John Wick Chapter 4 (2023) - Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburne, Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rina Sawayama

[One Armed Boxer]

1 hour ago, DiP said:

How was Donnie's role? Other than all the scene-stealing action moments, how significant and essential was his character in the story?

And last but not least... How many action scenes does he get in the movie?

Hey @laagi, I know this is probably stating the obvious, but if you don’t choose to plead the 5th with @DiP’s questions please use the spoiler function to hide your answers. Thanks!

[DiP]

I 

1 hour ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Hey @laagi, I know this is probably stating the obvious, but if you don’t choose to plead the 5th with @DiP’s questions please use the spoiler function to hide your answers. Thanks!

Yeah, the spoiler function is perfect for those not wishing to know before watching movies.

That being said, I won't expect elaborative but only simple answers in general.

[laagi]

On 3/9/2023 at 1:16 AM, DiP said:

Alright, I'll shoot...

How was Donnie's role? Other than all the scene-stealing action moments, how significant and essential was his character in the story?

And last but not least... How many action scenes does he get in the movie?

I'll keep this as vague as possible to avoid any kind of spoilers. That being said THIS is the only warning that I may still mention something one could consider a spoiler.

To answer your questions:
 

Spoiler

Donnie's role is fine so are the ones from other cast members. However don't go expecting any fleshed out character or story here.

I'd say both are more than serviceable to make it an enjoyable ride for almost 3 hours?!

His role given the story (of what there is) could be considered significant, as he is pretty much present throughout the movie.

I honestly didn't count, never do that to begin with. But as mentioned above he's recurring and so are his action scenes. Just keep in mind that his character is blind and BTW I do NOT consider this a spoiler.

I don't want to go into more details as I obviously left out significant parts, especially in regards to his character. Anything else I'd really had to spoil it for you. Not gonna do that Enjoy the movie!

 

[DiP]

Thanks, that's all I wanted to know. Nothing too spoilery so no worries. 

[Agent U]

I've finally caught up with the John Wick series this week.

Although I do find the films good for what they are, I'm not sure I understand all the fan craze about this series (then again I rarely do, and there's certainly many far worse franchises out there with even more devoted fans). In particular, I don't get the apparent obsession with the lore, when it's quite apparent they've been making it up as they go.

The first film is obviously a very different beast to the sequels. It felt unpretentious, creative, grounded, visceral and realistic for the most part. It also didn't really feel like it needed a sequel, even though it already plants the seeds for subsequent world-building. On their side, the sequels already have that blockbuster feel, where everything must be fancy, flashy and over the top, and they toss any hint of realism completely out of the window.

In the first, John Wick came across as a very skilled killer, but who still often survived out of sheer luck or thanks to external help. All that happened there was generally credible. Also Keanu Reeves did a good job in the action scenes, and even acting-wise he was fine, because the character fit his (limited) abilities.

In the sequels, however, John Wick basically becomes a comic book / videogame character, who keeps going no matter how much and how serious punishment he takes, and finds himself surrounded by hapless hordes of cannon fodder all politely waiting their turn to get killed. In the rare instances he comes across someone who puts up a fight, they always go easy on him / give him a chance to get up and retry / etc.

Spoiler

The man has a bullet-proof suit, survives falling from dozens of stories, and fortunately for him none of these highly-trained killers after him ever aim at the head.

Keanu still does well in the action scenes, but the skills he displays on-screen are light years below what we are told about the character. Also, his acting just becomes increasingly worse, and to make matters worse he started speaking as if he's got a speech impairment, none of which helps sell this guy as the world's top assassin.

I also feel the character got less likeable and harder to relate to with each new iteration.

The original JW is definitely tighter and the best film overall. That said, I felt I may have enjoyed Chapter 2 more, also probably because it was novel (I had watched the first before, even if I didn't remember it so well). Chapter 3 has the best, or at least most diverse, action out of the three, but the story was all over the place.

Though enjoyable as a whole, one thing I noticed in Chapter 2 is that the action feels very repetitive.

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure I've seen Wick perform the exact same takedown like 10 times over the film's run.

And for the rest it's mostly gun-fu, which as said feels very videogame-like. There's little variety between action scenes.

Chapter 3 has the most diverse and creative action.

Spoiler

The knife fight, the bit with the horses.

There's a lot here to like. But now instead of the scenes feeling repetitive between themselves, they feel repetitive in themselves.

Spoiler

The prime example is likely the scene with Halle Berry and the dogs: the trick with the dogs was cute at the first, but when you're seeing the exact same thing for the 7th or 8th time one must know that enough is enough.

More than ever John Wick survives due to plot armour, as in more than one scene he definitely looks beyond outmatched.

The main reason why I consider the 3rd the worst is they clearly didn't know very well where to take the story, as the ping pong plotting makes very apparent.

Spoiler

The desert sequence in particular is a major low point, on the verge of jumping the shark (made me think of Buffy when she talks with the first Slayer in her dreams, but BtVS was indeed a supernatural series). The fact everything prior had been about getting to the Elder and then it ultimately amounts to nothing also makes one third of the film look like a complete waste of time.

Something I feel this series never truly delivered over three films is a memorable 1v1.

Spoiler

The fight with Bernhardt's character in the first was pretty meh. In the 2nd the best showdown may be with Cassian around the middle, which was solid but still not an all-time great. The face-off with Ruby Rose's character at the end felt short and anticlimatic. The final fight with Zero in Chapter 3 was good but still didn't quite live up to the build-up, and didn't do Mark Dacascos justice, considering Wick has the upperhand almost from the get-go despite coming straight from a series of tough fights.

As for Chapter 4,

Spoiler

the fact the desert segment returns (they should just pretend that never happened, really) doesn't bode well. And the plot is still looking overly convoluted. From what I gather from trailers and promotional clips, John Wick can now walk scot-free if he beats the Head of the High Table (the Marquis, who looks like a coward and I bet smells like one too) in duel, but for him to be able to challenge him he'll first have to kill another High Table leader (Adkins's character Killa)... at this point this High Table has to be made of masochists who get a kick out of being defied and ridiculed.

Keanu Reeves also looks appalling acting-wise. And John Wick can no longer utter more than five words in a row, it seems.

I'll probably still watch it in theatres, since and there's nothing better (for me) showing at the moment, and all criticism aside, these films are still entertaining overall and have great cinematography. They're very aesthetical, you can tell there's a lot of care into making each setting unique and impactful, and that definitely seems to be the case in JW4. Finally and more importantly, I've seen nothing but praise for Scott Adkins as Killa, and Marko Zaror also apparently 'does his thing'.

 

Edited March 13 by Agent U

[WangYu]

I’ll catch it on tv in about 3 years time,,the other entries also get aired often so… I can wait 😛

[Drunken Monk]

Chad Stahelski on John Wick 5…

“In our minds, Keanu and I are done for the moment. We’re going to give ‘John Wick’ a rest,” explained Stahelski. “I’m sure the studio has a plan. If everyone loves it and it goes kooky, then we’ll take a quiet minute. ‘Wicks’ always, for some weird reason, always get the latest release date in Japan. It’s always like, three months later. If it’s the same this time, we’ll do a Japanese tour and release the movie in September. Keanu and I will take the long trip to Tokyo, we’ll sit in the Imperial Hotel Scotch Bar and go, ‘What do you think?’ We’ll have a couple 20-year-old whiskies and write some ideas on napkins. If those ideas stick, maybe we’ll make a movie.”

[AlbertV]

23 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said:

Chad Stahelski on John Wick 5…

“In our minds, Keanu and I are done for the moment. We’re going to give ‘John Wick’ a rest,” explained Stahelski. “I’m sure the studio has a plan. If everyone loves it and it goes kooky, then we’ll take a quiet minute. ‘Wicks’ always, for some weird reason, always get the latest release date in Japan. It’s always like, three months later. If it’s the same this time, we’ll do a Japanese tour and release the movie in September. Keanu and I will take the long trip to Tokyo, we’ll sit in the Imperial Hotel Scotch Bar and go, ‘What do you think?’ We’ll have a couple 20-year-old whiskies and write some ideas on napkins. If those ideas stick, maybe we’ll make a movie.”

Don't forget, John Wick will cameo in the spinoff Ballerina with Ana de Armas leading the way. 

[Drunken Monk]

3 hours ago, AlbertV said:

Don't forget, John Wick will cameo in the spinoff Ballerina with Ana de Armas leading the way. 

I have a feel it’ll be a very, very small cameo.

[WangYu]

4 hours ago, Drunken Monk said:

I have a feel it’ll be a very, very small cameo.

In the words of mister Wick “yeah”

[Karlos]

The full story/plot is now on Wikipedia, if people want to see what happens or indeed avoid.

[One Armed Boxer]

On 3/15/2023 at 8:20 PM, Karlos said:

The full story/plot is now on Wikipedia, if people want to see what happens or indeed avoid.

Yep, think I'll go with the latter. Locked in for next Wednesday!

[WangYu]

@One Armed Boxer

You hold 2 tickets, is the other one for me?

[thekfc]

2 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Yep, think I'll go with the latter. Locked in for next Wednesday!

Is that price for IMAX or general seating?

[One Armed Boxer]

15 minutes ago, WangYu said:

You hold 2 tickets, is the other one for me?

Naturally! I'll be touting it at the door for $500, first come first serve. 

10 minutes ago, thekfc said:

Is that price for IMAX or general seating?

Somewhere in-between, it's a Gold Class session. Bear in mind the price is in AU$, not US$, but definitely still on the steep side! But still, some movies need to be seen on the big screen.

[thekfc]

13 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Somewhere in-between, it's a Gold Class session. Bear in mind the price is in AU$, not US$, but definitely still on the steep side! But still, some movies need to be seen on the big screen.

Yep, i know it's $44 AUD which comes to about $29 USD but that is more expensive than IMAX which is about $25 - $28 here in NYC (depending on theater location).

I have already seen it (private screening here in NYC) but not a word is coming out of my mouth or keyboard until we all get to see/then talk about the movie next week.    

I will go see it again in IMAX next week - that movies needs to be seen on the biggest possible screen.  

[sifu iron perm]

17 hours ago, WangYu said:

@One Armed Boxer

You hold 2 tickets, is the other one for me?

The other Arm Boxer!

 

[Karlos]

https://www.cbr.com/lance-reddick-star-wire-fringe-john-wick-dies-60/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/-wire-star-lance-reddick-dies-natural-causes-publicist-says-rcna75527

 

Just...no.  horrible, horrible news.

Heartbreaking.

[laagi]

1 hour ago, Karlos said:

https://www.cbr.com/lance-reddick-star-wire-fringe-john-wick-dies-60/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/-wire-star-lance-reddick-dies-natural-causes-publicist-says-rcna75527

 

Just...no.  horrible, horrible news.

Heartbreaking.

Truly heartbreaking.

Spoiler

And what a tragic coincidence given his role in John Wick 4.

 

[Karlos]

https://ew.com/movies/john-wick-4-dedicated-lance-reddick-keanu-reeves-chad-stahelski/

"The Concierge will return shortly".

😪

[DarthKato]

On 3/17/2023 at 3:47 PM, Karlos said:

https://www.cbr.com/lance-reddick-star-wire-fringe-john-wick-dies-60/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/-wire-star-lance-reddick-dies-natural-causes-publicist-says-rcna75527

 

Just...no.  horrible, horrible news.

Heartbreaking.

Damn. I'm really going to miss seeing him in future John Wick projects. It just won't be the same without him. Rest In Peace Mr. Reddick. 

[DiP]

Caine meets Zero. Donnie hooks up with Mark Dacascos at the L.A. premier of the movie.

I seriously hope this brief meeting leads to both of them collaborating soon. Mike Leeder actually revealed in his IG post that both were real close of facing each other onscreen for the first time in Benny Chan's Crossfire that was supposed to be set in Mexico but the idea was scrapped when it became Raging Fire. I've been waiting to see this match-up for YEARS so they better make it happen!

Edited March 21 by DiP

[DiP]

Donnie guests at Jimmy Kimmel show.

[dionbrother]

12 hours ago, DiP said:

Caine meets Zero. Donnie hooks up with Mark Dacascos at the L.A. premier of the movie.

I seriously hope this brief meeting leads to both of them collaborating soon. Mike Leeder actually revealed in his IG post that both were real close of facing each other onscreen for the first time in Benny Chan's Crossfire that was supposed to be set in Mexico but the idea was scrapped when it became Raging Fire. I've been waiting to see this match-up for YEARS so they better make it happen!

Check out Donnie's lifts!  LOL

[One Armed Boxer]

15 hours ago, DiP said:

 

Who wore them better?