Fans of the John Wick franchise have waited eagerly for four years (1,404 days — I counted) for the release of the latest installment, John Wick: Chapter 4, which opens on Friday. If you are one of those people, let me tell you — this movie will scratch every itch and make you lie back in ecstasy. It will unleash your urge to scream with rage, wince in dread, and bellow with hysteria as John Wick (played by Keanu Reeves), a formidable assassin with massive bounties on his head, gracefully massacres the pitiful, hopeless thugs who get in the way of his vengeance and his freedom. Your molecules will separate; you will transcend your human form and evolve into a beam of pure truth and light.
As the theater darkened at an advance screening of the film in New York City, a man exclaimed, “Time to watch a bunch of dudes get shot!” Women screamed, “Keanu forever!” The atmosphere was thick with aggression and lust, and in any other situation, I’d have wanted to open a window to let out the steam, but not there.
When the franchise’s first installment, John Wick, was released in 2014, it was a standout, even in an industry stacked with studios’ heaviest action and superhero hitters. By then, Disney was 10 films deep into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and 20th Century Fox was on its seventh X-Men film. Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier were respectively the No. 1 and No. 3 films in the domestic box office that year. The superhero plotlines dominating theaters had melted into overstuffed sequels that, for all their fun, were becoming convoluted. Filmmakers sacrificed the freedom to express violent and sexual themes to maintain palatable PG and PG-13 ratings and maximize potential audiences.
John Wick offered adult audiences a stylishly dark and visceral experience that had been lacking, trading innocuous CGI battles for high-intensity, bloody, full-body combat. The plotlines are simple but the action is relentless, and director and stunt person Chad Stahelski injects a refreshing physicality into the films, with Reeves performing many of his own stunts. The first film kicks off with the horrendous murder of Wick’s new puppy, a final gift from his recently deceased wife. It sends the world-famous assassin, in his suffering, on a rampage, with nothing left to lose. The settings in all four films are deliciously modern and gilded, the mood replete with irresistible masculinity. The John Wick movies portray a world of power and money, and its denizens handle hard emotions in tragically unhealthy ways. For all of his prowess, Wick still suffers brutal injuries — and his vulnerability imbues him with humanity. Today, the entertainment landscape is still saturated with impressive stunts, layered backstories, and capital-P Protagonists, yet John Wick: Chapter 4 can still leave you white-knuckled, heart racing, and screaming internally.
