The John Wick series has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I started the series because I was excited by the idea of an unstoppable hitman, but I ended up coming back with each new release because of the series’ technical mastery. The high-energy music, the accurate fight scenes, the stunning visuals, and the clever worldbuilding were some of the best I’ve seen in action films. So, when I sat down in the movie theater to watch John Wick 4, the last of the John Wick series, I expected all of those elements and more. 

John Wick Chapter 4 features the same gritty plot-lines present throughout the other three films. This time, they come in the form of an assassin just trying to look after his daughter, an all-powerful syndicate sending millions to fight one man, a cheating casino dealer, and a dumb kid who just wants more power. All these different characters and events prevented the almost three hour run-time from feeling slow or drawn out. By the time John Wick (Keanu Reeves) got what he needed from one character, he was already talking to- or rather, fighting with -the next. 

This is easily the best looking film of the four. The action sequences don’t waste their time on cheap one-liners because they know it’s John Wick. His brutal, impressive, knock-outs are the one-liners. Instead, the focus is on insane visuals. Visuals that make you think “No way they just did that”. The most notable of which being a birds eye view of John Wick strategically moving about a house, giving us a view of both Wick and his prey in two separate rooms as they try to find each other. Everything about the film’s visuals frames Wick as the deadly, god-like creature the rest of the John Wick universe sees him as. 

The John Wick series functions at a level of mastery that other action films will fight to match for years to come. It is brutal and fight-heavy, yet still takes time to apply (somewhat) understandable morals to each character. The first film changed what it means to be a successful action movie. Four films later, John Wick Chapter 4 manages to raise the standard even more and serve as the perfect finish to a perfect franchise.