John Wick Chapter 4 is PERFECT

how do you wish to be remembered how do you sum up a man's life how can you properly send off the Monumental series that is John Wick a series that literally changed the landscape of action Cinema the series that set the bar so high that Phil might never be able to achieve those Heights again the series created a modern mythology that turned Keanu Reeves into the 21st century equivalent of Hercules or Odysseus men who were held up in great regard and then had to face impossible odds in order to complete their tasks and in these films John Wick has to fight his own versions of minotaurs and gods in his quest for vengeance and in John Wick chapter 4 that grand scale of the Greek epic is felt from the very beginning we cross cut in the opening from John getting ready to confront the armies that await him to a seemingly never-ending desert in homage to Lawrence of Arabia and the enormity of scale that Jon is unearthing John is trying to tie up loose to end the rule of the high table to kill the gods of the realm but in doing so his sisyphean Quest brings him back to where it all began John severed his ring finger in John Wick chapter 3 and lost his wedding ring as a price for recommitting himself to the high table his attempts to reclaim the ring at the beginning of John Wick 4 prove futile as he leaves Morocco without the reminder of his commitment to Helen his wife the high table consumes all takes all and gives nothing back in return we're told this right at the top his fate prophesized and yet John tries all he might to keep running keep fighting keep killing he will kill as many as he has to as many as he can if it were up to Jon he'd kill the whole damn world but everything done within the world of John Wick has consequences you kill John Wick's dog he kills you but in doing so you dip so much as a pinky back into this Pond May well find something reaches out and drags you back into its depths building from people's relationships with Jon from the first film and how that affects them when Jon gets the Osaka Continental they're concerned about survival given what's happened with the New York continental and Winston and how that friendship with John led to the demise of the building the death of Karen and the excommunicado of Winston himself Osaka is on high alert but doesn't feel as though they've done anything to disrupt the high table until Jon shows up and then shimazu is moved into action by loyalty and friendship with John even though his daughter is very much against the idea and he should just turn John over for the sake of their own skin does that make them better than the people trying to kill them than the high table the high table is over John and all the trouble he has brought for them all the trouble that his connections have brought but they can't just outright kill John Wick killing a man can turn him into a martyr letting him live tells the world he's a coward or a turn coat so they have to show that there are consequences for his actions Winston is a man who's done nothing but serve and abide by the rules for his entire time running the continental and because of his friendship with John Wick because of his allyship to a friend he sealed the fate of himself and the continental and look he tried to change his face tried to outrun it and trick the high table into letting him keep the Continental despite his actions in the previous film but this is John Wick this is all about actions and consequences in John Wick chapter 4 is the literalization of consequences no one is above the table and so the Continental is not only condemned but Karen is killed to make a statement the Marquee tells Winston think about why you live it asks Winston and really all of our main players to think about why they live in general why they fight why they protect why they make the choices they do if they die tomorrow would they be happy with the life they've lived at the end of chapter 3 John rediscovers his reason for fighting it's selfish yes but it reconnects him with Humanity as he chooses to be John the man taking the love he and Helen had for one another and using that to fuel his righteous takedown of the high table in their oppressive establishment it doesn't entirely absolve John of a lifetime of wickedness but for the first time he's doing the right thing for the betterment of others and so chapter 4 is his quest now that his beliefs have been reaffirmed to destroy the high table choices actions consequences whatever your choices may be you have to live with the consequences of those actions but at least in one scenario you can uphold your Humanity John is reminded of this by the words an example of a friend and truthfully all the friends who assisted him in a time of need knowing full well they could be killed and who all bravely faced the consequences of their actions violence Taking Lives lives in brutality all have repercussions it changes people but if something these killers are faced with is wrong will they have the courage and heart to do the right thing to challenge The Establishment head on again cut the [ __ ] killing is killing it doesn't matter if you're following a rule book or living by your own code it's all the same barbaric act if you're going to be sucked up by the world and succumb to the violence the least you can do is follow your own code instead of just following marching orders from an unjust elitist system be a killer with autonomy and understand when not to pull a trigger Jon is poisonous to everyone he's in contact with everyone he's friends or brothers with but it's only because he's made the table afraid they have to constrict harder just as any authoritarian rule does when they sense their power is slipping and people are beginning to question and challenge the system work outside it with their own code a code founded upon mutual respect love and Brotherhood it's like people who blindly follow a religion no matter what versus people who lead with morals even if they go against the rules of said religion rules were written into law by man surely they can be changed or Unwritten the idea that this is what separates us from animals is a front it's a way to justify and sanction violence while also exercising control it's a way to give those in power even more power it's a way to make those beneath you truly understand that they exist under the table all of these actions have culminated in a world that Jon is fighting so hard to destroy a world that for every head he destroys to more grow to take its place it's like a Hydra it makes you need to ask where does John's Quest end the table will never stop if he kills the Marquee they'll just send another to take his place it's an endless cycle of killing begetting more killing John thinks he can just kill everyone and take down the table with him but the reality is no one not even even John Wick can kill everyone endless rage and Carnage just creates more John Wicks every day who then becomes Servants of the table Jon has to be more than a Mindless Soldier Taking Lives he has to become a symbol he has to make his life mean something he has to find something to die for and I think deep down he knows this he knows what that thing is but how can he become a symbol of that when faced with that choice and how your life will end what will become of it I actually think that's why it's so brilliant that Karen quotes Ned Kelly with such his life because yeah Ned [ __ ] died but he died believing in something bigger than himself he died for a cause John doesn't have that yet he's still just killing to stay alive to preserve the memory of his wife in this film he has to use that memory as a way to connect and empathize with other people and yeah he can still get what he wants he can make a statement and kill the gods to an extent but he can become something more in the process I mean John is basically in purgatory right now and has to fight his way up to Mount Olympus to achieve his goal Dante's Inferno death comes for everyone that's why you have to live righteously while you still have the chance make it mean something that's why I [ __ ] love that line from shimazu when he says a good death only comes after a good life both he and John had a taste of the other side they enjoyed the good life while they still had a chance and then death came knocking at their door and they could either resist surviving not really living in an eternal battle within a system designed to damn you or accept your fate for what it is and die knowing you've lived the best you could for the right things Kane shimazu and John are all three men who managed to get out only to be forced back in by the system in this world with this governing body you're never truly free and as Kane finds out in the post-credits scene in his quest to prevent the death of his daughter he created another John Wick in Akira and the cycle continues Kane made a deal with the high table out of love for his family to protect them but is it worth the cost can he live with the consequences of his actions especially if he's forced to kill a friend in order to keep his daughter alive it brings the whole killing stranger's Motif from the first film full circle where killing strangers so we don't kill the ones that we love it's a paradox because even when that happens you're creating enemies you're continuing the cycle what happens if you're forced to kill a brother someone you respect and have a relationship with with in order to get what you want will you choose to do it at what point do you stop doing the bidding of a merciless feudal system designed to entrap you in a cycle of violence and brutality and start directing that aggression at the system itself at what point do you become autonomous and start living in service of something greater that will prevent others from suffering a similar fate John's fate may be said but that doesn't mean everyone else's are John is a cautionary tale but also one of love people can learn from his mistakes but also become inspired by what he represents and what he reveals about the high table and their rules we may think that we don't have a choice that's a higher power holds all the cards but when it ultimately comes down to a choice who is the one holding the gun you are the one who ultimately makes the choice to continue the cycle or Break It both come with consequences but what are the consequences you can accept those cling to death live those who cling to life die Marquee and the rest of the high table offer Mr Nobody 25 million dollars plus a 401k contribution in order to kill John Wick they think they can exercise control by lining the pockets of those who need the money and you know it's not like their system has really allowed them to break outside of needing that money and look to be fair it does incentivize many even nobody to an extent though you get the sense that he's not entirely down with it all he has an admiration for John and has been tracking him for some time tracker or Mr Nobody whatever you want to call him it's one of those two has to prove himself to be a man committed to the cause above himself and he does so by pulling his hand through the knife rather than just pulling the knife out but it's a deception that Marquis Falls for tracker doesn't give a [ __ ] about the table and he never will he's in it for the money for survival at all costs and ultimately has a Humanity hidden in his depths that the Marquee did not anticipate because even the money means nothing if it comes at the cost of Mr nobody's Soul the table needs to believe its employees are committed to upholding the system who put the system before this self it's not enough to do something for the high table they need to believe you maintain belief in their cause at all costs and in a similar way John is using all of his resources to take them down it's taking everything from him if killing is killing off a piece of yourself with each life you take then everyone John was cashing in on in chapter three is now cashing in on him through his wrath in order to challenge the Marquee to a duel Jon has to belong to a family of the high table he must rebuild the relationship he had with his family he must accomplish laborers to be in the good graces to prove himself to others in the case of his family he must find and kill the man who killed the patriarch of his family if he wants to be welcomed back into the fold John's cashed in all his favors he's used his ticket now he has to owe a few favors of his own he has to give up a piece of himself Jon is unlucky in life love and friendship all of these motivations are put on display in the brilliant gambling standoff in Berlin nightclub scene it allows us to understand why these people fight how they are fighting and what it means in the end one is looking to serve his way out one is looking to buy his way out one is looking to kill his way out each think they have the winning hand that their way is the ticket out of this life but the reality is someone else has the winning hand in this case Killa he cheated his way maybe as most people do who get out they cheat their way out I'm playing both sides so that I always come out on top what they didn't realize was the moment they sat down at the table to gamble the moment they committed to their way of getting out they already lost already made a choice that would forever dictate and ruin their lives the poison they have injected into their world is shown back on them in their injuries during the fight and now that we're here oh my God the goddamn fights oh the fights I'll get it out of the way now it's crazy that that's Scott Adkins under all of those Prosthetics giving such a dynamic and chameleonic performance considering his character exists literally for the sole purpose of being one of John Wick's contracts Jon's only way to get close to kila is to gamble with him which is right in line with his entire history he has to win his way out and ultimately that means he has to kill his way out he's a man of sheer will and is going to force it if he has to this guy is one body necessary for Jon to fall just so he can then kill another person afterwards in a different kind of contest the feedback loop of his cycle of violence is self-evident he needs to climb his way out of the hole atop other bodies but he's ultimately burying himself underneath them to the point where he can't push his way out the nightclub fight exemplifies this he went to kill one man and ended up killing dozens getting absolutely battered by his Target in the process his physical wounds represent his further corruption the inches he moves closer to his own destruction his only true way out from all of this after the Osaka Continental fight through everything and literally the kitchen sink at us combining elements of every single John Wick action sequence before it into a half hour long blender of insanity the Berlin nightclub sequence focuses on water much like the climactic docks fight from the first film did the ways to helski frames the fight against a backdrop of hundreds of extras living their lives dancing partying while this brutal Onslaught happens around them is again not something new for the series but it's never been shot so elegantly before these partygoers are witnesses to a baptism for Jon the moment where in fulfilling his hit for his family and ensuring his ability to enter the duel with the Marquee he is shedding a life of being on the run from the table and instead is declaring his intent to face the music of his life in a Final Duel it's a cleansing of his past sins while bloodying the water he washes them away in with not only the kingpin's blood but the blood of several other goons who perish in the fight as Jon confronts the demons on the front lines Winston goes to confront the Devil Himself in the Louvre the whole scene in the Louvre is about Winston rebalancing power it's Winston's comeback it's the power shift Dynamic and you need to feel power his character and with stahlski to have the confidence to let that play out to show you he's entering into the world of gods he's coming into this world of deities and he's coming in to shift the balance he passes paintings showing the history of human violence and how it has been used in a way to overthrow the oppressive regimes of the past it all represents how John Wick can escape from under the table while placing a squarely in the world of gods the Marquee is looking at these events seeing himself as a love it all essentially all of this is to say that the Marquee has a God complex and Views himself as equal with the Mythic figures depicted in the paintings but he's not he's just the latest in a long line this feels like the punctuation Point affirmation of Beauty in violence or arts and brutality these films have Winston tempts the Marquee with infamy if he manages to kill John Wick and gets him right where he wants him he stroked his ego his God complex in an effort to convince him to duel Jon in the ways of old to repeat history invoke what has been written Winston either walks out with his Champion Jon or dies with him either way he's made his choice and is reaffirming his commitment to his allies and Friends such as life infinity does not suit action film franchises they say that all good things must come to an end sooner or later in the end of a great film franchise often lands on the sooner portion of that spectrum and so it is that John Wick the legendary genre changing action franchise is over only nine years after its first entry was released in 2014. John Wick's Sisyphus to the criminal underworld's Hades has gotten his Boulder to the summit for good sure there's the ballerina spin-off slash prequel arriving soon the apparently there might be a John Wick 5. I don't know how you could possibly do that and I don't want to see it and you know they might make other prequels or expand on other characters in this little Universe they've built but John Wick chapter 4 is a definitive ending to the story that Keanu Reeves and Chaz to helski defined a lot of the 2010 cinematic landscape with Jon is the yin and yang of spirituality he is truly half Monk and half Hitman part of him doesn't believe anything awaits him after death but he continues to pray keep the memory of his wife alive and try because what if he's wrong in the eyes of Kane only the living matter the dead are gone Kane is so jaded he's lost his soul this world has numbed him but he has a daughter he has a reason to keep fighting that is still alive a person who he loves a person who gets to pursue their own life and their own passion he much like John is driven by love for another person but John's wife is dead John's fight can only benefit himself in his selfish quest to keep his love alive a quest we can all empathize with a quest that makes us all root for John Wick but in the end it's a quest that results in the deaths of so so many people but on the other hand Jon serves as a way out for everyone else in the film for his old friend Kane tasked with hunting John down for Mr Nobody who is Seeking a big payday from John Wick's Bounty for Winston seeking to regain his lost status even for the Marquee whose Power Trip requires John Wick's blood in order to be affirmed Jon is a sacrifice for their sins just as he was the sacrifice for the sins of the the bad guys in the first two films just as he was always going to have to answer for his own sins regardless it's the most intricate stacked interwoven plot of any John Wick film and the Osaka Continental Massacre serves as a thesis statement proving that the film is capable of juggling all of its threads at once but also provides nearly 30 minutes of wildly varying action and bloodshed that involves all of the film's players other than Winston and the Marquee spread throughout the entire establishment calling it an intimate duel between Donnie Yan and hiroyuki Sonata ah it's just [ __ ] awesome shimazu has placed his loyalty to Jon over the rules of the table and he fights tooth and nail to make sure the few people who still care for him can live the lives Jon thinks they deserve this Buster Keaton action sequence on the stairs is the absolute Pinnacle of these movies and it's one of the greatest action sequences I've just quite frankly ever seen I mean I could say that about literally any sequence in this movie real life Frogger sequence around the Arctic Triumph the Berlin nightclub sequence I mean it just it goes on but as for the stair sequence it overcomes the on the nose symbolism of Jon's uphill battle by being an ever-changing Dynamic intense sequence in fact it's worth noting again that when you think about it the core of this film is three big set pieces the first in the Osaka Continental the second in the Berlin nightclub and the third the most massive most brutal being a tear through the city of Paris a series of three smaller set pieces strung together which culminate on these steps a lesser filmmaker would never have been able to sustain this the ways to helski does he's constantly changing up what the stunt team is doing framing each sequence differently sure maybe it's a bit of inspiration for Minority Report but the hotline miami-esque overhead Runner is [ __ ] inspired man and making even a simple staircase feel like 10 different locations in one because he's util realizing every last inch of it to make something happen even if this sequence did nothing to relate to the narrative it would still be a masterpiece yet here we have Jon climbing the steps to kill the Gods like Sisyphus repeatedly repelled the script never loses sight of who Jon is and his goal he comes so preciously close to the top once only to taking the place of the boulder itself get kicked all the way back down the staircase it is only due to Kane's timing and a returned favor from Mr Nobody that John in what somehow never feels repetitive even though it's a literal repeat of what we just saw manages to fight his way back to the top in time for the duel his honor and Brotherhood trumps all else but Jon can't change his nature this can only end for him in death those who cling to death live those who cling to life die and so when John Wick finally Summits his Boulder he submits to his fate in the process resolving this matter via a duel the old ways shows that violence is as much a part of human nature as anything it's one of our most Primal and basic actions it's barbaric and yet we're continuously drawn to it in one way shape or form whether it's through media War whatever but what can violence tell you about a person and what they believe in there is truth in action characters to helski explores that throughout all of these films but it hits its peak here Beauty in the banal it just proves that these systems may try and dress it up tell you something is different but killing is killing violence is violence and it hasn't really changed as much as we'd like to think it has the duel commences and Jon suffers a mortal wound but Marquis succumbs to Ego demanding the killing blow to John Wick he could have just let Cain kill Jon but both Kane and Jon knew better they knew a man of Marquis nature needed to land the final kill so he could claim responsibility for being the one to kill the John Wick and that action that decision made of ego was his downfall and his death is the consequence now he won't be remembered he'll just be another Rich [ __ ] a tyrant who met their end at the hands of a legend who completed a Monumental feat and perished at the top freeing not only himself but his friends and loved ones from the Iron Fist of the high table one last absolute badass moment for our hero before he passes away having defied the gods the table and death to end his life on his own terms John Wick has been clinging to life through killing but in the end he's finally able to learn how to live by dying how do you wish to be remembered how do you sum up a man's life in the case of Karen Winston opted to memorialize him as a good friend there is nobility and honor in that Karen lived and died as a good man and is the bridge for John's climb to the top of the mountain John wishes for his Tombstone to read loving husband above all else no matter how many cruelties he's enacted how many lives he's taken it's all out of love for his wife he lived for Helen even in death and in the end John Dies a hero and a dutiful loving husband here's the through and through of John Wick chapter four it's one of the greatest action films I've ever seen in my entire life like genuinely it's right up there with Fury Road and yeah anyways it's a masterpiece of an action film and anyone who says the Keanu Reeves can't act should really look at the nuances of what he's doing here it doesn't matter how many [ __ ] lines the guy has I don't know why that became such a Hot Topic but look at how deliberate his line delivery is how much emotion and pain is coming out of his delivery his voice his soul it's a poignant beautiful cap to a four film series that defined the past decade of action films and I think for me it's the best of the four but regardless of how you rank them there's absolutely no question this is one of the greatest action franchises and films ever made it didn't take the task of sending John Wick off lightly but it also doesn't take itself too seriously overall there has always been self-awareness to the John Wick movies and that's absolutely present here and again it's part of the charm of these movies from the Lawrence of Arabia match cut all the way to the Barry linden-esque duel and all the other Inspirations thrown in there Buster Keaton Castle Blanca The Good the Bad and the Ugly I mean my God this thing is dripping with Sergio Leone energy the bullet Mustang I mean I could go on but this movie this franchise is a love letter to action Cinema it's an action movie about action and John Wick chapter 4 never eases off the gas pedal and there are at least a half a dozen moments that deserve to sweep the category if the Oscars finally come to their senses and create a stunts category I mean hell like cinematography editing all that good stuff I mean this is worthy of being nominated even winning in those respective categories even just the individual set pieces are a miracle of film craft with Chad stahowski and Keanu Reeves pulled off in the overall film is a bona fide Masterpiece that will stand the test of time and then some just like the legends that inspired John Luke thank you foreign

Channel: FilmSpeak

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Id: RiOrk6-Jx34

Length: 27min 46sec (1666 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 01 2023