With mindless action and fighting scenes aplenty taking place in simple stories across multiple countries, one would think that the John Wick films would be right up my street. However, for some reason this seemingly appealing franchise just hasn’t imbedded itself in my heart and I do struggle to put a finger on why exactly that may be but try to explain I will.

Keanu Reeves is certainly not an actor I have anything against, and I like him in many roles but not this particular one. It’s no doubt an unpopular opinion given how loved this character is for many people. He was quite an intriguing character in the first one as we got to know him a bit. Actions speak louder than words with him maybe as he doesn’t say much and is too over-dressed for my liking to be an anti-hero I can take serious. I’m sure that explanation will satisfy everyone!

Warning: Contains spoilers!

Before watching this I had absolutely no idea any of it was set in Japan so was quite surprised when Osaka appeared on screen fairly early on. Before that though the action starts off in “Morocco” but was actually shot in the beautiful deserts of Wadi Rum in Jordan. Strange really as Morocco so often doubles up for other countries, particularly those in the Middle East.

Anyway, John Wick exacts vengeance against the High Table by killing the Elder who sits above the Table. This in turn leads to the Marquis being given unlimited resources to kill Wick. The New York Continental is destroyed and a retired High Table assassin is enlisted to kill his old friend after facing threats to his daughter. This assassin is played by Donnie Yen and is almost like an extension of his blind character in ‘Rogue One‘ (2016).

I’d love to be able to rank this fourth chapter alongside the trilogy which went before it. Sadly though I can remember very little about them other than Wick’s dog being killed in the first one. That is something which is not usually done in films as it’s a massive turn-off for many viewers. As a dog lover, I hate it yet when thousands of innocent bystanders are killed I see no problem!!

There is a dog in this one too but it’s the companion of The Tracker who is known throughout this movie as Mr. Nobody which has already been done in recent times in the ‘Fast & The Furious‘ films. The action scenes in this film at times are almost giving a wink to that franchise as Wick just survives whatever happens, however absurd and unlikely. There really is no sense of jeopardy as time and time again he is in grave danger yet you  never fear for him at all.

The Osaka Continental is the setting for about 40 minutes of bloodshed action in the first  third of this epic 199 minute film. For the record, there is no such hotel in Osaka although there are some with a very similar name. Other than the opening street scenes on Dotonbori, it was all filmed elsewhere. The exterior is actually the National Art Center in Tokyo with the interiors shot in the studio.

The non-stop action then moves on to New York, Berlin and Paris. A duel between Wick and the Marquis is set up on the steps at Sacré-Cœur in the latter as part of an old High Table tradition to free Wick of all obligations to them but getting to that all needs permission from someone else and some other old scores to be settled where loads and loads of other people are killed.

It may all be well shot and look quite impressive in terms of the choreography and effects but I just felt it was overly bloated without too much substance and barely any risk. After a while it just begins to feel a little repetitive as viewers are bombarded with action scene after action scene. They become more and more outrageous and I just found myself rolling my eyes in disbelief and even getting tired of the fighting sequences. I’m a fan action movies so that really shouldn’t happen! Neither should John surviving everything though!

It’s certainly not a bad film despite my negativity thus far. There’s probably more good than bad such as the final duel at the top of the steps outside the aforementioned Roman Catholic church. Somehow he manages to fight off dozens and dozens of baddies as makes it to the top. One has to admire his persistence and skill in doing this, and the best/funniest moment of the film happens close to the 220 stair summit. However, that comedic moment is then pushed a bit too far.

I may not have got into the intricacies and relative silliness of the Wick world but I’m happy that many people can appreciate and get more from it. The Wick universe does seem to be quite a small one where pretty much everyone is an assassin, and the dearth of variety makes it all becomes a bit tedious. For me, it just lacks the heart of other similar style action hero films.

Tokyo Fox Rating 6/10