Small Details You Missed In John Wick: Chapter 4

an actor's tribute to two towering Kings of cool a running joke through the franchise and oh so many references the John Wick franchise yeah or thinking it's back the John Wick Series has always had a penchant for paying tribute to other movies and chapter 4 continues this trend first up is Lawrence of Arabia and the 1962 epics memorable shot hailed by some as the greatest single cut of all time jumping from Peter O'Toole blowing out a match to the Desert Horizon at Sunrise chapter 4 replicates the transition by having the Bowery King blow out a match before cutting to the Desert Horizon where Jon is engaged in a horse Chase later on there is a reference to Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill with Kane telling Akira he will be waiting for her to take revenge after he kills her father it's the same message the bride delivers to vernita Green's daughter after killing her mother still feel about it I'll be waiting what's more Kane's character a blind assassin who fights primarily with a sword is in the tradition of the Japanese zatoichi the blind swordsman series which ran for 25 films with its Mainline entries alone not to mention other films and television that has incorporated the character there is also subtle homage to Walter Hill's wild 1979 classic the Warriors both movies have a radio DJ tracking the heroes as they work their way through a city of enemies both films shoot the DJ in extreme close-ups rendering them both intimate and Anonymous with only a mouth and microphone visible Tarantino similarly cribbed the shot in Pulp Fiction when Mia Wallace talked to Vincent Vega through her house intercom John Wick takes plenty of damage but he also seems nearly indestructible throughout the series while he can come out on top in almost every scenario he has always had one significant weakness cars more specifically cars crashing into him from his right side on the commentary track for John Wick chapter 2 director Chad stachelski and star Keanu Reeves joke about how John only weakness is getting hit by cars on his right side he somehow never sees or hears them coming from this blind spot despite otherwise having seemingly Supernatural spatial awareness getting struck by a car from the left is how Jon winds up captured and bound to a chair back in the first movie after it happened a few other times stalski noticed this trend he has since turned it into a running joke throughout the series this continues in chapter 4 as Jon is struck by multiple cars on his right side in the span of just a few minutes all in the Paris portion of the film if you're in the know it's a funny callback for Jon he really needs to get better at looking both ways these so-called Elder is one of the more mysterious figures in the entire John Wick Universe first introduced in John Wick chapter 3 Parabellum John made an arduous Trek through the desert just to reach him at different points the Elder has been described as being the head of the high table even perhaps above the high table altogether I seek a meeting with the one who sits above the table he calls the shots makes the rules for the entire assassin underworld and holds a position of extreme importance which makes it extra noteworthy that he was replaced between movies in Chapter 3 The Elder was played by Syed tagmohi veteran of films like La Ain and Wonder Woman for chapter 4 the role was recast with George giordu with this recasting the Elder's presence has gone from minor supporting character in chapter 3 to an even smaller presence in chapter four The Character only has a couple of lines before Jon kills him the appearance is so brief in fact that many may not even realize the recasting chapter 4 does actually include a quick line of dialogue about how the current Elder replaced the former one but there is no clear reason for why this Changing of the Guard occurred skilled martial artist and action movie veteran Scott Adkins plays the role of Killa in John Wick chapter 4 but unless you are a hardcore action movie fan and regularly view Adkins frequent direct to video movies you might not recognize him Killa is Jon's assassination Target in Berlin an obese car dealing nightclub gangster with asthma Jon needs to kill him in order to secure the support of the ruska Roma and use their crust to challenge the Marquee to a duel for the role the fit Adkins was hidden behind extensive Prosthetics and even adopts a German accent another eye-catching design element of Killa is his gold teeth perhaps a reference to the gold-toothed character Atkins played in 2019's avengement getting even more granular this is the second time that Adkins has been at odds with Donnie Yen in a fourth installment of an iconic action series he first fought Yen's main character in Ip Man 4 the finale in 2019 playing the main villain a racist American army Sergeant perhaps the most iconic scene from the original John Wick film came via an extended action sequence in the red circle nightclub chapter 4 brings the beat back the first part of that sequence took place in the bath house below the club scored by the Kalida song think once the shootout progressed upstairs to the dance floor the soundtrack kicked into high gear as the lay Castlevania song Led spirals took over the song was named after the swirling black and white imagery displayed on the nightclub's LED screen and composed for the film three movies later the same needle drop gets a reprise in John Wick chapter 4 in a soundtrack filled with memorable songs LED spirals once again stands out pulling off the impressive feat of being the only track to become a musical highlight of multiple John Wick films the big show-stopping action sequence at the end of John Wick chapter 4 involves the titular character's deadly Ascent up a massive staircase John needs to meet the Marquee at La basilique du Sacre kurdemon Mart at sunrise for a duel but to get there he first needs to fight his way past dozens of armed Thugs and climb the 222 steps to the top of the hill that staircase is real and it really does consist of 222 steps and leads directly to the Sacre curb Basilica just as it does in the movie the staircase is big enough to be considered its own Street in the Iman Mart District of Paris and is known as Rue foyotere the location is a popular tourist attraction a frequent subject of acclaimed photographers and has been featured in other movies including the 1984 French film Le ripu parts of the steps and the socrate her Basilica were also home to an important sequence in Amelie and a matching staircase on the opposite side of the hill was used for the opening scene of the John frankenheimer flick Ronin in real life there are cable cars that go up and down the hill right before inside the staircase these were of course hidden from view in the film as John's Ascent would have been made significantly easier if he could have just hailed a cable car John Wick chapter 3 Parabellum was the first movie in the series to introduce the heavily armored soldiers who work for the high table these enemies were not just highly skilled and equipped with high-powered Weaponry but they were also practically bulletproof requiring Jon to get creative to take them out we may have to consider our choices carefully boy the match has changed during your time away these heavily armored high table soldiers make a welcome return in chapter four this time however they show up in Osaka Japan and their bulletproof armor has now been altered slightly to better suit the Japanese setting they now more closely resemble the armor worn by Samurai Warriors back in the days of feudal Japan particularly in the new design of their face masks while the NYC high table soldiers wore blank ballistic helmets The Masks of their Osaka counterparts more closely resemble menpo traditional intricate half masks worn by Samurai if John Wick chapter 4 feels distinctly different from the previous films in a big way it might be because it was written by different people from the director to the producers to the Stars the same creative team has remained largely consistent throughout the series the one major creative fluctuation however has been Derek colstad Kolstad was the original screenwriter of the first movie back when it was just a spec script titled scorn he was the Lone screenwriter on John Wick chapter 2 as well when chapter 3 Parabellum rolled around Kolstad remained involved but other writers began getting their hands dirty as well he retained Seoul Story by credit but was now just one of four screenwriters contributing to the screenplay but chapter 4 Kolstad was out of the picture entirely colsted has been open about the fact that it wasn't his decision to leave the series saying the studio simply didn't invite him back coolstad has kept busy in the meantime however with the John Wick flavored action movie Nobody as a member of the writing team on the Falcon and the Winter Soldier and as co-creator of the quibby Roku series die heart the extent of his involvement in the upcoming Continental spin-off TV series remains to be seen long before he made the transition to English language films Donnie Yen was a legend within the Hong Kong action film industry he has always called Bruce Lee his Idol and he saw an opportunity to take influence from and pay tribute to Lee in John Wick chapter 4. as mentioned in the official Lionsgate production notes for chapter 4 Yen chose Kane's wardrobe himself he based the look on an outfit worn by Lee out of character in an old interview a black and white suit and shirt with a skinny black tie since he had already played a blind fighter in Rogue one yen was on the lookout for ways to separate the two characters and help them stand apart plenty of distinguishing detail was in the script and choreography already but Yen chose to play up Kane's personality as a cross between Bruce Lee and American actor Steve McQueen who had a reputation as the king of cool you believe what you want you work your side of the street and I'll work on it the Lee influence can be seen in the wardrobe along with some of Kane's mannerisms the McQueen influence can also be seen in Kane's relaxed nonchalant attitude even as bullets are flying and swords are swinging as Kane takes his time to calmly eat and drink in the middle of an action sequence it's hard not to be reminded of those two legendary tough guys the massive set piece at ruefoyo tear serves as the action climax of John Wick chapter 4. before the story comes to a close with the slower paced Duel at La basilique do Sacre occur between John and Kane after John painstakingly fights to the top of the 222-step staircase he's greeted with a kick that sends him tumbling all the way back down the fall is so long and drawn out that it becomes hilarious even as you feel bad for Jon's pain and struggle Die Hard fans of the John Wick series will recall that this is actually the second time the series has used a prolonged fall down a huge staircase for a joke in the middle of a big action sequence the previous iteration was back in Chapter 2 during the portion of the film set in Italy as Jon and Cassian fight they repeatedly tumble down several flights of steps and comically exaggerated fashion finally winding up in a courtyard below where they continue to Duke it out for a series as kinetic as John Wick it feels fitting for its version of a callback to be based on a physical stunt [Music] foreign

Channel: Looper

Views: 191,378

Keywords: looper, john wick, john wick 4, sequels

Id: rwq0FniTfmE

Length: 10min 23sec (623 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 24 2023