John Wick 4 Is All Artifice And No Art

John Wick 4 has become a hit at the box office, despite few people venturing back to theaters. Following my own experience of watching the film, which left me with mixed feelings, I consulted Letterboxd – a social media site for movie reviews – to see what others were saying about it. While the site does act as a democratizing tool for film criticism, likes and other features intended to gamify reviews can lead to shallow critiques in exchange for social media attention. One such review gave John Wick 4 the highest rating, but contained only a single sentence that reduced the film to a veiled sexual reference.

John Wick 4 is evidently designed to dazzle the audience with its slick action sequences, with less emphasis on a compelling plot or engaging characters. It seems as though the film was created by an antisocial gamer who was confined to their room for a week, feeding prompts into an advanced artificial intelligence platform that was programmed to produce the action movie of their dreams. The result looks as though it was entirely generated by machines, as if it was the next stage in The Matrix franchise. The movie offers little trace of humanity or any genuine emotional connections.

It would be remiss to ignore the technical proficiency of the film. It’s certainly entertaining to watch John Wick (played by Keanu Reeves) dispatch villains by the dozen, and the car chase and fight scene that takes place amidst the chaotic traffic around the Arc de Triomphe is a true highlight of the action genre. Yet, when taken in its entirety, the film falls short of the mark.

John Wick 4 relies heavily on the visual cues and language of video games, presenting a peculiar challenge to anyone who grew up with the more traditional conventions of film. One of the fight scenes is shot from an elevated angle, allowing the viewer to see the fight unfolding across multiple rooms like they’ve selected a map view in a game. While it’s thrilling to watch, the unusual perspective alienates the viewer from the story.

The characters are so poorly developed that it’s almost pointless trying to draw the audience in emotionally. The villain, Bill Skarsgård, is known only as “the Marquis,” and is given no backstory beyond his nationality. Apart from him, the supporting cast is populated by talented actors such as Ian McShane, Lawrence Fishburne, and Clancy Brown, who make the most of their undercooked material. Additionally, Donnie Yen appears as a fellow assassin who is blind, which feels like a nod to an old martial arts trope.

The titular character himself is essentially a superhero, without any real supernatural explanation for his abilities. Although Reeves’ firearms training and physical prowess are admirable, the fact that he is repeatedly portrayed as invincible undermines any sense of suspense. The film relies heavily on CGI, taking viewers out of the action with hyperreal close-ups and an over-the-top color scheme that is anything but subtle.

While it’s true that John Wick 4 has won over many viewers with its visual style and numerous action scenes, there is little to suggest that there is anything more to the film than surface-level thrills. The movie is an exemplar of the idea that entertainment can be created divorced from any meaningful substance.