Such is life.
It’s a phrase people often say when they know they can’t change or prevent something. There’s always been a fatalistic quality to the John Wick series, this smash hit phenomenon about an ex-hitman who goes on a revenge spree against the mob because they killed his dog. From the very beginning, we get the sense that Mister Wick’s survival is very, very low on his list of priorities. If he should die on his quest to avenge his dog, such is life.
That doesn’t mean that John Wick’s going to roll over and die, though. In this continuation of the ongoing saga, Mr. Wick sets out to gain his freedom from the High Table and deliver some vengeance at the same time for no extra cost- he’s a standup guy like that. Honestly, for a guy called Baba Yaga, Wick’s chock full of honor and professionalism. It’s probably why he has such a long list of friends willing to put everything on the line to help him go against the High Table, aka a group of big ol’ baddies in a society of top baddies. The High Table’s none too pleased about Wick’s recent pupper-inspired rampage, so when he kills an Elder (an even-more-top baddie), that throws gasoline on the already erupting volcano of anger. The Marquis (Bill Skarsgard), a member of the High Table, unleashes a no holds barred rule in order to bring John down permanently and let him become a problem for the afterlife. In response John challenges the Marquis to an old fashioned duel, winner takes all.
John Wick: Chapter 4 evokes a mixed bag of feelings for me. As always, the action sequences are truly astounding- the absolute best in the business. Each action scene guides you through a new, different, and beautiful set with varied types of action. You get sword play, gunplay, nunchuck exhibition, and car stunts, just to name a few.
That said, brace yourself for what’s coming next because I’ve never said it before in my entire movie reviewing career: there’s too much action. I know! Shocking, right? While I appreciate the skills that went into making these innovative scenes, it gets to be too much after a while. That’s probably because John Wick 4 is 169 minutes long. Movies can be shorter, Hollywood!
Action fatigue apparently is real and I caught it right as the duel was set between John and the Marquis.When it started, I was all ready for the credits to be rolling soon… but it turned out I had another 55 minutes to go. Why!?! Because the Marquis decides to put out ANOTHER hit on John’s head, raising the reward money again and again. The Marquis needs to take a note from Albert Einstein, “’Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
We’ve been down this road before! How many times do we have to watch the Marquis (or anyone) put out a hit on John!?! It didn’t work the first time, and it’s not going to work the fourth time. Like offering more money will boost the skills of the hit men enough to take out John Fucking Wick. In the words of Michelle Tanner, “oh puh-leeeaaase.” Maybe the Marquis was just counting on the sheer number of hitmen attacking John to finally overwhelm him, but it gets really tiresome seeing the lather-rinse-repeat cycle of it all.
Yes, there are a lot of magnificent action scenes, but it can be overwhelming when the end goal is dragged out for so long. The bird’s eye view of John running through an old building taking out baddies in each room like a game of Clue will have you awestruck at the artistry. The street fights in the middle of traffic- very cool. John running up the insanely long stairs at Rue Foyatier while fighting an endless row of baddies- fucking awesome. Separately, it’s all amazing. Taken all together, I kind of wanted to yell “END! END!”
John Wick: Chapter 4 is a great (supposed) final chapter for the character. The ending is clever and maintains John’s respect and dignity, and the story adds some additional depth to the character’s we’ve come to know over the course of this series (RIP Lance Reddick, a truly terrific actor) while also maintaining the fatalism, philosophy-ness, and poignancy of the previous entries.
For those who have trouble sitting still for 3 hours and are at risk of getting action fatigue, I suggest watching the film in chunks. Writing that a movie has too much action still feels bizarre to me… but it’s more that the whole thing is just too long. If it was about 30 minutes shorter, it’d be perfect.
Ah, well. Such is life.
Time until action: does punching a board wrapped in rope count? Immediately then. And if not, then about 3 minutes.
Random Tidbit #1: What’s with the scene of Winston walking through a gigantic room for so long to meet the Marquis? Audience members see Winston walking for what feels like an eternity for this meeting. It made me think about The Proclaimers: “I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more, just to be the man who walks a thousand miles, to fall down at your door.”
Stuck in your head now? You’re welcome.
Random Tidbit #2: The addition of Tracker (Shamier Anderson), aka Mr. Nobody, didn’t add anything significant to the film. He felt more like a nuisance the entire time, always there somehow, always lurking, always watching, and sometimes trying to kill John and sometimes helping him. Just go away.
Action Rating: 5 John Wick Terminators, out of 5
This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!
Disclaimer: Just because I am the Action Flick Chick and love action movies does not mean I condone real life violence in any way. Everyone has their own shit to deal with, be nice to each other.
