by Victoria Alexander
A triumph of excess and brilliant artistry of weaponry. Sensational and allegedly only the enemy’s soldiers deaths in Ukraine can top Wick’s high body count. I want more and demand Wick fans to boycott all Reeves’s movies if he refuses to do Chapter 5,6,7 and 8.
You know what I love about John Wick (Keanu Reeves)? He doesn’t eat, sleep, shower, wash his hair, shave or stand in line at airport security. No matter how much downpour of rain he walks in, Wick never gets his passport or money wet. He doesn’t own a credit card or a cell phone. And he is still missing a part of his finger.
Reeves looks great and really commits to John Wick. We have been obsessed and seduced by The High Table’s arcane rules.
I was gifted an authentic “gold coin” used in the production of JOHN WICK. This certified auction treasure was given to me by a friend who acquired John Wick’s suit – among many other prominent movie relics.
Now Wick is wearing a Kevlar suit, so every time he is fired upon, and it is non-stop, he has to bring his suit jacket up to his face. He has to reload his gun! I love that Wick is thrown down stairs and building roofs, falls off a bridge and a stadium’s upper levels. Though crippled, he gets up! What a guy! It looks like Reeves did a lot of suffering (or his multiple stunt doubles did).
Wick has a new gun: A custom-built Taran Tactical Innovations' Pit Viper.
There is also a new weapon the killer’s use: a Taran Tactical Innovations Dracarys Gen-12, which is a Genesis Arms Gen-12 with various modifications including BCM furniture and a KeyMod handguard.
All the Wick movies are terrific, I loved all of them. Could JOHN WICK, CHAPTER 4 outdo JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3, PARABELLUM? I screamed loudly several times! PARABELLUM put the word “parley” into common usage. PARABELLUM’S chief adversary, Zero (Mark Davascos), was a super fan and thrilled to fight him. And Halle Berry (Sofia Al-Azwar) and her dogs were terrific! PARABELLUM also introduced The High Table’s Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon) in divine costumes. Then there was Angelica Huston’s The Director. Could CHAPTER 4 top all this?
Yes. And more. It’s a monumental achievement for director Chad Stahelski’s skill as an army general. The screenplay’s excesses by writers Shay Hatten (co-writer of CHAPTER 3) and Michael Finch set a new high mark for future merciless epics.
Let’s not forget Wick’s origin story. It was his puppy’s death by a young Russian mobster (Alfie Allen) and his crew that set everything in motion. Humans love for their dogs outranks their love for their significant others (according to the Internet).
As we now know, Baba Yaga has been declared excommunicado (in other words a “suppressive person”) and disowned by his family and is being hunted by The High Table. They just can’t allow the hallowed legend of John Wick to continue. There’s a new dandy running the retribution arm of The High Table. He’s fashioned himself on the glorious splendor of Louis XIV, The Sun King. He is the Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård) and what is at stake is the imperial head seat at The High Table.
I’ll say this for John Wick: He wipes out all the highly motivated killers in Osaka, Japan and Paris, France. An obese High Table despot in Germany lasts longer then his army of killers.
With the price on Wick’s head keeps increasing, every thug and street peddler is on the lookout. There is one, Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson), who also has a second, a dog who needs no commands. Mr. Nobody has a unique outlook: Help Wick escape firepower and the bounty keeps going up. Mr. Nobody has the advantage here. He’s on the ground while the Marquis is eating cake in the Hall of Mirrors.
Wick has only one friend left, Shimazu Koji (Hiroyuki Sanada), the manager of the Osaka Continental Hotel. The bounty on Wick’s head is high enough that Koji’s daughter, the Continental’s concierge, Akira (Rina Sawayama), is furious he is on the hotel’s roof. Too late, since Gramont’s star henchman, Chidi (Marko Zamora), demands access to the entire hotel to search for Wick. A former “colleague” of Wick’s, Caine (Donnie Yen), who when asked said he had voluntarily offered up his eyes for an infraction that was worst than losing a finger, has been assigned to kill Wick by the Marquis. He’s got a reason. These men always have a child to protect or a pet. Wick has neither.
A blind assassin with a cane. What’s next? A wheelchair-bound assassin? How about an assassin who can only kill if the kill zone corresponds with Archimedes’ Constant? A pit bull on a revenge path? A toddler with a grudge?
Add your custom assassin profile to the comments.
In Osaka without a gun, Wick gets ahold of nunchucks, a new weapon in his arsenal. How much training did Reeves do for these fights?
My favorite scene is Wick hunting through a huge outdoor nightclub to kill Germany’s High Table head, Killa (Scott Adkins), a morbidly obese man.* None of the thousands of revelers stop dancing, even to look. It’s the modern age of hedonism and self-interest. What a scene! And Wick falls off several roofs and lives!
Then it’s on to Paris and a thrilling Arc de Triomphe roundabout high traffic run by Wick pursued by 1,000 killers.
Winston (Ian McShane), Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) and Charon (the recently deceased Lance Reddick) are back. The Bowery King is thinking of expanding to Paris and Winston wants his Continental fiefdom back. As usual, Charon supports Winston.
The eventual outcome between Wick and the Marquis is highly original and clever. The High Table has a long history and medieval rules are applied after Wick gets his place back in his family. Thank God Wick hasn’t forgotten the Russian mantras for the ceremony.
We need The High Table’s Rules and Regulations handbook.
Reeves looks slim and fit and McShane, Fishburne and Reddick seem delighted with their now iconic characters. Especially Fishburne, who co-starred with Reeves as Morpheus in THE MATRIX franchise. Special mention demands acknowledgement to the vast production team. According to IMDb.com, the production staff of CHAPTER 4 rivaled Alexander the Great’s 32,000+ field army for his invasion of the Achaemenid Empire. Bill Skarsgård is perfect and with JOHN WICK CHAPTER 4 may be on his way to match his family’s film careers.** Skarsgård is currently in production as Count Orlok in Robert Eggers’s NOSFERATU.
Do Hollywood studios contracts have a moral clause?*** Let’s hope Reeves’s management team has a way out of this career misstep: GiantFreakinRobot.com announces, “Keanu Reeves will play the bad guy in the upcoming Will Smith sequel I Am Legend 2. According to our trusted and proven sources, John Wick will be flipping sides and playing a villain for once, a rarity in Reeves’s long career. Until fairly recently, the long-gestating I Am Legend 2 seemed to be a bit of a pipe dream (especially after Smith’s shocking cancelation in the public eye last year), but it seems like things are quickly falling into place for the post-apocalyptic science fiction film.”
*According to a 2017 report, “Morbid obesity, which is also termed “clinically severe obesity,” is typically defined as being more than 100 pounds overweight or having a BMI of 40 or higher. An estimated 5-10 million Americans are considered morbidly obese. Morbid obesity significantly increases the risk of one or more obesity-related health conditions or serious diseases – also known as co-morbidities – that result either in significant physical disability or even death.
**Siblings: Alexander Skarsgård, Gustaf Skarsgård, Valter Skarsgård, Sam Skarsgård, Eija Skarsgård and his father, acclaimed actor: Stellan Skarsgård.
***”The Actor shall conduct himself with due regard to the public conventions and morals. The Actor shall not, either while rendering such services to the producer or in his private life, commit an offense involving moral turpitude under Federal, state or local laws or ordinances.” Feb. 2, 2023
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