KV: Zoe and I are completists. Because of this, we have now clapped our tired eyes on all 8 hours and 38 minutes of John Wick movies in existence, including John Wick: Chapter 4, which was released in cinemas last week. John Wick, I would argue, is also a completist, and in Chapter 4 we are reintroduced to the titular character as he continues to try to kill seemingly every single person on earth using guns, hand to hand combat, and various other pointy implements. In spite of its nearly three-hour run time and more point blank head shots than I could count, I really enjoyed this movie and think that the series is getting better with each iteration. Far removed from its humble beginnings as a story vaguely rooted in something approaching reality, the fourth instalment of this franchise sees Wick (Keanu Reeves) continuing to battle against the immovable and quasi-mystical forces that control the underworld of international assassins he has re-entered against his will. The film is as much a flashy action romp as it is a parable about grief and mortality. Zoe, could you give us a rundown of the plot?

ZA: With pleasure. Welcome to the John Wickverse, a space where DnB is near constantly thumping and everyone is either wearing the most swagged out bulletproof suit, wearing their national garb, or is a pink-sweatered rockabilly. For the unacquainted, the John Wick films follow the events in the months following the death of John Wick’s wife. Wick, grief stricken, is provoked to re-enter his previous life as the most lethal/cool/beloved assassin in the network of killers under the High Table. The ol’ “just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” chestnut. Those who operate under the High Table are governed by a strict set of rules, which Wick inevitably breaks in his pursuit of vengeance, garnering a multi-million dollar price on his head and excommunicado status. Talk about a bad year.

Where John Wick: Chapter 4 picks up, our protagonist has been “assassinated,” presumed alive. The Continental, the safe house hotel managed by Winston (Ian McShane) — longtime ally and recent Judas to Wick — has been reinstated. Things aren’t all peachy at the Continental, though. Six-four king Bill Skarsgard is here — he’s French, he’s fancy and he’s pissed. His character name is The Marquis and I’m just going to pause for a second and flag that there are lots of flamboyant names/adages/words/etc. in this universe, please just go with it, it’s part of the charm. Representing one of the 12 crime families that make up the High Table, he is there to excommunicado the Continental into the ground and put Winston on notice for his perceived fealty to JW over the wishes of the High Table.

Meanwhile, with an increasing bounty on his head, Wick flies the coop of his safe haven with the Bowery King (Morphius himself, Laurence Fishburne) and commences a vengeance world tour, getting into many delicious and juicy fight sequences in new corners of the world, evading and pursuing the High Table. As Katie pointed out when we saw it, he can seemingly jump continents with ease, however has to kill about 80 people to get from one suburb to the next.  

Both the universe and plot are quite intricate, as we learn more about the man who existed before the events of the first film and the glamorous and violent world he helped shape through his previous actions. 

Katie, tell me, if you could get into that hectic Berlin club in John Wick: Chapter 4, would you go even though it is run by a Batman villain type?

KV: I’ve got to say I 100% would – as in previous John Wick iterations, they make the club look way more fun than I have ever experienced in real life, with many water features and enough room for everyone to dance without someone elbowing your drink onto you. All of the scenes in Berlin, where the club is set, were my favourite of the movie, in part because of the Batman villain type and in part because of the convergence of a pivotal and high stakes/gun-filled card game and violent luxury club scene. In fact all of the settings in this film are as luxurious as they are immediately destroyed by John Wick and his friends/enemies. As Zoe mentioned, the glimpses into Wick’s previous relationships are a real pleasure in this movie. There’s a charming Montague and Capulet vibe to a lot of his friendships. One of his main antagonists, Caine (Donnie Yen), appears to have been one of his closest and longest friends, and yet because of cruel twists of fate and the even crueller machinations of the High Table, they are pitted against each other. What was your take on the relationships and some of the deeper currents running under the story?

ZA: What I really love about the exploration of these complex networks of histories and connections is the unspoken depth of them, which is reflective of the world the John Wickverse renders as a whole. The audience comes to this narrative post Wick’s career as an illustrious assassin, however through the cinematic skill of the storytelling throughout the series, a rich and fantastical world is revealed and explored. This is the thing I love most about these films: the world is there, unexplained and absurd, and it trusts the ability of the audience to engage without endless exposition or the requirement to watch countless films to understand the plot of any single film (yes, I’m looking at you, MCU).

It is a world like ours, but it’s way sexier. A select few men are nearly unkillable, with the majority bursting with blood begging to be gooped onto a surface. Everyone is either an assassin or very unfazsed with the high volumes of murders happening constantly around them. In a particularly camp fight sequence, there’s an endless string of assassins playing Frogger with guns at the Arc de Triomphe and citizens just continuing to drive, swerving around the mounting body count as 0.5 of the four and a half female characters (I am not including the gaggle of homogenised rockabilly switchboard ladies, and this is 0.5 of a character as you only see the bottom half of her face) seductively commentates and spins some golden oldies over the radio waves. Just quietly, the other three women character’s central narratives are being daughters or John Wick’s dead wife — do better, John Wickverse.

Notwithstanding the near omission of women from this movie, it is an emotionally complex and compelling film, grappling with grief, loss of the self through violence, and what it means to live a life of purpose and mortality. This is also amidst brilliantly choreographed (albeit plentiful) fight sequences, and Fishburne bellowing laughter at every opportunity. What I am trying to say is, John Wick: Chapter 4 is ambitious and — like its protagonist does to his opponents — executed thoroughly. 

KV: I was both delighted and disgusted that they brought back the switchboard rockabillies. Why is the bureaucratic hub of the international government of assassins staffed entirely by tattooed women dressed like waitresses from the 1950s? Don’t worry about it.

But yes, I think the most affecting aspect of John Wick: Chapter 4 is the fact that, although its protagonist seems pretty unfazed by the many and varied catastrophic injuries he sustains, in a metaphysical sense he is dying — not only because he has a target on his back, but also because he has nothing to live for anymore. This is, at its heart, a story about a person struggling to confront the finitude of existence. I think this sense of inevitability lends it a certain unexpected gravity that makes its flashier aspects a welcome relief from existential dread. For instance, there is some excellent dog acting, and some much needed canine revenge for the brutal dog murder of the first movie. 

We also haven’t yet addressed the fact that Wick’s new catchphrase in this movie seems to be simply a long drawn out “Yeeeeeaaaaah.” It appeared to be a very deliberate choice, and I don’t know why, but it needs to be said and its strangeness delighted me.

I’m not sure where the franchise goes from here, but I hope we will get some answers about the High Table and, most importantly, continue to get to see humans make terrible life choices in service of their loyalty to dogs. 

ZA: The weighty “yeeaaaahh” catchphrase has to be acknowledged, as does the fact that it is now a permanent fixture in our friendship and a foolproof punchline between us. John Wick: Chapter 4 really delivers and exceeds all the beats we have come to expect from the series. There is an abundance of action, opulence, violence and sentimentality, and we get to further explore the Wickverse. Wherever the franchise goes next, I will greedily be gobbling up any and all content on offer.

 

John Wick: Chapter 4 is currently playing in cinemas.