John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

[BetterButter]

Edited July 23, 2022 by BetterButter

[Morrigan2575]

Can't Wait! 😲

[AimingforYoko]

"Not even you can kill everyone."

John Wick:

[BetterButter]

[AimingforYoko]

Stellan and Alex have a big head start, but Bill is coming up hard on the outside.

[tv echo]

Keanu Reeves talked about John Wick 4 at a recent con...

Keanu Reeves interview at CCXP22 December 3rd 2022 ComicCon São Paulo Brazil (2022-12-03)
allbearsrule    Dec 3, 2022

Edited December 7, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

2023’s Most Anticipated Movies: ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’ Leads Fandango Survey
Anthony D'Alessandro   December 20, 2022 
https://deadline.com/2022/12/top-movies-2023-guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-fandango-1235203078/ 

Quote

Digital movie ticket retailer Fandango has unveiled the results of its 2023 Most Anticipated Movies Survey....
*  *  *
2023’s Most Anticipated Blockbusters:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
2. Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse (June 2)
3. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Feb. 17)
4. John Wick: Chapter 4 (March 24)
5. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (June 30)
6. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Dec. 25)
7. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (July 14)
8. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes (Nov. 17)
9. Creed III (March 3)
10. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (April 7)

*  *  *
Most Anticipated Hero:

1. Chris Pratt as Star Lord (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)
2. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny)
3. Keanu Reeves as John Wick (John Wick 4)
4. Zoe Saldana as Gamora (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)
5. Paul Rudd as Ant-Man (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania)

Most Anticipated Villain:

1. Melissa McCarthy as Ursula (The Little Mermaid)
2. Bill Skarsgård as the Marquis (John Wick 4)
3. Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania)
4. Jack Black (voice) as Bowser (The Super Mario Bros. Movie)
5. Jason Momoa as Dante (Fast X) 

Edited December 21, 2022 by tv echo

[tv echo]

All the movies you'll want to watch in 2023, from 'Ant-Man 3' to 'Scream VI'
Jan. 5, 2023
https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/movies/2023/01/04/exclusive-look-2023-new-movies/10979963002/

Quote

"John Wick: Chapter 4" (March 24, theaters): On the run from international assassins and with a price on his head, legendary hitman John Wick (Reeves) figures out a way to defeat the High Table and regain his freedom in the action thriller.

 

[Anduin]

Prediction time! My predictions are rarely more than 10% accurate, but it keeps me entertained. From TV Echo's quote, it sounds like he'll start going after the members of the high table, disintegrating the whole organisation. Maybe target their communications capabilities too. Not the actual women in the offices, but maybe their equipment. Even start destroying the coins. Let's see how wrong I am.

[BetterButter]

 

[Morrigan2575]

Jeremy  Jahns gave it an Awesumtacular!  I'm very hyped for this movie,  I just don't know how I'll last 3 hours (including trailers) without a bathroom break 

[Anduin]

Just got back. It's certainly very good, though the first is still my favourite. The laws and rituals of the high table get ever more ornate. Lots of hey it's that guy actors. Honestly, I thought that one man was Donald Sutherland. It was Clancy Brown. :) I laughed at a few moments, possibly when it wasn't meant to be funny. The overhead sequence was probably my favourite, if only for the novelty.

Maybe it's just my crap ears, but some of the dialogue was a little muddy. John's healing powers are as ridiculous as always, and I'm not sure the time-keeping is dead accurate either.

All in all, more good than bad. Worth seeing.

Edit: there's a stinger, very end of the credits.

Edited March 23, 2023 by Anduin

[Raja]

20 hours ago, Anduin said:

John's healing powers are as ridiculous as always, and I'm not sure the time-keeping is dead accurate either.

In this case John Wick palled compared to the Marquess henchman. He was getting a pop from the audience when he kept showing up for more. I was half thinking that he was an Agent Smith.

I half to admit I saw the ending coming I was thinking what you never watched Rob Roy as it played out. The sequence right before got the biggest laugh from my audience. The Osaka Continental action felt much like a previous hotel fight. 

20 hours ago, Anduin said:

Edit: there's a stinger, very end of the credits.

I didn't know that or was expecting so I left. From the descriptions it was the Japanese and/or Donnie Yen spinoff possibility as opposed to the dog handler who also was a possibility. Keanu Reeves has definitely lost a judo, BJJ step since the last movie as father time can be hidden, better than Liam Neeson( of Rob Roy)  in his  old man action, but Father Time can  not defeated . 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Raja

[Anduin]

The stinger:

Spoiler

we see Donnie Yen approach his daughter, busking with her violin. Then we see Akira approach. She flicks out a switchblade. Looks like she's going for him, but maybe the daughter. Fade to black.

Now, another, somewhat random, thought. The movie was starting to get into James Bond territory. Especially the Marquis on his estate. The young women practicing horseback fencing, I could see that scene riffing on Goldfinger. There was the big guy at the start of JW3 who reminded me of Jaws too. If there's ever a JW5, I expect them to mention the Spectre arm of their organisation. Maybe bring in Daniel Craig as the lead villain.

[Raja]

Given his story arc I'm guessing that like Chadwick Boseman before him Lance Reddick didn't die from a sudden illness but knew of a medical condition before his passing at such a young age.

[AimingforYoko]

Hard to believe that in a movie that has Donnie Yen, that John Wick's best fight scene was against Scott Adkins in a fat suit, but there we are. To quote the great philosopher Nigel Tufnel, they took this one "To Eleven". I needed an Advil just watching these ridiculous stunts. They could've cut twenty minutes of John smoking nameless bounty hunters between him and the church, but that's a small quibble. 

As to the end credit scene: 

Spoiler

I can't believe Akira would try to kill Caine, unless she was suicidal over her Dad's death. I gotta believe she'd go after the daughter.

 

[RunningMarket]

I'm surprised no one else has yet to mention the reveal that: 

Spoiler

Winston is likely John's father. Why else reveal the never before seen Roma tattoo on his wrist, as he says "Goodbye, my son."

Loved the movie. Absolutely fantastic action sequences - the one with the aerial shots especially (although I did get a bit dizzy near the end.) And the soundtrack was phenonimal.

As someone who has climbed those damn stairs up to Sacre Coeur, I felt for John each time he fell down some and had to get back up. It would have been funny if he hot-wired the funicular and shot at the bad guys speeding past them.

[peridot]

I loved it!  Some scenes felt a little too long, but it was fast-paced at least.  I really enjoyed the Osaka Continental scenes.  I did a    re-watch of the first three movies a few months ago, and it slipped my mind that the Continental had international spots. 

I had to look away when Mr. Nobody mutilated himself to get the knife out of his hand.  He must have been spying on John for a long time, since he had a notebook full of details.  Everybody (even the dog) had supernatural healing abilities.  The driving scenes at the Arc de Triomphe were something else.

I had to use the restroom during the negotiating scene, so I missed how Caine was picked as the dueler.  The door bell notifiers was a cool concept.

I missed the end-credit scene! 

[Raja]

5 minutes ago, peridot said:

 

I had to use the restroom during the negotiating scene, so I missed how Caine was picked as the dueler.  The door bell notifiers was a cool concept.

I missed the end-credit scene! 

He was just chosen as the rules of formal dueling was not really known by Winston and John Wick. I can't remember a scene from Romeo and Juliet but in West Side Story Bernardo was shocked when Ice was chosen as the Jets champion and he wouldn't have gotten Tony.

[dwmarch]

So since there is a Nobody in this movie, is that a confirmation that John Wick and Nobody share a cinematic universe? Although the movie Nobody gave me the impression that Bob Odenkirk's character worked for one of the alphabet soup agencies whereas the Wick-verse doesn't seem to have any kind of governments or police forces at all beyond the High Table.

Speaking of which, a long gunfight happens right in the middle of Paris and not a single cop shows up. Not even to direct traffic. Maybe they all moonlight as assassins? I also found it strange that a building the size of the Continental spontaneously explodes and when we cut back to it later, there is some police tape on the front door but that's it. And no cops attending for the big brawl at the club in Berlin even though after a while the civilians decided to flee from all the murders going on. There are definitely cops in this universe. John talked to one in the first movie. Although that cop did have the memorable bit where he sees carnage in the background, asks John if he is working again and promptly leaves. The same must go for airport security as well since John has no trouble going all over the world.

I have heard there is going to be a Continental TV series and I was expecting some setup for it which I guess we got via the explosive renovation. Winston negotiates for the Continental to be rebuilt and it looks like the response was "okay, but only on a TV budget".

So Winston seems to be John Wick's dad? Interesting. Now I'm curious to go back and watch the other movies to see if their scenes play any differently with that in mind.

I don't think John is actually dead (although he certainly should be after getting hit by about a dozen cars, nevermind all the other stuff he sometimes literally went through) but rather I think the persona of John Wick the assassin is what has been buried. There's probably a big-ass cache of guns under that tombstone. After all, for all the variously-titled functionaries we have seen, we've never actually seen any of the 12 members of the High Table itself. So I'm going to predict that John Wick V will be along the lines of John getting torn away from his happy civilian life and deciding the only way to end this once and for all (since the world never seems to run out of mooks) is for him to kill every single member of the High Table. And since that sounds like it could be a lot of movie with a lot of cool set pieces I'm going to go one further and predict the movie will be split in two.

On 3/25/2023 at 12:56 PM, peridot said:

I had to look away when Mr. Nobody mutilated himself to get the knife out of his hand.

They used a gore discretion shot here which I really appreciate. We certainly hear the sound of what is going on but the camera angle is from far away and does not go back in for a close up. In fact, the whole movie seemed fairly discreet on gore overall. I remember the first three movies being more... splattery. And while there were still a few kills in this movie that made the whole audience wince, I didn't think any of them were super brutal. For all the swords and hatchets getting flung around, it is remarkable how little blood is spilled. I guess this is a compromise that must be made when the hero character kills about 900 people in two and a half hours.

That reminds me, the movie cheated on the weapons a bit. When the bad guys are getting ready for the big Paris battle we see a lot of dudes grabbing assault rifles and the like but only one shotgun shows up and everyone else is packing pistols. If I am remembering my Tom Clancy novels correctly, Kevlar is only good up to a certain caliber but John seems to have some new space-aged stuff that can't be pierced by anything. Either way, there's no real downside to at least trying long guns on him. Donnie Yen's character is also the only one around who has heard of grenades and he only throws one. A couple of claymore mines in the bushes on that long staircase and he'd be John Borscht.

Despite all this nitpicking, it was a very entertaining movie and I'm glad I saw it on the big screen.

[Morrigan2575]

Well that didn't take long. Although I've only read the title so I don't know in what capacity. 

 

[AimingforYoko]

3 hours ago, dwmarch said:

A couple of claymore mines in the bushes on that long staircase and he'd be John Borscht.

Well, maybe. The man got up from a four-story fall and getting hit by three different cars, so we're definitely in the science fiction realm here.

 

[RunningMarket]

59 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Well that didn't take long. Although I've only read the title so I don't know in what capacity. 

 

It's mainly saying that he'll play a role in Ballerina, which is set between JW3 and JW4. Ana de Armas is playin the ballerina we see being berated by Angelica Huston.

[Morrigan2575]

14 minutes ago, RunningMarket said:

It's mainly saying that he'll play a role in Ballerina, which is set between JW3 and JW4. Ana de Armas is playin the ballerina we see being berated by Angelica Huston.

Oh boo. I have no interest in that movie. I'd rather a spinoff about Mr Nobody, Caine or Akira.

[Raja]

30 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Oh boo. I have no interest in that movie. I'd rather a spinoff about Mr Nobody, Caine or Akira.

I'll stay with the tracker, every time I read Mr. Nobody here I am wondering where the the Fast and Furious franchise talk came from.

[Morrigan2575]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

I'll stay with the tracker, every time I read Mr. Nobody here I am wondering where the the Fast and Furious franchise talk came from.

You know, I totally forgot about Kurt Russell's character in the FF movies. I'm fine with The Tracker.

[Raja]

19 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

You know, I totally forgot about Kurt Russell's character in the FF movies. I'm fine with The Tracker.

And now I am seeing folks like Better Call Saul's Nobody as a fan fic part of the Continental/Wick universe. 

[Dancing Queen]

On 3/27/2023 at 10:01 AM, dwmarch said:

I don't think John is actually dead (although he certainly should be after getting hit by about a dozen cars, nevermind all the other stuff he sometimes literally went through) but rather I think the persona of John Wick the assassin is what has been buried. There's probably a big-ass cache of guns under that tombstone. After all, for all the variously-titled functionaries we have seen, we've never actually seen any of the 12 members of the High Table itself. So I'm going to predict that John Wick V will be along the lines of John getting torn away from his happy civilian life and deciding the only way to end this once and for all (since the world never seems to run out of mooks) is for him to kill every single member of the High Table.

I don't want John to be dead and would be fine if his death was a fakeout - he retired once legitimately, then went off to lead a quiet life (until the first movie started).  This time, he's officially Out of the Life again, but has caused a LOT of mayhem in the last month (or however long it's been since the first film started) and might need the added protection of an assumed death to get Out for real.  John Wick (both the character and the franchise) are all about escalating the stakes at the end of each film, so he might have faked his death to get Extra Out.

Having said that, I hope he does come back to take out the High Table.  The more we learn about this universe, the more we realize how corrupt the leadership is.  If JW doesn't come back, all he really accomplished in this film was getting himself and Caine Out of the Life and returning Winston to his former glory.   I'm glad for him to clear his name and help his friends - John is a really good friend - but I really want to see the High Table fall.

[arc]

On 3/27/2023 at 7:01 AM, dwmarch said:

After all, for all the variously-titled functionaries we have seen, we've never actually seen any of the 12 members of the High Table itself.

I think we saw the Elder (the guy above the High Table) in JW3, and a new Elder at the start of JW4. Also, Santino D'Antonio became a member of the High Table after John assassinated Santino's predecessor Gianna, his sister, in JW2. The John Wicki says Killa Harkan was also a High Table member. Pyotr (never seen) and subsequently his daughter Katia are probably members. It's also possible the Marquis was a member rather than a functionary, which would explain why Wick needed to be reinstated by his family in order to issue a formal duel challenge to the Marquis, and why the Marquis was bound to accept.

At the end of the day, the lore is baroque but not necessarily well thought out. It never made sense to me that John could be compelled by Santino to assassinate Gianna, marker or no, and then that Santino could plausibly claim a blood obligation to put a contract out on Wick for having murdered Gianna at Santino's direct order.

[BetterButter]

 

[Morrigan2575]

Huh, John Wick 5 in early development. I'm happy because I love the franchise but, that really was the only way I saw it ending.

https://comicbook.com/movies/news/john-wick-5-lionsgate-boss-confirms-development/

[Hanahope]

Heh I too wondered how Wick travels.  Coach for anonymity or first class for comfort 

[RunningMarket]

5 hours ago, Hanahope said:

Heh I too wondered how Wick travels.  Coach for anonymity or first class for comfort 

I always wondered if some poor, unassuming tourist wanders into a Continental looking for a room. 

[tv echo]

John Wick: Chapter 4 won the Saturn Award for Best 4K Home Media Release...

‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’, ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Among Winners At Saturn Awards
By Patrick Hipes    Feb 5, 2024
https://deadline.com/2024/02/2024-saturn-awards-winners-list-1235815080/ 

Watch Keanu Reeves Remember Lance Reddick’s ‘Beautiful Spirit’ at 2024 Saturn Awards
BY EMILY ZEMLER    FEBRUARY 5, 2024
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/keanu-reeves-saturn-awards-2024-speech-lance-reddick-1234961337/ 

Quote

Keanu Reeves was honored with the inaugural Lance Reddick Legacy Award at the 2024 Saturn Awards on Sunday night. The John Wick 4 actor took the opportunity to pay homage to Reddick, his friend and costar.

Edited February 6 by tv echo

[tv echo]

CinemaCon 2024: Lionsgate Focuses on Franchise-Building
Daniel Loria • April 11 2024
https://www.boxofficepro.com/cinemacon-2024-lionsgate-focuses-on-franchise-building/ 

Quote

John Wick Presents: Ballerina | June 6, 2025

This John Wick spin-off has has to evolve on the fly, seeing record box office numbers for the main series throughout its development. As a result, Ballerina has gone through changes throughout its production to keep up with the commercial expectations of one of Lionsgate’s most important franchises. Fogelson revealed that new setpieces from John Wick director Chad Stahelski have been incorporated into the film, introducing the first footage of Ballerina ever screened in front of an audience. From what we saw at Caesars Palace, it is clear that Ballerina will have close stylistic ties to the Wick franchise, with appearances from several of the core series’ characters in the film. Ballerina will side step questions over the fate of John Wick at the conclusion of John Wick 4, being set in between the third and fourth installments of the franchise. 

Edited April 12 by tv echo