John Wick 4 (2023)

[Flack]

If you haven't seen the first three John Wick movies, there are a few things you should know. The first is, if you are a person intending to kill John Wick, the odds are pretty low that you will succeed. Also, if you try to shoot John Wick, there is a very good chance John Wick will take your gun and shoot you in the head with it at close range. Throughout the first three films, John Wick has killed somewhere around 1,000 people. I have no idea why people think they will be the one to succeed, but in John Wick 4 another 500 try, all of whom get shot in the head.

(That's actually a bit of an exaggeration. Several of them get stabbed.)

At its core John Wick's story is one of revenge. He belongs to an organization that operates with their own rules; a world where it's acceptable to threaten to kill one's children, but who wouldn't dream of doing it in one of several "off limits" locations scattered around the globe. In this fourth installment, Wick discovers he can escape from the organization by challenging a member of the table to a one-on-one duel, a Frenchie who agrees to the deal and then does everything in his power to prevent it from occurring, even forcing Wick to fight the evil Paris. No, Paris isn't a person -- literally the entire city of Paris tries to kill John Wick.

With a runtime just shy of 3 hours, fans of the series will certainly get their fill in this action packed thriller. Wick works his way across the globe as he kills people in the desert, kills people in a night club, kills people in Tokyo, and kills people in France. John Wick is kind of like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, if Carmen Sandiego double-tapped everyone she met in the head with 9mm rounds.

One unfortunate part of Wick's life is that it is often his closest friends who are trying to kill him. In this film, Wick is pursued by (among other people) his old friend Caine, who is a blind kung-fu master played by Donnie Yen. If the name sounds familiar, Yen also played a blind kung-fu master in Star Wars: Rogue One. Yen is not blind in real life so, it's an odd thing to get type cast as. In this film Caine is completely blind and yet can fight and shoot better than most people. Imagine your last thought being, "I just got shot by a blind guy from 100 yards away." I had always put blind people in a group of peope I could beat in a fight and at the shooting range, but I guess I was wrong.

If you like action and/or watching Keanu Reeves shoot people in the head then grab a butt pillow and put your phone on silence for the next three hours.

John Wick 4 begins streaming on Peacock 5/23.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I have been making jokes about the Benjamin Button movie for many years, due to how long it is. Just random dumb comments, like if we get separated for a long time in the grocery store I will tell her I was distracted by watching the entirety of Benjamin Button.

I just checked, and Benjamin Button is two hours and 47 minutes.

John Wick 4, according to Google, is two hours and FORTY-NINE MINUTES.

Thank you for watching this, Flack. Let me know if the rest of us can fill you in on all the events you missed while this movie was on. I feel like you staggered out of the theater or your home office and one of your kids graduated high school and Jim Brown died.

[Flack]

Wait... someone just said I missed a pandemic of some kind?

[nessman]

I've yet to see John Wick 1, 2, 3 or 4. But is this like a Neo/Morpheus reunion movie franchise? And why does Keanu Reeves have this resting disappointed Ted Logan face "whoa!" face in every movie he does?

[Flack]

Keanu heard people think John Wick is essentially a Neo/Morpheus reunion movie franchise, which explains his resting disappointed face.

[(ᵕ˵ ૩ᵕ)━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ]

At its core John Wick's story is one of revenge. [...]

Wasn't the first John Wick advertised as a man taking revenge for the dog the Mob killed? They even setup the stage for an emotional catharsis due to it being the last gift his wife (who died from cancer, not a bullet) gave him. However he did close that case completely by decimating said entire family of mobsters.

My question is what is he taking revenge for at this point or is it a "the setting grew bigger than the character" sort of thing?

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

I would also like to know what motivates Kohn in 2, 3 and 4.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Having watched the trailer that Flack attached I guess I know the motivation now.

[(ᵕ˵ ૩ᵕ)━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ]

Having watched the trailer that Flack attached I guess I know the motivation now.

Isn't the premise that John Wick has nothing to live for after the death of his wife and is instead continuing to fight to survive out of... Because he's a killer who'd never be content to leave the underworld?

He doesn't even have a dog anymore!