“John Wick: Chapter Four” is a rare sequel exception. While most movie series become progressively worse as time goes on, this fourth addition was one of the best because of its entertainment and quality production. The almost three hour film was packed with action all the way through. It was everything expected from another John Wick production and definitely lived up to its reputation.

The premise of this series is that retired assassin, John Wick, comes out of retirement after his wife dies from an illness and tries to exact his revenge. Each movie has a different causation for his killing, but fast paced, complicated storylines are abundant throughout each movie.

Keanu Reeves (John Wick) has proven to be a dedicated and skilled actor based off of his work in this series. His commitment to full gun handling and skill classes provided another sense of realism to the film. He stated that he did almost all of the stunts in the first two movies, but other sources, including the Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stones, say that Chad Stahelski was Reeves stunt double and was the one committing to the stunts. Either way, Reeves’s dedication to this film added to the final outcome.

With the acting being way above par, production needed to be equally impressive. Sound quality, computer generated imagery (CGI) and filming had little to no issues. The music and volume choices matched the tone of the movie and highlighted the dark, horrible aspects of a criminal society while keeping a somewhat light and even humorous plot.

A character such as Caine (Donnie Yen), a blind assassin just as skilled as Wick, was an example of the comedic irony. The director, Chad Stahelski, chose to use this character to add the relief through the tense moments of the movie.

The CGI throughout the movie was very impressive. Crazy stunts edited into epic battles left viewers wanting more, as a released behind-the-scenes video of a stuntman being kicked down an escalator went viral on platforms such as TikTok. After seeing the actual scene in the movie, the editing made the stunt even more impressive.

The motion picture also excelled filming and photography wise. Camera angle, position and movement may seem like minor details, but multiple mistakes can become very obvious. This film mastered all aspects and threw entertainment and action at the viewers.

Overall, I recommend watching the movie or even the whole series. All four of the movies really excel, but with modern directing and technology, chapter four proved to be much more. 

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