The Writings of John Ryan Sullivan

I recently watched the fourth installment of the John Wick Films. I feel to properly express my thoughts about John Wick 4 something must be said about the previous films. Which, having just searched through my posts I can see I have only mentioned John Wick briefly in this, my misguided ‘year end’ posts that no one, including myself, wants to read.

John Wick (the first film), has become a template for action films. Similar to the Bourne Identity, The Transporter, The Terminator and Rambo, when you watch a John Wick film you have learned what to expect. At the time of John Wick’s release the film signaled, yet again, a shift from Keanu Reeves that was well received. A simple revenge story about a moral(ish) assassin motivated by grief that incorporates the gun-fu of Equilibrium and “is Keanu really doing this?” over-the-top action sequences. What is not to like?

Mr. Reeves is monosyllabic, focused and mesmerizing preforming his own crazy stunts. What some of us (me) might have glazed over watching the first film was the world-building that took place and how it has (easily?) led to four more films (I’m counting Ballerina) and a television show.

What world building you ask? There’s the special hotel for assassins that offers sanctuary and protection, uses its own currency and has a Latin term for everything. But we also, in the first film, have the strange relationship with law enforcement, the ritual tattooing of the Ruska Roma and the understanding that there are many criminal groups working in collaboration making this world possible.

I say all of this because if, like me, you were more focused on the shooting and fighting and car-chasing than the moments where the guys in the suits were speaking importantly this world-building might have felt a bit unnecessary. And, perhaps I am speaking out of turn here, in John Wick 2 I believe that was the case.

My least favorite of the franchise is a solid action movie with some great performances. Not only is Mr. Reeves perfect in all of the films but the reoccurring supporting actors, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, Angelica Huston, Lawrence Fishburne are great as well. Some, like Clarke Peters and Halle Berry I wish we had gotten more of (a solo Halle Berry movie would be wonderful). So it’s hard to be negative about a movie that knows what it is and delivers on what it should.

For me the second film felt like the middle part of a story you get through because you are excited about what comes next. Does it have some great sequences? Absolutely. I wasn’t bored by the film and it was not a chore to finish it – it just wasn’t as fresh and exciting as the first film. Which, let’s be honest, is the curse of nearly every sequel.

Which is why when number three came out I waited a little to watch. I’m glad I did because until watching number four (spoiler alert!) it was my favorite. I love every scene Halle Berry is in. The interactions with the dogs, Mr. Reeves, it’s all very well done. I don’t feel that I have much to say about number three beyond it is exactly what it should be.

Which brings us to number four. Released in 2023 watched by me halfway through 2026. In part because I reached a point with movies and television where I am disappointed half the time I try and watch anything. I believe this is largely due to the Netflix approach to making ‘content’. I think it’s also because I keep choosing what to watch based off of terrible trailers and what the streaming services are pushing at me.

Which is my way of saying it’s my fault. I know the deal and I have been doing things the wrong way and getting poor results. But in my defense (because I’m not that much of a bigger person) I am being betrayed by the people creating a number of these shows and movies. I say betrayed because I feel either deliberately mislead by trailers or because the tonal shifts (not to mention focus/purpose of shows) occur that are so jarring that I question why I started watching this thing in the first place. I digress.

John Wick 4. Where to begin? First and foremost the runtime is crazy. Two hours and forty-nine minutes long. What?! Only, once you start watching you realize they need all of this time to tell the story properly. Because, believe it or not, with this installment there is quite a lot of story to tell.

The usual things I like/love about John Wick movies are all in this film. Great action, great Keanu and so many wonderful actors that to name them all here would take too long (but I love them all and I feel guilty for not doing so). This film has so many huge action pieces in different locations that as I try and recall them all I am sure I am missing some.

There’s a good, interesting story being told and there are stakes beyond ‘will John Wick die?’ which I greatly appreciate. You’ve got a weird, somewhat understandable villain (I’m referring to Bill Skarsgård but I suppose Donnie Yen also fits this bill) a number of interesting supporting characters with their own storylines and a culmination of everything that is rewarding and fulfilling.

In short John Wick 4 is the best of the series, easily. It does everything the other films do, I think it does it better than them and it ends in a satisfying manner. Watching this I never felt more empathy for stunt performers (that is until a few hours later watching Ballerina which, somehow, managed to surpass this spectacle) as when they dealt with the many, many stairs.

I’ve peppered a great deal of personal bits in to this because watching John Wick 4, then Ballerina and then episode one of The Continental has made me realize I know how I want to watch things. It’s often I need to then navigate this current system of accessing the movies and television shows I wish to watch.

Which is a minefield, in ways that video stores also could be (thinking of the chains more than the smaller ones). If you don’t know who currently has John Wick 4 how do you go about checking? I use one of three services to see where things are streaming. None of them are perfect and frequently they get things wrong. At the moment John Wick 4 is on HBO Max but the process of finding that out had me scrolling past dozens of other films and shows (and trying to not get distracted) to find this out.

Which after several clicks, scrolling and finding the film I then have the trailer for something HBO Max is promoting before I can skip that and get to my movie. Which, not to be a complainer (which I know I am) is a bit much to watch a movie on a service I pay to use.

I mention this because although I have not yet finished The Continental (but plan to today) I know I want to give the anime film, Akira, another try. At present, and after a good deal of searching, it is not streaming on any of the thirteen services I use. So instead I looked at my local libraries and found they all (unsurprisingly) have copies. Going to the library, looking a the spines on the shelf and finding the film was easy, non-invasive and didn’t require me watching or looking at unwanted ads.

For me it’s a reminder of how much I actively ignore, on a daily basis, to use the internet or check email or watch movies on my television. And it’s all part of my lack of interest in shows and movies that have characters reiterating the plot points in case the audience is looking at their phones when their ‘content’ is playing on their television. I don’t like this one bit.

I do like the care and attention to detail (as silly as it may be – which is fine, silly is fine) in the world of John Wick. Number four has perhaps my favorite silly invention which I don’t recall being as prevalent before – Kevlar clothing. I know John Wick had a suit made of it but now everyone is wearing Kevlar clothing and is bulletproof. It’s a bit goofy but it’s also fun and interesting and makes for clever/silly fight choreography that I found enjoyable.

I know a great deal surrounding movies in particular has changed in the past fifteen or so years. I know people now are doing web searches, before deciding to watch movies, about whether the film was commercially successful. Which is nuts, as the past few months have shown everyone. Three, tiny, independent horror films have been hugely successful while Steven Spielberg (and many others) have underperformed. What does it mean? Who knows?!

More importantly, if you are not in the business of making movies – who cares?! Despite the massive success of Iron Lung, Obsession and Backrooms I have no plan to watch any of them. Ever. Because they are low budget horror/gore-fest/creepy films that the trailers have shown me are not my kind of movies. Which if fine. Really fine. Because I don’t watch many films that are released every year. And that’s okay. There are enough of us now, with our own interests, to support artists we like and have them make money and carry on.

I think I’ve lost my way again, there are just too many things swirling in the ether of late that are interconnected and troubling. As I plan on writing about both Ballerina and The Continental I’ve been avoiding pulling them into this post but obviously they are related to the John Wick films.

If I have one takeaway from this recent foray into the world of John Wick it is this – I think the people making these movies really care about what they are doing. You can feel that everyone is trying to make something good, and interesting and that it matters to them. I know I’ve addressed some of the current issues with movies and television here but I think, at the heart of this matter, the issue is people caring about what they make.

I don’t doubt that some projects are just jobs and many of the people working on these films didn’t see these as passion projects they would do for free. But it feels to me when I am watching that that is how these movies were made and because of that I connect with them and the stories they are telling.