Tag Archives: John Wick

Action, Crime, Crime Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies, Thriller

REVIEW: “JOHN WICK: CHAPTER FOUR (2023) LIONSGATE

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“Have you given any thought to where this will end?”

—–A reasonable question repeatedly posed to Keanu Reeves’ seemingly immortal hitman in this fourth entry.

222 steps. That’s what it will take for John Wick to make it up to decide his fate. There are of course obstacles, so many obstacles.

John Wick (Keanu Reeves), fresh off being shot off a roof by supposed friend Wilson (Ian McShane), at the conclusion of ‘Parabellum’, is on a vendetta to destroy the ‘High Table’, while Bill Skarsgårds‘ Marquis character as he tells us, is a man of exquisite tastes, sets out to take Wick down. And as the ransom rises commensurate with Wick’s kill count, the hunt is on again with the only surprising element being that the ‘High Table’ still has a flood of anonymous assassins to call upon following Wick’s trail of destruction to date.

The continued existence of Wick yields consequences for those who align themselves with him; a brutal truth that is delicately raised by the wonderful Hiroyuki Sanada’s character Shimazu, as another round of thugs descend. But that’s about as deep as it gets – story is secondary, spectacle is everything. And like its predecessors, the film exists in its own unique realm of ridiculousness; a place where Clancy Brown’s ‘Harbinger’ serves an eviction notice by unveiling a massive ornamental hourglass, and where Wick trades dancefloor blows with Scott Adkins’ Wilson Fisk-esque villain while the noticing revellers just continue dancing the night away. But we’ve not come here for social realism – we’re here for the kick ass baddassery of John Wick and the body count. And boy…ask and ye shall recieve

Director Chad Stahelski is an action maestro who, aided by stunt coordinators Scott Rogers and Stephen Dunlevy (yes we NEED a stunt category Oscars), orchestrates a symphony of destruction as electrifying as it is in-your-face. The ballet of violence, all marinated in a neon glaze, is beautifully choreographed and, unbelievably, still manages to pull new tricks out of its blood-soaked bag, whether it be Sanada’s staircase ascent using knives and a witless heavy’s body, or Reeves’ nunchuks razzle dazzle.

And while the set pieces in Osaka and by the Arc de Triomphe will dazzle, it’s also the brillance of the characters. Donnie Yen, as blind assassin Caine, does well, the Donnie Yen thing…and gloriously so.

It’s a veritable buffet of overblown excess, but not without the odd undercooked canape. Lawrence Fishbourne has almost blick and you missed it, little to do scene where he presents Wick with his dry cleaning like a subway-dwelling Q. Shamier Anderson’s bounty hunter ‘Mr Nobody’ is brilliant addition giving us a fresh character that is seemingly hellbent on that ransom to a sadomasochistic degree, making his later decisions a bit on the curious side. And one action set piece on the Sacré-Cœur steps seemingly threatens to go on forever, and it becomes my only gripe as it makes the film drag for a overly long bit of it’s 3hrs run time. But these are just nit-picks because despite being basically the same film for four installments now. Regardless of that ominous runtime, ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ somehow delivers yet another furiously enjoyable slice of bloody mayhem that, bizarrely, doesn’t outstay its welcome. A true experience as when have you ever seen a franchise go better on it’s fourth go in?

Where the series goes next remains to be seen, but it would be remiss to not mention the quiet impact of one of the story’s key contributors – Lance Reddick. His calm yet imposing presence has been one of the joys of this saga, and, in light of the recent sad news, his final line in this chapter couldn’t be more poignant. “It has been an honour, my friend”. Sir, the honour has been all ours. Rest in power my friend, you will be so very missed.

John wick chapter 4 is taken to the next level and by far, one of the best action movies I’ve seen in a LONG time, Extraordinary filmmaking & action sequences with stakes heightened like never before. It completely earns its 3 hr runtime, something you will only rarely ever hear me utter.

Grade: A-

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Review screening: Wednesday, March 8, 2023 ~ Courtesy of Brigade Marketing

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 FROM LIONSGATE IS NOW PLAYING IN THEATERS

Action, Action Adventure, Movie Reviews, Movies, Mystery, Thriller

REVIEW: “ATOMIC BLONDE” (2017) Universal Pictures

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Ever since Mad Max: Fury Road, I felt as though Charlize Theron could really do no wrong at playing a kick-ass, strong female character – as let’s face it, she should have been nominated for that role. With “Atomic Blonde”, it feels as though what I thought is correct. Theron’s character, Lorraine Broughton is a concoction of James Bond shaken (not stirred) with a bit of John Wick and perhaps even a little Bourne as an added twist of sour lemon. That is of course except for the simple fact that she could probably kick all their asses while barely mussing up her hair.

“Atomic Blonde” isn’t all sex and violence, though yes, it’s what drives the film, as there is a story in here, though I will say it’s not the most well written one. It’s a 80’s spy flick turned upside down as it’s lead character takes us on a thriller of a ride, done mostly in flashbacks during an investigation being conducted by Eric Gray (Toby Jones), and our own CIA exec Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman), who seem to be trying to work together here..sort of. With some fantastic 80’s fashion and a soundtrack that is in and of itself, it’s own character, as every song fits perfectly into it’s scene and makes a huge impression on the audience by making you want to stand up and dance, but instead, you sit because you’re being transfixed by some crazy fun, fantastic action scenes.

The setup: Lorraine is an undercover MI6 agent sent to Berlin in the days before the Wall comes down to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a important list that asylum seeking agent code-named Spyglass (Eddie Marsan), which contains the names of double agents that’s fallen into the wrong hands of Aleksander Bremovych (Roland Møller). James McAvoy plays David Percival, a fellow agent who’s probably been in Berlin a little too long as he’s clearly running a black market on the side and doesn’t really seem to be on the up and up agent-wise. Berlin is at the point of time where there are protests every day with the East & West sides wanting the downfall of the infamous Berlin Wall that separates them. So of course with all that going on, it’s in a complete state of chaos which predicates the plot here. Things are changing and changing fast with Lorraine being basically sent into an impossible situation, which in order to stay alive, she’s needs to not only be one step ahead, but going to have to fight like hell just to survive and get herself out, let alone fulfill the mission.

All in all, it’s the action that makes this film and leaves the storyline in the dust, with Theron truly being an “Atomic Blonde”. The acting beyond the action, isn’t really there. Sofia Boutella, whom usually is the one doing all the ass-kicking, is really in her first role here that she doesn’t, and honestly, you could have left her French agent character Delphine Lasalle out and no one would have missed her, unless of course the sex scene between her and Charlize are important to you, but it’s truly not an addition or would it be a subtraction that would be missed to the plot. Lastly, you know how picky I am with accents but I do give a hush-hush wink-wink to Theron’s playing a British one here. 😉

Grade: B-
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Media Review Screening: Monday, July 24, 2017 ~ Courtesy of Universal Pictures
“Atomic Blonde” will be released in theatres nationwide on Friday, July 28, 2017

Action, Crime Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies, Thriller

REVIEW ~ “JOHN WICK” (2014) Lionsgate

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john wick

It’s been quite sometime since I sat at a movie and completely & totally rooted for a character so much so as I did John Wick. Even though you know he’s really not a ‘good guy’ per se’ you really truly can’t help doing so in this movie. But before you even head into this movie you know it’s going to be in-your-face non-stop, kick-ass, kill ’em, violent. And it is..I mean the trailer tells you this..what it doesn’t tell you is how much fun it’s all going to be. Not funny ha-ha..but just plain fun – entertaining -go for it – good time action packed movie. Betcha ya didn’t expect all that now did you?!!  Because I didn’t, but I really enjoyed myself at this movie and coming from a someone like me who loves movies, but can be super picky..this film was a nice surprise for me.

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First of all can we talk about Keanu Reeves for just a quick moment.  No one ever said he’s the best actor, but damn this is his movie..no if’s, and’s or but’s..it’s all him and his wooden acting style fits this movie like a glove, as let’s face it,  it’s always best when Keanu doesn’t have a lot of dialogue and the amount here is just perfect for him to carry out and boy does he do it well, in probably his best performance in a decade or so. He performs so well as the cool, calm demeanoured “John Wick” a retired assassin code named “The Bogeyman” and moves with such ease during this super fast-paced, heavy stunt-fest so smoothly, that you will never even realize that hey..Keanu is now FIFTY yrs. old, no way..not a chance.

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So to set it up, in his hey-day the now retired, Wick/Bogeyman was the ‘go to’ guy if you…well..needed someone assassinated. And within minutes of the start of the film, the stage is set for what exactly John Wick can do, when the son “Iosef Tarasov” (Alfie Allen) of Russian mob boss “Viggo Tarasov” (Michael Nyquist), runs into Wick as he’s just randomly pumping gas in his badass Mustang and Iosef likes the Mustang, offers to buy the muscle car, which John politely refuses. Next thing you know, the Russian thugs break into his home to steal the car and take the one thing that he could share his grief with, a dog his wife “Helen” (Bridget Moynahan) gave him before she passed, AND then kick the crapola out of him to boot. Well that’s all it takes to reeaally piss Wick off as we ALL know..you don’t hurt an assassins dog for chrissakes, so off he goes to his basement with a sledge hammer and breaks up the floor and unearths a clearly long forgotten stash of weapons and some odd gold coins. Then things get ugly – for the mob that is.. Word gets back to his former boss, Viggo, from chop shop car owner “Aureilo” (John Leguizamo), who’s recognized his friend Wick’s Mustang.  Viggo informs his son in no uncertain terms that he’s royally screwed up, then sends in in a dozen or so guys to meet the threat head on. But you’re gonna need a lot more than that against John Wick!! And that my friends is when the non-stop action and fun really start.  This is pure high-energy, in your face, revenge flick and ladies and gentlemen, hold onto your hats as you’re in for a rollercoaster of a damn good time. john wick 4

Along with Keanu’s great action spin, there are many fun supporting roles here and one of my favs is the hit-mans hotel of choice, Continental’s manager “Charon” (Lance Reddick) This is a ‘special’ hotel where you can check in only with those ‘special’ gold coins Wick had in that cache he dug up. You’re not supposed to do ‘business’ at this hotel but Viggo entices our one female hit’man’ “Ms. Perkins” (Adrianne Palicki) to do just that and go after Wick for an extra payday. There is also the wonderful Willem Dafoe as “Marcus” a former colleague who is taking names and kicking some ass for a short time here with Wick, the always fun Ian McShane as the Continental owner, “Winston”, Dean Winters as “Avi” the wimpy-ish inept sideman to Viggo who can’t understand a word of Russian and there entails a few funny moments with his lack of ‘understanding’, and Clarke Peters as “Harry” the old-school assassin. All of them add loads of flavour to this movie, but again, make no mistake..this is Keanu’s movie and he kills it..john wick 3

This film rocks and this film rolls..all in the right ways and it’s truly loads of fun!  Of course there are plot holes, like how is Wick even functioning after what he goes through, but it doesn’t matter, because you’re too busy cheering for John Wick!! There were times I wanted to just scream out a big WHOOOO HOOOO! And you will too. I take ’em as I see them and I had a great time watching this movie. Enjoy people..enjoy!!!

Grade:  B-

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Grading Scale:  A = Oscar-worthy;  B = Above average – must see;  C = Average – should see;  D = Don’t waste time or money, VOD or cable at best; F = yeah, don’t see the movie under any circumstances  (+ or – gives it an edge up or down)