What’s It About
With the price on his head ever increasing, legendary hit man John Wick takes his fight against the High Table global as he seeks out the most powerful players in the underworld, from New York to Paris to Japan to Berlin.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
This is the film John Wick fans have been waiting for. For those that don’t know, Mr. Wick was running for his life because a worldwide hit had been placed on him for breaking the rules. This is the second half of the last JW movie. And as with all John Wick films, the story is personal. In JW4, you take an even deeper dive into the world of the most organized killing institutions ever imagined. Everything about this installment is more significant than the last film. So much so that, at times, it might feel a bit cartoony. Realism is still there regarding how they fight or hold and fire weapons. But this time, they’re wearing bulletproof suits. It doesn’t take away from the story or the action, but this time’s realism is questionable. How bullet resistant is a bulletproof suit? Tons of people fall and get hit by another person or a vehicle, which raises more red flags. How much bodily damage should I believe the human body can take? The John Wick franchise prides itself on accuracy. Is he holding the gun right? Is that an actual plausible move for the situation? Did he reload or shoot continuously? This entry is all about the type of revenge that could only happen in a graphic novel. The story and action far exceed any other action film made today. But for John to pull off the things he had to do this time, more than a few laws of physics had to be broken. Understandingly, JW4 does lose the “this could actually happen” factor that gave the other three films high praise. But John Wick Chapter 4 does something the other entries would not or could not do. It brings the franchise to a satisfying end – even if it’s not the absolute end.
OUR RATING – A HIGH TABLE 8
MEDIA
- Genre – Action
- Street date
- Digital – May 23rd, 2023.
- DVD/Blu-Ray/4K – June 13th, 2023
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2.39:1
- Sound – English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Audio
- Subtitles – English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras
- Chad and Keanu: Through Wick and Thin: Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves have a partnership that stretches all the way back to the first Matrix film. In this retrospective piece, we trace their remarkable friendship and decades-long collaboration.
- Train Like a Killer: Weapons Master Robert “Rock” Galotti and Keanu Reeves reveal the rigorous training that Keanu had to endure to make John Wick: Chapter 4 a reality – from gunplay, to jiu jitsu, to some hard-hitting stunt work.
- Making A Killing: In John Wick, sets are not merely the backdrop for each scene – they are integral parts of the action, with Wick often using whatever is on hand to take the fight to his enemies. Here we explore the craft at play in designing the sets of John Wick: Chapter 4 and the ways set design and action choreography go hand in hand in this legendary series.
- The Psychology of a Killer: Chad Stahelski explores the psychology of John Wick, a character who, despite four films, is still a mystery in many ways. We unpack the complicated code of ethics that Wick lives by, and the ironic bonds he shares with the men trying to kill him.
- The Blind Leading the Fight: John Wick: Chapter 4 witnesses the arrival of Caine, a blind killer played by legendary actor and martial artist Donnie Yen. With a style not seen since The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi, Caine shows that a killer’s greatest instincts come not from his eyes, but from his mind. Here we uncover Yen’s journey on this film, exploring his prep for the role, his insight into the character, and his intense training regimen to portray this unlikely killer.
- Suit Up / Shoot Up: Costume Designer Paco Delgado uncovers the cooler-than-cool suits worn by the assassins of John Wick that feature bulletproof lining – just what every killer needs for a night out on the town. We also explore the more refined looks of the Marquis and the Old West-inspired garb of the Tracker.
- Packing a Punch: Pulling off a kill takes a village. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the way Team Wick incorporates special effects into the practical stunts and locations of the film.
- One Killer Shot: John Wick: Chapter 4 features one of the boldest single-take shots ever attempted in action filmmaking. Fight Choreographers Jeremy Marinas and Laurent Demianoff team up with Stunt Coordinator Scott Rogers to dive into the creative challenges that went into planning this one-shot sequence that sees John Wick take on Paris’s deadliest killers.
- Killing at the Speed of Traffic: Take a look at a nonstop action sequence featuring John Wick’s car-fu at the Arc de Triomphe! The driving force of this piece will be a look at the effects achieved at the iconic location, and sets the stakes of every assassin in Paris descending on Wick.
- A Shot in the Dark: The John Wick series takes audiences into a world that is both thematically and visually dark. For film crews, that meant enduring hundreds of night shoots, with crews switching to a virtually nocturnal mode of life for long stretches of production. Here we explore the tenacious work of cast and crew members who tough it out night after night in pursuit of Wick’s dark, iconic aesthetic. Along the way, we explore some of the most iconic night scenes in the film, culminating with Wick’s brutal staircase fight.
- In Honor of the Dead: In creating John Wick: Chapter 4, Chad Stahelski drew on references from some of the greatest films ever made. Uncover the cinematic homages depicted in the film, from David Lean to John Woo, to the samurai epics of post-war Japan.
- Theatrical Trailer 1
- Theatrical Trailer 2