and the hotel is demolished. John heads to Morocco (the actual location is in Jordan) to dispatch a High Table overlord called the Elder (George Georgiou) and his minions, then goes to Osaka—to the Osaka Continental hotel, another High Table base—where he learns from its manager (Hiroyuki Sanada), who is his friend, what happened to Winston and the New York hotel. John vows to “kill them all.”

But the manager’s daughter, Akira (Rina Sawayama), who is also John’s friend, wishes he hadn’t come. There’s a contract on John for having killed High Table notables, and Akira is well aware that any place he sets foot is a target, including her father’s hotel. The assassins pursuing him there include a bounty hunter called Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson), who shows up with his beloved dog (a cheeky reference back to the premise of the first John Wick movie), and a nasty nebbish called Chidi (Marko Zaror). There’s also a remarkable blind assassin named Caine (Donnie Yen), who has been dispatched by a High Table potentate called the Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), an effete and sadistic nobleman who has laid waste to the New York hotel and threatened to kill Caine’s daughter unless Caine kills John.

Yet John, for all his seething lust for revenge, is burdened—he is (to quote Charlie Chaplin’s parody of Hollywood violence in “ A King in New York ”) a killer with a soul. The very premise of “Chapter 4” evinces sequel fatigue. John Wick wants out. Reeves may well enjoy the role, but he convincingly portrays John’s weariness bordering on exasperation at the absurdity of living under the orders—and in the crosshairs—of the implacable High Table. Even though he shoots and stabs and even nunchucks his way out of the Osaka Continental, leaving a trail of bodies and blood behind, he can’t kill his way out of his indenture to the High Table or its pursuit of him.

What happens in Osaka doesn’t stay in Osaka, and neither does John. He flits to New York, where Winston advises him to duel the Marquis for his freedom, and then to Berlin, where, in a series of set pieces ranging from the sententious to the ridiculous, he has to do some more killing in order to be deemed duel-worthy. What results is a grisly form of multidimensional chess, in which John’s enemies also target one another in order to keep for themselves the privilege of killing John, and in which John allies himself, according to the demands of the moment, with one or another of his prospective killers.

Much of the movie’s delight is in its details, many of them gory (a little trick with a knife that the Marquis pulls on Mr. Nobody), others merely menacing (John’s surprise encounter on an eerily empty subway car), some location-dependent (a brutalist night club with a waterlogged dance floor), and some design-based (including a deck of cards made of glass, and a picturesque molten-gold method for branding flesh). Some of these flourishes nod toward the breezy suaveness in the face of danger that marks the best of the early 007 films. Here, though, the stakes are lowered beneath the absurdity line by the relentless mayhem, which is at once cartoonish and mostly humorless. That’s why, as Caine, Donnie Yen nearly steals the film. His humor is as sly as it is insolent (as when he eats a snack between killings), and his comedic gestures are as tiny and deft as his action maneuvers, which are so fast as to border on sleight of hand.

The comic relief is welcome, but it’s never so extreme or so self-aware as to threaten the grim earnestness and grotesque exaggerations of the violence. (With a little more self-awareness, the movie would have a place in the body-horror genre.) A recent report places John’s estimated body count throughout the series at four hundred and fifty. I’m not sure how many of them pile up in “Chapter 4,” but, assuming a rough average of a hundred and twelve, the killings are (as in the first three chapters) classist and trivializing. Only a few of John’s opponents have names, identities, and personalities; most are woefully anonymous, dispatched into oblivion by John with neither a name nor a story, with nothing but the misfortune to square off against him. They are mere fodder for John’s deathcraft, their heads vaporizing in pink mist inside their battle helmets, their bodies catching fire from his incendiary weaponry, their blood spurting fountain-like from slash wounds.

The director, Chad Stahelski, works these elaborate fights and their flimsy killings with flashy but insignificant embellishments (such as filming an indoor battle royal from overhead, as if by drone). He displays little imagination regarding the characters’ activity, or even existence, outside the realm of combat. The many unnamed victims’ mechanical dispatch is a logical function of the franchise’s basic premise: that John (like his co-starring killers) is a member of a breed apart, dealing and eluding death with aplomb but never enduring the petty cares that go with the job. Does John Wick have a passport? He may be superheroic with firearms, fists, and whatever other weapons are within arm’s reach, but he doesn’t fly like Superman. Does he go first class or economy? What does he say when he reaches passport control and is asked, “Business or pleasure?” Does he have an array of forged documents, under a variety of pseudonyms and nationalities, that he switches around to fit his sense of the circumstances? With all the killing that he’s done, has he never come under suspicion? Does he ever worry about it? His exploits may be extraordinary, but they’re nonetheless dependent upon ordinary, unseen necessities. (If, as he leaves Osaka for New York, he’s as filled with regrets as he’d have one believe, spending sixteen hours sandwiched in a middle seat between two snorers would be an apt setting to ponder where he went wrong.) Does he listen to music, does he read a book, does he have a favorite food?

Most of “Chapter 4” is an amusingly punctuated slog. It’s distinguished from its predecessors by the starkly drawn yet complex lines of conflict. The promised duel, ingeniously plotted and cleverly staged, depends on a droll race against the clock—one that gives new meaning to the notion of fighting one’s way through traffic—and a long staircase that becomes a virtual agent of destiny. In short, the last half hour or so of the movie’s nearly three-hour span is giddily intense, swoony, swashbuckling, and sensational yet superficial fun. Right after I saw the movie, I couldn’t stop talking about that ending. It makes the rest of the movie worth sitting through. ♦

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As the fourth installment in the Keanu Reeves action series, John Wick: Chapter 4 is a hit with critics, earning the franchise’s most positive reviews yet. John Wick: Chapter 4 brings more action and thrills as Keanu Reeves’ title assassin continues his path for revenge against the criminal underworld’s influential High Table organization. Taking his mission to earn his freedom global, John Wick tracks down the most powerful operatives across the world while fighting a new enemy with formidable alliances.

John Wick: Chapter 4 already boasts the best reviews of the John Wick franchise , proving the movies can continue to produce fresh angles on the acclaimed action premise. John Wick: Chapter 4 holds a Certified Fresh 93% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes , which beats the previous sequels’ tied 89% ratings and the 2014 original’s 86% score. The positive reviews for John Wick: Chapter 4 are attributing the movie’s success to its lively and thrilling action sequences, franchise-best choreography and breathtaking cinematography, and compelling performances from cast members like Keanu Reeves.

Related: John Wick: Chapter 4 - Cast & Character Guide

7 John Wick 4 Delivers On Its Action Promises To The Extreme

The John Wick franchise has always been associated with its superior action set pieces and stunt work, with reviews remarking that John Wick: Chapter 4 takes the brilliantly-directed violence to the next level. John Wick promises great action , and the fourth movie over-delivers on this front. Across the board, critics note that there can never be too much action in John Wick movies, especially when it brings the high quality and, according to the Houston Chronicle , “ cartoonish extremes ” of John Wick: Chapter 4 . Critics’ reviews have described John Wick: Chapter 4 as a non-stop violent ballet, emphasizing that the style and imagery support the sequel’s amplified action.

6 John Wick 4 Stays Engaging Throughout Its Long Runtime

One source of concern for John Wick: Chapter 4 was its lengthy runtime, clocking in at two hours and 49 minutes to make it the longest film of the franchise. Comparatively, 2019's John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum was two hours and 11 minutes, John Wick: Chapter 2 clocked in at two hours and two minutes, and the original John Wick had a crisp runtime of one hour and 41 minutes. While the intimidating nearly three-hour-long runtime had the potential to negatively impact critical reception, John Wick: Chapter 4 ’s reviews explain that the action film has a great endurance that keeps audiences engaged through the end.

Similar to the last act of James Cameron’s three-hour-and-twelve-minute-long movie Avatar: The Way of Water , the reviews for John Wick: Chapter 4 indicate that the last hour of the Keanu Reeves-starring movie will have audiences on the edge of their seats as some of the greatest action sequences of all-time unfold. John Wick: Chapter 4 ’s good reviews state that the film never feels slow, and that the climax includes jaw-dropping action sequences that make for an exhilarating final hour. It may be a long action movie, but the choreography of Keanu Reeves’ suit-and-tie-clad John Wick , the balletic stunt work, and the never-dull pacing of the story make the runtime worth it.

5 John Wick 4’s Has The Franchise’s Best Action

Not only does John Wick: Chapter 4 have more action than the previous movies, but critics say it also has the greatest action of the franchise. The sequel’s reviews described the action as the most ambitious with memorable sequences that will go down as some of the best of the entire genre. The action set pieces are seamless with spectacular stunts and stylish energy that blow the past three installments of John Wick out of the water. The reason why critics are loving John Wick: Chapter 4 ’s superior action isn’t just that there’s more of it, but that the intensity, boldness, quality, scale, and visuals are greater than ever before.

Related: John Wick 4’s Nunchuks Continue A Brilliant Franchise Tradition

4 John Wick 4 Still Establishes Stakes Through Characters & Story

While John Wick: Chapter 4 ’s Rotten Tomatoes reviews remark that the franchise is notable for prioritizing action over story, the positive responses observe that the 2023 sequel doesn’t leave behind its characters or plot as it ramps up the violence. John Wick: Chapter 4 is being praised for giving its characters’ stories greater importance as a better way to enhance the stakes of the story and justify the more ambitious set pieces. The film manages to produce emotional stakes while establishing more dynamic and personality-filled new John Wick characters , which makes audiences all the more invested in the action.

3 The Choreography & Cinematography Is Some Of The Action Genre’s Best

John Wick: Chapter 4 ’s positive reviews have also celebrated the movie’s impressive choreography and inspired cinematography. The John Wick sequel’s action and violence wouldn’t work as well without its visual style and balletic choreography, which elevate the quality and captivating nature of these set pieces. John Wick is a smart, stylish, and choreographically bold action franchise, and critics are raving about how the fourth chapter brings these qualities to the next level. Not only is the stunt work and imagery some of the best of the John Wick franchise, but it’s also being praised as some of the best of the greater action genre.

2 Donnie Yen’s Standout Performance

John Wick: Chapter 4 ’s good reviews are also being attributed to franchise newcomer Donnie Yen’s standout performance . Critics note that John Wick: Chapter 4 is funnier than its predecessors, with Yen largely being credited for the sequel’s greater humor and heart. In the fourth John Wick movie, Donnie Yen plays Caine, a blind highly-skilled assassin and an old friend of Wick who is sent to kill him. John Wick: Chapter 4 ’s great reviews are praising Yen’s scene-stealing performance and slick action sequences, with Caine refreshingly being given a significant amount of heartbreaking and necessary character building in the 2023 film. According to Nerdist , Donnie Yen’s Caine is even cooler than John Wick himself and “ one of the best action movie characters ever .”

1 Keanu Reeves’ Great Acting & Action Performance

Beloved action movie hero Keanu Reeves reprises his role as John Wick in the character’s fourth outing, which critics say is one of his greatest performances yet. Reeves has proven himself more than capable of taking down bad guys in brilliantly-choreographed action sequences, but John Wick: Chapter 4 ’s reviews observe that he goes to the next level by bringing more heart and focus to the actionless scenes. Keanu Reeves is committed to his unwavering performance as John Wick in the fourth movie, which enhances everything happening around him in the film.

Next: How The Matrix & John Wick's Stunt Training Compares For Keanu Reeves

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Everything We Know

Everything we know about john wick: chapter 4, who's returning, who's new, how will keanu survive, and what's in store for the franchise we break it all down..

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It’s been eight years since Keanu Reeves’ John Wick went on a revenge rampage after a bunch of baddies broke into his house and killed his puppy – and his taste for revenge has not changed much. We still miss that puppy, though.

Since the first film, Chad Stahelski’ s John Wick has quickly become a cult classic, and it began something of a modern “Keanussance” that continued with John Wick: Chapter 2  and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum . And come March 24, 2023 we will be treated to John Wick: Chapter 4 , which will be helmed again by Stahelski, directing from a script written by Shay Hatten ( John Wick: Chapter 3 ,  Army of the Dead ) and Michael Finch ( Predators , Hitman: Agent 47 ).

On top of that, there has been a slow boil of news coming out regarding the plot, and we were given more details about the movie in the theatrical trailer. Here’s a breakdown of what our favorite – and seemingly invincible – assassin has been up to and everything we know about John Wick: Chapter 4 .

Diving Deep into the Wick-Iverse

(Photo by Lionsgate)

The official synopsis of John Wick: Chapter 4 reads: “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.”

Of course, we can expect lots of action scenes and “gun-fu” fight choreography with Stahelski’s signature written all over it. As seen in the trailer, set to a cool, echoey remix of Terry Jacks’ “Seasons in the Sun,” we are definitely going to dive deeper into the mythology of the Wick-iverse and learn new things about John.

In an interview with Empire, the director gave us an idea of what to expect in the sequel, saying, “If you took The Good, The Bad And The Ugly , crossed it with Zatoichi , and threw in a Greek myth, you’d probably get something close to this.”

John’s Back and He’s Brought Some Friends Along

Keanu Reeves is back and badder than ever as the titular deadly assassin with effortless hair. The last time we saw him was in Parabellum when he was being double crossed by Winston ( Ian McShane ) who shot him off a roof – but Mr. Wick survives! We see him delivered to the Bowery King ( Laurence Fishburne ), with whom he agrees to team up to take down the High Table, the council of crime lords who govern the underworld’s most powerful criminal organizations.

In addition to McShane and Fishburne reprising their roles, the recently passed Lance Reddick returns as the Continental concierge Charon. They will be joined by an incredible cast, including Ip Man icon Donnie Yen , who plays Caine, one of John’s old assassin buds. The trailer indicates there will be a scene where they try to kill each other, which will be a treat.

Japanese legend Hiroyuki Sanada also stars as Shimazu, while Japanese-British pop star Rina Sawayama also joins the cast in her feature acting debut. Bill Skarsgård steps in as new baddie Marquis de Gramont, who offers John his freedom from the High Table if he defeats him in combat.

The cast also includes Scott Adkins , Clancy Brown , Shamier Anderson , and Marko Zaror , as well as George Georgiou , who replaces Saïd Taghmaoui as The Elder.

Spoiler Alert: Everyone Lives Unhappily Ever After

(Photo by ©Summit Entertainment)

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that it’s highly unlikely Chapter 4 spells a happy ending for John, who never seems to catch a break. Stahelski pretty much confirmed this in an interview with IndieWire, saying, “John may survive all this s–t, but at the end of it, there’s no happy ending.”

He continued, “Do you think he’s going to ride off into the f–king sunset? He’s killed 300 f–king people and he’s just going to [walk away], everything’s okay? He’s just going to fall in love with a love interest? If you’re this f–king guy, if this guy really exist[ed], how is this guy’s day going to end? He’s f–ked for the rest of his life. It’s just a matter of time.”

On the bright side, this means we’ll get to spend more time with John: Chapter 4 is set to have the longest runtime of any of the installments thus far, landing in the 150-minute range.

The Wick-Iverse Is Expanding

(Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

Just when you thought that there weren’t enough assassins in the Wick-iverse, it was announced that Lionsgate is working on a John Wick spin-off movie called Ballerina starring Ana de Armas and directed by Len Wiseman ( Live Free or Die Hard , the Underworld franchise).

Co-written by Wiseman and Shay Hatten, the movie follows a killer assassin (de Armas) who vows revenge when her family is killed by hitmen – sounds awfully familiar, but we’re here for it.

THR recently announced that Anjelica Huston will be reprising her role as the head of the Ruska Roma crime organization known as the Director, originally introduced in John Wick: Chapter 3 . The spin-off will also welcome McShane, who will appear as Winston, and Reeves is currently in talks to appear as John Wick.

In addition to Ballerina , which doesn’t yet have a release date, it was announced that there will be a prequel TV series titled The Continental , expected to be released on Peacock in 2023.

As the title suggests, the series will explore the origin story of the Continental Hotel, which is essentially an entire separate character in the franchise.

The Continental will follow young manager Winston Scott ( Colin Woodell ) in 1975 New York as he faces a past he left behind. In an attempt to seize control of the iconic hotel, which serves as a meeting point for the world’s most dangerous criminals, Winston charts a deadly course through the mysterious underworld of New York City.

The series, which initially was set for STARZ before moving to Peacock, will also feature a young Charon played by Ayomide Adegun and will star Peter Greene , Ben Robson , Hubert Point-Du Jour , Jessica Allain , Mishel Prada , and Kate Nhung . Sadly, it seems like the series will not feature a young John Wick – at least, not that we know of. You can read more details about  The Contentinental here .

Will There Be A John Wick: Chapter 5 ?

Last we heard, yes.

It was announced in August 2020 that John Wick: Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 were set to film back-to-back. We were also supposed to get Chapter 4 earlier this year. Initially, the sequel was set to hit theaters on Memorial Day weekend, but it seems like a combination of scheduling and COVID surges prevented all of this from happening.

As a result, the sequels ended up not filming back-to-back, and Lionsgate decided to only move forward with John Wick: Chapter 4 . There haven’t been any updates as to whether or not there will be a John Wick: Chapter 5 , but we’re betting on yes.

John Wick: Chapter 4 opens everywhere on March 24, 2023.

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John Wick: Chapter 4 — release date, reviews, trailer, cast and everything we know about the Keanu Reeves movie

Keanu Reeves returns for more action in John Wick: Chapter 4.

While many have tried, no one has been able to kill John Wick yet, but that doesn't mean people won't still be at it in John Wick: Chapter 4 , the next installment of the Keanu Reeves-led action franchise.

What started off as a small action movie has become one of the most popular and acclaimed roles of Reeves' career. Each movie has gone bigger: expanding the world of assassins that John Wick occupies and ratcheting the fight sequences to brand new levels. Fans are eager to see how Chapter 4 is going to do the same, as it is one of the most anticipated 2023 new movies .

Here is everything that we know about John Wick: Chapter 4 .

John Wick: Chapter 4 release date

John Wick: Chapter 4 arrives exclusively in movie theaters on March 24 worldwide. Tickets are on sale now.

Though there were plans for it to come out in 2022, those behind the movie tried to break the news of a delay to their fans in a pretty cool way, announcing the release date in a short video featuring the pool of wire operators that handle all the assassin contracts in the movie's universe: 

Be seeing you. 3.24.23. pic.twitter.com/7r9KKjEhSC December 22, 2021

The fourth entry in the John Wick franchise helps make March 2023 a particularly busy one, as Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves , Creed III , Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Scream 6 are all premiering in the month. 

John Wick: Chapter 4 trailer

The official trailer for John Wick: Chapter 4 is here, featuring some killer moves and teasing some great faceoffs for Reeve's assassin. See for yourself below:

Also check out this previously released sneak peek:

Also, more promo material is likely on the way, as Lionsgate has teased that February 13-17 is going to be "Wick Week," with new exclusive content being dropped every day. That includes the final trailer ahead of the movie's premiere, which features John Wick doing what he does best, killing bad guys in the coolest ways possible:

You can also see some new footage and behind-the-scenes materials in this feature for John Wick: Chapter 4.

John Wick: Chapter 4 reviews — what the critics are saying

After the John Wick: Chapter 4 first reactions got the hype rolling for the action movie, official reviews are starting to come in following a special screening at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 13. In our John Wick: Chapter 4 review , What to Watch thinks it has earned and can hold the title of best action movie of the year. 

As of March 21, John Wick: Chapter 4 is officially "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes , with a score of 94%, which currently ranks as the best in the franchise.

John Wick: Chapter 4 plot

Ever since he was brought back into the world of assassins after his dog was killed by a gangster's kid, John Wick has been trying to escape and get back to a normal life. Unfortunately, despite racking up the body count, he's been unable to do so and at the end of John Wick: Chapter 3 , he was betrayed by long-time ally Winston but gets help from the Bowery King to once again try and beat the High Table that runs this massive network of killers.

In John Wick: Chapter 4 , John is offered his clearest path to freedom yet. But of course, a lot more people are going to need to die. Here's the official synopsis:

"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."

John Wick: Chapter 4 cast

Keanu Reeves is back as John Wick, aka Baba Yaga, the most feared assassin in the world. The role of John Wick has been a career revitalizing one for Reeves. Not that the actor had stopped working, but it brought him back to the height (perhaps even exceeding it) that he had when movies like Speed and The Matrix trilogy were playing: a true A-list actor that can bring fans into the theater.

Also returning for another go around are John Wick veterans Laurence Fishburne ( The Matrix ) as Bowery King, Ian McShane ( Deadwood ) as Winston.

Sadly, on March 17, John Wick star Lance Reddick , who returns for Chapter 4 as Charon, passed away at the age of 60. It is reported that he died of natural causes.

Reeves and director Chad Stahelski gave this statement to Variety on Reddick's passing:

"We are deeply saddened and heartbroken at the loss of our beloved friend and colleague Lance Reddick. He was the consummate professional and a joy to work with. Our love and prayers are with his wife Stephanie, his children, family and friends. We dedicate the film to his loving memory. We will miss him dearly."

New members of the John Wick universe include Bill Skarsgård ( IT ), Hiroyuki Sanada ( Bullet Train ), Shamir Anderson ( Invasion ), pop star Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins ( Day Shift ), Natalia Tena ( Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ), Marko Zaror ( Alita: Battle Angel ), Clancy Brown ( The Shawshank Redemption ) and Donnie Yen ( Ip Man ), who John Wick fans are probably most excited to see Keanu Reeves fight.

What to Watch sister publication Total Film has also has a look at many of the key players of the John Wick cast on the cover for their February issue. Take a look below:

Exclusive! John Wick: Chapter 4 fronts the new issue of Total Film magazine, which features exclusive interviews with Keanu Reeves and the filmmaking team.The subscriber exclusive cover (left) is in the mail to subs now; the newsstand cover hits shelves on Thursday, 2 Feb! pic.twitter.com/veSR7YfxMG January 27, 2023

John Wick: Chapter 4 runtime

John Wick: Chapter 4 clocks in at two hours and 49 minutes, the longest in the franchise.

However, according to director Chad Stahelski, the initial John Wick: Chapter 4 runtime was even longer, at a whopping three hours and 45 minutes. Thankfully, they were able to cut it down.

What is John Wick: Chapter 4 rated?

John Wick: Chapter 4 is rated R in the US and 15 in the UK for "pervasive strong violence and language."

John Wick: Chapter 4 director

Just as Keanu Reeves has led the John Wick franchise in front of the camera, Chad Stahelski has been responsible for it behind the camera and continues doing so as the director of John Wick: Chapter 4.

Prior to directing John Wick , Stahelski was a stuntman and stunt coordinator. This included being Reeves stunt double in The Matrix movies and working on other high-profile projects like V for Vendetta , Rambo , The Expendables , The Hunger Games and The Wolverine .

Stahelski is slated to expand beyond John Wick soon, with him attached to direct a Highlander remake and an adaptation of the video game Ghosts of Tsushima .

John Wick: Chapter 4 poster and images

Check out the John Wick: Chapter 4 poster (with John sporting a "killer" tied) and images right here.

How to watch John Wick movies

If you want to catch up with the first three John Wick movies before John Wick: Chapter 4 , here's what you need to know.

All three movies are streaming on Peacock or are available via digital on-demand in the US. In the UK, they are all streaming on Prime Video .

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Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca , Moulin Rouge! , Silence of the Lambs , Children of Men , One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars . On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd .

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John Wick Chapter 4 review: A perfectly bloated mess

Enter the john wick cinematic universe.

Tom's Guide Verdict

John Wick: Chapter 4 is arguably far too much — as evidenced by its running time — but every piece counts. It proves, yet again, that Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski know exactly how to make an elevated action movie.

Inventive action

Soulful performances from Reeves & Co.

Hilarious comedic moments

Not enough Lance Reddick

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Writing a John Wick: Chapter 4 review may sound like a foolhardy mission. Movies like this are almost review-proof — people will see them no matter what. But when you enjoy a movie as much as I enjoyed this chapter, it's not an impossible task that will remind you of John Wick taking down Tarasov's enemies. It's a labor of love.

But, to get this out of the way up front, John Wick 4 has a problem with excess. Not necessarily in its plot, but in its running time. This movie should not be two hours and 49 minutes long. We've come a long way — too far one might say — from the first John Wick, which was an efficient 96-minute ride.

That said, as much as John Wick: Chapter 4 would have benefitted from a shorter runtime, it's still just as good as any other chapter of the series. Allow me to explain why. While I'm going to put a brief spoiler warning up front, I'll keep things to a minimum, and not say anything I wouldn't have wanted to know before I saw it.

Oh, and if you're curious, we expect John Wick: Chapter 4 on Peacock in early summer. Need to catch up? You can watch the other John Wick movies online right now.

John Wick: Chapter 4 opens up the JWCU

While Mr. Wick (Keanu Reeves) does get plenty to do in this movie, this chapter stands out by opening up the field to potential new heroes. Unfortunately for John, two of them are out to kill him. 

That would be a nameless tracker (Shamier Anderson) and Caine (Donny Yen), both have reason to kill John, thanks to the vengeful Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), who sees Wick as a threat to be eliminated. And while Caine and Wick have a shared past and respect, the tracker (aka Mr. Nobody) is a new figure. 

While the Marquis is completely devoid of the enigmatic cool of Wick and Winston, his scene-chewing swagger — completed with a killer opulent wardrobe — screams he's the villain with blunt-force obviousness. But everyone else made me think 'I want to know more.'

Caine and Mr. Nobody come off as remarkably cool and worthy of spinoff movies, and will have you ready for a John Wick Cinematic Universe. Oh, and make sure to keep an eye out for Akira — the character played by actor/singer/model Rina Sawayama. 

While the Marquis is completely devoid of the enigmatic cool of Wick and Winston, his scene-chewing swagger — completed with a killer opulent wardrobe — screams he's the villain with blunt-force obviousness. But everyone else made me think 'I want to know more.' This a sure sign that Stahelski and Reeves are ready to tell new stories.

Unfortunately, the late Lance Reddick is barely in the movie. 

John Wick: Chapter 4 is a delightful global adventure

While a video game-esque scene in Paris — which looks like either John Wick: Hex or the Hotline: Miami games — was one of the film's most memorable action scenes, the fourth Wick film partially rules thanks to its excellent changes of scenery. From the wild west-style chaos early on, to the Osaka Continental hotel and excellent big Arc de Triomphe set piece, John Wick: Chapter 4 continues to offer the getaway escapism that we seek at the multiplex.

And, throughout, comedic notes constantly keep the audience guessing about what's happening. In particular, a stairs scene — and the way Mr. Nobody communicates to his dog — had me laughing hard.

And throughout, especially with a touching sunrise shot at the near-end of the film, you may find yourself 'ooh'ing and 'ahh'ing — as John Wick's fourth adventure is as delightful to the eye as it is gory. Credit goes to cinematographer Dan Laustsen — who had the same role for John Wick chapters 2 and 3 — for the elevated aesthetics in this action movie. They're part of what makes John Wick movies feel like action movies for film nerds with Letterbox accounts.

John Wick: Chapter 4 fights between excess and bloat

For as much as I loved to turn the pages of Chapter 4, I did find myself looking at my watch during the third hour. Once I saw the running time, I kept thinking "what is this, John Wick: Endgame?" While Stahelski loves his maximalism, there's a bit of just-too-much happening that veers into bloat. 

The biggest issue I have is how many different fights we get at the Osaka Continental. While the green-light-soaked brawl is neat, the rooftop shoot-out, the kitchen scene and the chaos in the museum were far better. Each could have been trimmed down in parts, and it would have been all the better for it. Just don't lose the nunchucks. 

There's also the entire Berlin subplot, which serves the plot a little more than it serves everything else. Wick's adoptive sister Katia (Natalia Tena) is a welcome addition, but when she doesn't get much to do, her introduction feels more like padding than a skeletal addition. While John Wick movies have always felt all-killer, no-filler, I do wonder what a two-hour cut would have looked like.

Bottom line: Keanu Reeves' biggest opus yet

Throughout the John Wick films, there have been two constants: action and momentum. Both, mostly, are driven and perfected by Reeves' pitch-perfect work as the Baba Yaga himself. Chapter 4, though, doesn't forget to take its time to remember where it all started, with John Wick's eternal love for his late wife Helen (Bridget Moynahan) and an appreciation of dogs.

For as unrealistic as the John Wick movies are — and the clinking of bullet shells falling from our heroes jacket as he disrobes is a fun reminder of the over-the-top nature — Reeves' ability to emote and show care truly helps the John Wick movies steer away from farce. 

I left the theater excited for the future of the John Wick cinematic universe, and ready to see what's next for all parties involved.

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John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum

Where to watch.

Rent John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum reloads for another hard-hitting round of the brilliantly choreographed, over-the-top action that fans of the franchise demand.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Chad Stahelski

Keanu Reeves

Halle Berry

Ian McShane

Laurence Fishburne

Bowery King

Mark Dacascos

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