Critics reviews

But even by the standards of the past Wick outings, this is remarkable. Human bodies are hurled into moving vehicles; Reeves’s double tumbles down the entire length of the Sacré-Coeur stairs. And, just to remind us that we are in the hands of an action master, Stahelski delivers one extended, mind-bogglingly complicated fight sequence in what appears to be a single shot, the camera floating overhead.

Even at its nearly three-hour runtime, John Wick: Chapter 4 commits so nobly to its self-seriousness that it almost borders into camp. And yet, the franchise possesses both the self-confidence and the ingenuity to earn its boldness...

The action sequences in "John Wick: Chapter 4" are long battles, gun-fu shoot-outs between John and dozens of people who underestimate him, but they have so much momentum that they don't overstay their welcome.

It’s essentially a Jason Statham-style shoot-’em-up that thinks it’s a Christopher Nolan epic. It’s as if Stahelski, and everyone involved, has fundamentally confused running time with greatness...

Chapter 4 is blissfully entertaining, full of pratfalls and acting turns that lead to the audience swelling with oohs, aahs, and yelps. It’s far more narratively focused than its previous sequels, still managing to globe-trot a behemoth cast à la Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 while returning to a simpler conflict reminiscent of the original John Wick.

Franchise stalwarts director Chad Stahelski, screenwriter Derek Kolstad, and Reeves have this down to a science now, and they know they can throw all sorts of spectacles, supporting players, etc. on top of what’s essentially a Zen-like character study.

The constraints of Wick World put it safely on the side of full-blown fantasy, giving the series the feel of a grim fairy tale. It might seem like a distorted mirror of our world, but what’s notable are all the ways it’s different from ours — not just in its depiction of power but also of violence, which, for all the arterial spray, is as untethered from reality as it is in zombie flicks.

The too-muchness of Chapter 4 is its proudest quirk. Plotting and personnel, meanwhile, are the best since the first... Even at practically Kubrickian length, though, the lockstep slaughter barely gives you pause for breath. It’s a barrage, and a blast.

Chapter 4 is an overwhelming undertaking, but also a welcome doubling-down on everything fun about this series, a thrilling counter-point to its dehumanised, big budget Hollywood contemporaries, that also serves as a welcome ode to martial artists and stunt performers.

Through it all, Reeves somehow barrels through the picture with equal parts rampaging force and Zen-like cool. Never one to upstage his fellow actors, he succeeds, as few movie stars could, at both drawing and deflecting the camera’s attention. Wick’s gun-fu is peerless, his endurance herculean, his weariness palpable.

Much of the movie’s delight is in its details, many of them gory... others merely menacing... some location-dependent... and some design-based... Some of these flourishes nod toward the breezy suaveness in the face of danger that marks the best of the early 007 films.

Surprisingly, on the whole, Chapter 4 basically succeeds. Yes, I checked my watch a few times during the movie, and I might have cut some of the more portentous conversations about fate and free will that played out between a bunch of blade-wielding bureaucrats. But by the last hour of its elephantine running time, Chapter 4 is a preposterous blast...