Directing: B
Acting: B
Writing: B-
Cinematography: A-
Editing: B
Special Effects: B

It may surprise you to learn that the John Wick franchise has a key commonality with the Toy Story franchise. Who knew! Namely, the both had the surprise of a third installment that was the best in the series, followed by a fourth that was . . . fine, but still begged the question: did we really need it?

To be fair, I am out of step with the critical consensus on the John Wick films. Going by their respective MetaScores, John Wick Chapter 4 is the best in the series (MetaScore 78), followed by 2017’s John Wick: Chapter 2 (75), then 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (73), with the 2014 original ranking last (68).

What I seem to have forgotten is that I gave every single one of these movies the exact same grade: a solid B. Fully acknowledging that I did actually enjoy this film, I must also admit that I got at least moderately duped by the critical hype in regards to Chapter 4.

What I found myself thinking about while watching this film was, it’s really just more of the same. This isn’t even the first installment for which it may actually be worth watching for the cinematography and production design alone. These movies are very pretty to look at, and Chapter 4 continues that tradition.

The action itself, though? There’s only so much you can do with so-called “gun fu,” mixing martial arts with gun battles. A lot of people die in this movie, nearly all of them faceless and expendable, like red shirts in old Star Trek episodes. Then suddenly you’ll see Keanu Reeves standing in front of red neon and next to a blossoming cherry tree and you can’t help but think, Whoa—that’s beautiful!

There’s one new element here that comes with mixed results, however: the special effects. Several of the shots in Chapter 4 have the unmistakable quality of barely-off, visual artificiality. And we’re talking about pretty common sights. A sunrise. Traffic. I’ll admit the extended sequence with Wick battling assassins in between passing cars on Paris’s Place Charles de Gaulle is gripping and fun, but also: you can tell a lot of those cars weren’t really there.

Speaking of which, that sequence feeds into the many questions I have about this film. Would regular traffic just keep passing by in such heavy thickness during an obvious gunfight between countless men? Why does no one seem to care that this is happening?

The same happens in a packed nightclub, in which a bunch of would-be assassins come at John Wick with guns, knives, even axes. The dancers move a bit out of their way, but otherwise just keep on dancing. There does come a point at which the crowd finally panics and clears out, but only after many minutes of carnage, and with no clear trigger point (so to speak).

At least the Osaka hotel where the first extended action sequence takes place is conscientiously (or “discreetly,” as Hiroyuki Sanada’s character Shimazu puts it) evacuated. This sequence moves from room to room, each one a carefully curated work of art, featuring glass patterns and neon outlines. There’s no denying how cool it looks.

That seems to be where the logical action ends, though. In a climactic scene involving an old-school duel, it’s sunrise in front of a church, two guys attempting multiple times to shoot each other to death. Where are this church’s caretakers, anyway? I suppose we are to assume the “High Table” is so globally powerful they can be sure everyone who needs to hear it should keep a wide berth. Or maybe they don’t care? I don’t know.

Just before the duel in front of the church, John Wick Chapter 4 becomes almost self-aware in its ridiculousness, and is still legitimately entertaining on its own merits. Wick battles would-be assassins up a long, concrete staircase for several minutes, only to wind up thrown all the way back own them again. Of course, this rampant gunfire the likes of which does not tend to be encountered outside of a war zone apparently does nothing to rouse any of the sleeping neigbors. Maybe the French are just all really deep sleepers.

I’m fully aware that all of this is beside the point in any John Wick movie. Other critics have stated that the plot, such as it is, doesn’t matter in the slightest. This seems ironic to me, as I found myself engaged by the plot, even though the whole shtick of countless assassins coming at our hero because of a frequently increased bounty was just done in the previous installment. These movies never really have anything new to say. They just attempt to up the ante on the action set pieces to varying degrees of effect. There is a fun sequence in a building undergoing renovations, in which the camera glides with a birds-eye view over the walls as John Wick makes his way from room to room. I wonder how many people will remember Steven Spielberg doing the exact same thing, with greater visual wit, twenty years ago in Minority Report.

In spite of this movie’s many flaws, and its truly excessive 169-minute length, I still found myself invested in its characters—not just John Wick himself, but the few key supporting characters, both friend and foe, a couple of them shifting from one to the other. This franchise famously started with a man seeking revenge for the murder of his dog, and the dog lovers should be happy to learn that another dog character figures prominently here. It even gets used as a pivot point in the plot. It’s a little contrived, but you know, come on. This is a John Wick movie.

I suppose that could be the tag line: Come on. It’s a John Wick movie. What else do you need to know, really? I can nitpick all I want, especially about this really being the same as any other superhero movie, with our protagonist taking astonishing beatings and consistently just getting right back up again, limping a couple of times and then seemingly fully recovered in seconds. These movies are all of them action fantasies, which is what we come to them for, and they provide what the viewers want.

*Oh did I mention he wears a bulletproof suit?*

Overall: B