In 2012, a retired hitman, known as the Baba Yaga, saw his puppy murdered in front of him and brought him out of retirement back into the limelight of the life he left behind. John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is excommunicado from The High Table, hiding in the underground of New York with the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne). With an ever-increasing bounty on his head, Mr. Wick must go against The High Table by reaching out to old allies. The High Table has sent Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård) to do whatever it takes to stop Mr. Wick, including placing a multimillion-dollar bounty on his head. Mr. Wick challenges the Marquis to a duel, a form of settling things in the way of The High Table, to take place at sunrise the next morning in front of Sacré-Coeur. The Marquis raises the bounty, sending every hitman in Europe after Mr. Wick, with 12 hours till sunrise Mr. Wick must survive and make it to Sacré-Coeur or forfeit his life to The High Table.

The saga’s director, Chad Stahelski, has raised the bar in every installment to the “John Wick” franchise, and “John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)” is no exception. Stahelski creates an action-packed film with epic fight scenes, including many one-shot fight scenes. He uses the landmarks in France, including the stairs of Sacré-Coeur and the Arc de Triomphe, to masterfully choreograph fight scenes in a way that creates an intense rollercoaster of a movie. Something unique that Stahelski does with this film is that he matches the style of the film to the style of the fight scene, from action to Japanese-style to western, creating a masterpiece. 

A fascinating thing that the “John Wick” franchise has done is being inclusive such as writing a character to be mute in “John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)” who communicates only using sign language and writing a visually impaired character for “John Wick: Chapter 4.”

Reeves has portrayed the Baba Yaga since 2012, doing a fantastic job at portraying his character and even doing most of his stunts to bring a deeper sense of realism to the role, which is impressive as Reeves is 58 years old. He does a great job portraying a man who has lost everything, trying to find himself in an unforgiving world.

Some of the stand-out actors in this film include the late Lance Reddick (Charon), the concierge and Ian McShane (Winston), the manager, who have both been a part of the franchise since the beginning. They are some of the best parts of the franchise. Donnie Yen (Caine) and Shamier Anderson (Mr. Nobody) both make their John Wick debut in the new installment. Yen and Anderson help elevate the acting in the film to a new level, yet to be seen in the “John Wick” universe.

Reddick, who passed away the week before the film debuted, was a fan favorite of the franchise, as the concierge and eventually joining Mr. Wick in combat in “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)” to fight against The High Table. He was a beloved actor and will be deeply missed by his family, cast and his fans. In the words of The High Table, “Be Seeing You, Mr. Reddick.”

It is rare to see a series survive the third film curse, but John Wick’s 3rd film was better than both the first and second movies, which left many fans, including me, worried about if chapter 4 could live up to the expectations. After seeing the film, it did not live up to the hype but exceeded the hype in every way possible. From beginning to end, “John Wick: Chapter 4” brought the Wick world to a new level. I loved every single second of the movie and with rumors of spin-off movies and series, I am very excited to see where the “John Wick” universe is going next.  I highly recommend people to go see “John Wick: Chapter 4”, exclusively in theaters earning a 5 out of 5 film reels.