'John Wick 4' Is A Beautifully SHOT, Action-Packed Thrill Ride

'John Wick 4' is a perfect neo-noir action movie.

John Wick 4 does exactly what it sets out to do, and does it almost perfectly.

The writers set out to conclude the John Wick series that began in 2014 with a fourth and final chapter, and this movie is a home-run in almost every way imaginable. Clocking in at close to a three hour run time, this movie is an action-packed thrill ride from beginning to end, and paces just perfectly the whole way through.

John Wick 4 is so visually intoxicating that you'll leave the theater with a head buzz. The Director of Photography, Dan Laustsen, did an incredible job lighting and shooting this film, which is worth seeing just to experience the cinematography alone. The color scheme and lighting in this movie is reminiscent of an LSD trip from the yellow gel tab acid that was popular during the mid-2000s. It very well may be one of the most intricately-lit movies ever made. From the subtlety of the candlelights in the church scene to the flashing dance lights and full spectrum of color that fills the entire screen in the nightclub scene - this beautifully lit, colorful cinematographic artwork will keep your eyes locked on the screen with a natural high that's centered right behind your mind's eye.

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you'll know I truly appreciate a movie with an absolutely bitchin' soundtrack. And this movie has one in spades. The music in John Wick 4 rounds out each scene flawlessly and helps immerse you into the story. The soundtrack is very modern in tonality, and ranges from pulsing Berlin EDM all the way to covers of classic rock songs like The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black." The sound effects are also incredible, with deep bass that makes you feel like you're right in the center of the action, with gunshots blazing all around you.

The action sequences in this film are extraordinarily-well choreographed, and each major sequence lasts 30+ minutes at a time. In fact, the action sequences are so impressive and entertaining that more than 50% of the story is completely driven by them alone, with very little dialogue to accompany them. All three acts have at least one major action sequence in it to drive the story, and each one of the three also happen to be the most memorable scenes in the film. Keanu Reeves stunt-work here is award-worthy. It's just way too much fun watching him beat the hell out of the bad guys with nunchucks, blow their brains out with high-powered weaponry and pistols, and even literally light 'em up towards the end of the movie with incendiary ammunition that leaves his enemies dead and burning in a blaze of fire.

And as always, Keanu Reeves does a great job playing the slow-talking, introverted former hitman that doesn't have a lot to say but holds a major grudge. But John Wick 4 also introduces a fascinating new character, known only as "Mr. Nobody," a highly-skilled and trained professional assassin who throughout the film, seems to be both an ally and enemy of John Wick. Mr. Nobody does seem to want to collect on the bounty put on John Wick's head, but he knows he's providing a highly-valuable service, and wants to be compensated appropriately. So, to make sure his competitors don't get his kill before him, he is often seen helping John Wick by killing his competing hitmen before they can kill Wick. All the while, the longer Wick is alive, the higher and higher the price of the bounty gets, and Mr. Nobody strategically tries to maximize his reward. Interestingly, he's also always accompanied by his German Shepherd, who also happens to be a very well-trained attack dog, and helps him with his kills. "Mr. Nobody" is played by Shamier Anderson, and is the most-memorable supporting character in the film, and the other standout performance besides Reeves'.

John Wick 4 is by far the best action film of 2023 so far, and will probably hold that title through the end of the year. As of this writing, it's only been in theaters for five days, and has already profited close to $50 million - and for good reason. The conclusive chapter of the John Wick series is absolutely fantastic, and Ending Politics gives it three out of four stars and two big thumbs up! Don't miss this one.