John Wick: Chapter 4

I really love the John Wick franchise because the stakes keep getting higher and the action sequences keep getting more exhilarating with each movie.  That is especially true of the latest installment John Wick: Chapter 4, which I saw in IMAX last night, because I was on the edge of my seat, holding my breath, and cheering out loud!  After John Wick (Keanu Reeves) kills the Elder (George Georgiou), the Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard), acting under the auspices of the High Table, targets the New York and Osaka Continentals as well as their mangers, Winston Scott (Ian McShane) and Shimazu Koji (Hiroyuki Sanada), and concierges Charon (Lance Reddick) and Akira (Rina Sawayama), respectively, for aiding him.  The Marquis also compels Caine (Donnie Yen), a blind assassin and old friend of Wick's, to come out of retirement and kill him and he offers a contract to a bounty hunter known as the Tracker (Shamier Anderson).  Wick eventually finds an archaic way to end his obligation to the High Table but first he must reconnect with the Ruska Roma crime syndicate and survive a $40 million bounty placed on his head.  The action sequences are absolutely amazing with spectacular set pieces that are intense and unrelenting!  The fight choreography is brilliant with ingenious and visually stunning shot compositions, particularly a fight against dozens of assassins with just a pair of nunchucks in between glass display cases, hand to hand combat while dodging groups of dancers in a neon-lit nightclub, a continuous overhead shot involving dragon's breath ammunition, an epic car chase in the traffic around the Arc de Triomphe, and another fight against dozens of assassins on the 222 stairs leading to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica.  In fact, the action in the final act might be the best I've ever seen and I loved it!  Reeves gives his best performance in the franchise, in my opinion, because Wick must finally face the consequences of his actions in a very visceral way but Skarsgard is perfect as a petulant villain and Yen almost steals the show (one particular line delivery made my audience laugh out loud).  I was also really impressed with Sawayama because she holds her own in a great fight sequence.  Much has been made of the nearly three hour runtime but I didn't feel it at all and some might not like the final resolution but, if this is indeed the last movie in the franchise, I think it is really the only way Wick's character arc could have ended.  I had so much fun watching this and, it you are a fan of the franchise, I think you will be blown away!