John Wick 4 disappointed: action series with Keanu Reeves is destroyed by its own reputation

The plot of “John Wick: Chapter 4” can be summarized relatively easily. In essence, it is the same as in the two predecessors. After the betrayal of the High Chamber, John Wick is (or still) back on the run. And his list of allies is short. Because anyone who helps him faces death.

The new villain makes sure of that: Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård). He received all the powers from the High Chamber to put an end to John Wick. The ex-contract killer has never faced such a powerful opponent. And so begins a hunt paved with corpses across the globe.

Actually, “John Wick: Chapter 4” is a phenomenon. The film is an almost three-hour action sequence in which one shootout and one fight follows the next. That’s all you want from an action movie, isn’t it? That’s true, but the action would have to be good for that. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with “John Wick 4”. Which is sad, after all, since 2014’s part 1, the action has been the showpiece of the series. But in part 4 all creativity seems to have fizzled out. Everything you get here in terms of action you’ve either seen a thousand times or is so over it that you sometimes think you’re watching a “Fast & Furious” movie. What’s funny: Because the heart of the action is the chase through Paris, which culminates in a kind of car battle including wild shooting at L’Arc de Triomphe. And that can hardly be surpassed in absurdity. Unfortunately, none of this impresses or entertains, but rather bores.

“John Wick: Chapter 4” has some capable people on board who can do action. Unfortunately, the film burns greats like Hiroyuki Sanada (“Last Samurai”) and above all martial arts legend Donnie Yen (“Ip Man”) that they almost look like caricatures of themselves. For example, Yen plays a blind ex-contract killer who, despite his lack of sight, mows down rows of opponents. His fight scenes are among the best that “John Wick 4” has to offer. But he’s not really cool either. In fact, Yen’s character is so exaggerated, unrealistic and overloaded with clichés that for the most part it comes across as unintentionally funny.

main actor Keanu Reeves, on the other hand, is slowly running out of breath – which is not surprising at the age of 58. But you can clearly see during the fight scenes that he’s slowing down. You don’t really believe the guy who eliminates hundreds of top killers and then still looks like he’s in perfect shape. His taciturnity is also taken to the extreme in “John Wick: Chapter 4”. Of all the characters in this film, Keanu Reeves feels like he has by far the least amount of speaking – as if he really didn’t want to do the whole circus anymore. The same goes for Laurence Fishburne. His Bowery King character is only there that she is there. The only actor who seems to be having fun or motivation here is Ian McShane aka Winston.

“John Wick 4” deals with its new characters in a similarly helpless and haphazard manner. Bill Skarsgård makes an arrogant and one-dimensional villain, while always saying how powerful, deadly, and evil he is. But you don’t notice much of it. John Wick is always one step ahead of him. So the oh so powerful Marquis de Gramont does not pose a real threat. Rather, it undermines the authority and danger that emanated from the Upper Chamber in the previous parts. The new killer named The Tracker (Shamier Anderson) has the same problem. He also brags about what a bad guy he is all the time. But he never becomes dangerous to John Wick either. Especially with him you wonder why he is in “John Wick: Chapter 4” at all. If you cut the character out, it wouldn’t affect the film at all. Except that it would make it shorter, which would do him good. “John Wick 4” is a good hour too long.

One of the reasons for this is that, as in parts 2 and 3, the world of the contract killers is being expanded further. In the two predecessors, it was still mostly charming and exciting to explore this mystery. But in “John Wick: Chapter 4” this world becomes more and more absurd and embarrassing. One wonders why nobody has actually discovered this supposedly secret parallel world. As blatantly as she presents herself to the public, blocking landmarks like the Eiffel Tower for meetings and duels. There are also a lot of contradictions and new rules that make absolutely no sense. At some point the film even catches itself with its lack of plan and actually asks why John Wick actually does what he does. In response, his dead wife, who played no role in the last two films, is then pulled out of the hat. So that doesn’t really make any sense either.

In the end, “John Wick 4” can be summed up well with the famous quote from “The Dark Knight”: “Either you die a hero or you live until you become a villain yourself.” In itself that was foreseeable. While Part 1 was a simple revenge film, the first two sequels became increasingly absurd. At least the action was creative here. Just think of the kill with the pen. “John Wick: Chapter 4” has nothing of the sort. In terms of action, the film is still better and, above all, more stylish than most of the movies that are sold to you in this genre these days. But in the end he became a victim of his own reputation and lacks good ideas. At least with its absurd story Unfortunately, “John Wick: Chapter 4” has become a kind of caricature of himself.

So the series should have ended much earlier. And maybe she is now. “John Wick 5” is currently not a decided thing, as it was actually called for a long time. And the ending of part 4, while the showdown is quite disappointing, is at its core satisfying. Another sequel could only disappoint, because there really isn’t much more to tell about John Wick. But as a post-credit sequence suggests, an offshoot could be in the works anyway. A spin-off has already been confirmed: “Ballerina” with Ana de Armas. Hopefully the creativity of the “John Wick” makers will return.

“John Wick: Chapter 4” starts on March 23 in German cinemas.