Reviews for John Wick: Chapter 4 have started to be released ahead of the film’s theatrical release. The plot centers on the price on John’s head increasing as he makes his way across the globe in his quest to take down the High Table. Chapter 4 was initially scheduled to be released in May 2021 but COVID restrictions and scheduling conflicts with Keanu Reeves resulted in a postponed release date.

Critics are now beginning to share their reviews on the much anticipated fourth installment of the franchise. Currently, the movie holds an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 26 reviews. Overall, reviewers speak positively of the spectacular action sequences and the ineffable likeness Reeves conjures on screen as Wick, leaving an audience with no choice but to root for him. Several excerpts of reviews can be read below:
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Related: John Wick: The High Table’s Reach Goes Further Than You Think

Caryn James, BBC

John Wick goes full James Bond, globe-trotting and shooting his way through glamorous cities, with action that is even more spectacularly staged. Running at 2 hours and 49 minutes, it is bigger than the previous films in every way ­– not better or worse, just more.

Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

John Wick: Chapter 4 borders on being too much of a good thing—both in the sense that it’s the fourth installment of a series that could have easily ended after its first, and with regards to its gargantuan 169-minute runtime. Fortunately, more turns out to be just about right in this case, with the film offering up such an onslaught of brutal, breakneck action that it’s easy to forgive its less compelling narrative excesses. Designed as a culmination as much as a continuation, it may not be consistent enough to rank as the franchise’s finest, but when it gets going, it cooks with gas.

Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

At 169 minutes, it is by far the longest installment to date, and easily the most relentless. As a moviegoing experience, it is also patently ridiculous and mostly very fun: the platonic ideal of a globe-hopping meatbag action thriller taken to its gloriously illogical extreme … There’s something ineffable in Reeves that you can’t help but root for: the unbearable lightness of being Keanu, whether he’s playing a stone-cold assassin, a surfing detective, or a cyberpunk hacker messiah.

Charles Bramesco, The Guardian

The most faithful faction of the Wick fandom will undoubtedly be pleased to see their belief that you can’t have too much of a good thing put into practice. Those who appreciated the original for its brutal, sinewy agility have another thing coming: a lumbering, stultifying gargantua of a film willing to kill everything except its darlings.

Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter

Bigger, badder, bolder, longer, and featuring nearly more spectacular set pieces than one movie can comfortably handle, this epic action film practically redefines the stakes. If at times it’s hard to avoid the feeling that the excessive mayhem is coming dangerously close to overkill, that seems suitable for a film series featuring body counts higher than some wars.

Owen Gleiberman, Variety

The way that Chad Stahelski, the series’ stuntman-turned-director, has staged it, full of hushed, portentous, ritualistic verbal showdowns that are meant to be hypnotic as they build up to each new action scene, “Chapter 4” feels like the first “John Wick” movie that wants to be a Clint Eastwood spaghetti Western. It’s like Sergio Leone crossed with John Woo as seen in Times Square.

Alan French, Sunshine State Cineplex

John Wick: Chapter 4 might be a little long, but when it is fun, there are few films that can compete with its magnetism. Reeves shows why he’s one of the best genre actors in the world and pours his heart and soul into a soft-spoken performance. Combined with Stahelski’s fight sequences, this is sure to become a highly rewatched, often quoted classic.

Brent Hankins, The Lamplight Review

If the previous three films weren’t your cup of tea, the brew served up by John Wick: Chapter 4 certainly won’t change your mind. But if you love kinetic action set in gorgeous locales, steeped in a heightened reality that borders on the absurd, there’s no one in Hollywood doing it better than Reeves and Stahelski.

What The Reviews Tell Us About The Movie

Most critics agree that John Wick: Chapter 4 reaches a new high with its action sequences and set pieces. Wick becomes a globe trotter in this chapter, transporting the audience to a variety of locations and non-stop action. Some critics are disappointed by the lack of a coherent plot, a possible consequence of the previous John Wick scribe, Derek Kolstad, not being involved with the production. There are also concerns at the runtime of 169 minutes, but it seems it flies by as John takes down his enemies without so much as stopping to rest.

It can also be expected that Keanu Reeves gives an all-out performance as John Wick. As he stealthily takes down those that have wronged him, collecting bodies at an insane rate, he can’t help but be liked due to the magnetism of Reeves on screen. Even after playing the role for so long, Reeves still have a clear investment in the franchise that comes off in his performance.

John Wick: Chapter 4 will also be setting up future installments and spinoffs for the franchise. Two spin-offs are currently in the works. The Continental, a prequel series, will follow a young Winston in the 1970s as he starts his career as a hotelier for the High Table. Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas, will be a female-led addition to the franchise that follows an orphaned ballerina assassin who seeks revenge on those who killed her parents. Early reviews for John Wick: Chapter 4 up the anticipation for the next installment of the beloved franchise, with an overall positive response.

More: Ballerina’s Timeline Shows John Wick Really Can’t Catch A Break

Source: Various (see above).

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