YMMV / John Wick: Chapter 4

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • The reason Koji refused Caine's offer to take Akira and leave. Was he stubbornly holding onto his idea of honour, even at the cost of his life? Did he know his wounds were fatal anyway and did not want to slow down the also-wounded Akira in her escape? Or did he suspect that if he survived, the High Table would go after Akira to punish him for his defiance?
  • In the final duel between John and Caine, did Caine truly get the best of John and inflict the fatal wound that ultimately claims John's life? Or did John, who has nothing to lose and doesn't want to kill one of his oldest and few remaining friends, deliberately throw the last match and let Caine wound him, which is also a Batman Gambit on his part to let Marquis de Gramont step in to do a coup de grâce on him, allowing John to kill him after making sure that Caine wins fair and square and thus earns his freedom to go back to his daughter? John telling Winston, who would be executed alongside John if he lost, what he would want written on his tombstone heavily implies that John intended to win, but not survive. This could lend credence to the interpretation that he threw the last round against Caine.
  • Related to the above, did John save his last shot because he knew the Marquis would tag into the duel to finish him off himself? Or was he planning on shooting the Marquis regardless of whether or not he stepped in, rules and consequences be damned, considering how he seems to aim his gun further to the right than before prior to Caine shooting him?
  • The reason Caine helped John up the staircase. Was it an act of honor to ensure John had a chance in the duel? Or was it out of sentimentality, or even sympathy? Or was he so worried about his daughter that he didn't trust the Marquis to honor his word if John died anyway other than Caine killing him in the duel?
  • The motivation of the twelve members of the High Table to grant the Marquis de Gramont Emergency Authority to deal with John is open to interpretation. Did they do it because they genuinely believe that he was the most qualified person to put an end to John Wick once and for all? Or did they do it because they didn't want to risk one of their more valuable members, and all hated the Marquis' guts and decided that if they were going to put anyone on a collision course with John Wick, it might as well be him? If they didn't like him, was it a personal distaste, or concern for his "forward thinking" views as opposed to their ancient traditions?
  • During the meeting with the The Marquis to decide the terms of the duel he tells John that even if John wins he will inevitably return to the world of assassination and The High Table because being a killer is too ingrained in his nature and he will never be able to live a normal life. Is he just trying to throw John off his game and get under his skin? Or does he truly believe what he is saying and that there is never truly a way out of their world for him?
  • What happened to the Elder from the previous movie? Did he pass away or simply abdicate his position and, if the latter, then did he do it because he anticipated John coming for him?
• Awesome Ego: The Tracker/Mr. Nobody is overly brash, bordering on arrogant… but justifiably so, given that he’s good enough to be Caine’s only real competition against John, all while using a revolver and lever action rifle seemingly just for personal Rule of Cool.
• Awesome Music: Enough to have its own page now in fact.
• Catharsis Factor: Two moments stand out in particular:
  • Given what a vile cowardly Smug Snake the Marquis was throughout the entire film, John killing him via a headshot to the face (after he stupidly decided to take Caine's place in the duel no less), comes across as immensely satisfying.
  • Chidi is characteristically the worst brute in the entire franchise, abusing Nobody's dog at different points during the film (even throwing her into a car at one point). Needless to say watching Nobody's dog bite him in the crotch before Nobody puts a bullet in his head, is just as satisfying. Bonus points for Nobody's dog outright pissing on his corpse after he dies.
• Complete Monster: The Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont, a power-flaunting sociopath who becomes the High Table's final measure against John Wick, demonstrably proves himself to be worse than anyone else in the assassin underworld. As an introductory act of spite, the Marquis has the New York Continental destroyed and its concierge Charon murdered, leaving Winston alive only out of Cruel Mercy. The Marquis later orders a similar purge at the Osaka Continental, resulting in dozens of otherwise-loyal assassins being killed, just to make a point of the bloodshed. Barely adherent to the High Table code, the Marquis holds his primary assassin Caine in line with his daughter's life, forcing Caine to take his place in a Duel to the Death, and mistreats another assassin named Mr. Nobody, stabbing a knife through the man's hand and forcing him to pull it out as a demonstration of strength. Abhorred even by his allies, the Marquis gleefully posits that he commits all this pointless bloodshed simply to send a message to his would-be enemies.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Chidi dying via getting his nuts bitten by Nobody's dog before being shot in the head is bad enough, but the dog then proceeds to go the extra mile and quite literally piss on his corpse. The whole exchange is as hilarious to watch as it is satisfying.
• Ending Fatigue: In addition to the extended runtime, the entire final showdown in Paris tends to go on for a long time, eventually culminating in John Wick and Caine's final duel.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Killa is the most minor of the film's antagonists, but he's well-liked amongst the fanbase for being a hilariously over-the-top Large Ham and putting up a surprisingly good fight against John in spite of being overweight and asthmatic. Being played by action movie favorite Scott Adkins also helps.
  • Akira, portrayed by the popular Rina Sawayama in her debut film, is also extremely popular for being a badass Action Girl who's able to keep up with John Wick and make a stunning first impression despite the fact that she's only in the movie's first act and in The Stinger. Many fans have expressed hope to see a spin-off work featuring her in the future.
• Even Better Sequel: Critical reactions have labeled it the best entry in the series, scoring 94% on Rotten Tomatoes (in contrast to the high 80's for the previous films), as well as being the highest rated film in the series on Metacritic and IMDB and the one with the best Cinemascore rating.
  Rotten Tomatoes critics' consensus: John Wick: Chapter 4 piles on more of everything — and suggests that when it comes to a well-dressed Keanu Reeves dispatching his enemies in lethally balletic style, there can never be too much.
• Evil Is Cool: Caine, although he's an Anti-Villain rather than truly evil, is still a badass assassin and the most formidable of the antagonists John fights in the movie, if not the entire film series.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • While the series has always been popular with fans of Hotline Miami, their positive reaction to top-down shootout in Paris made the overlap between the two fandoms very apparent.
  • Fans of Ip Man 4 are also positively interested in this movie for starring both Donnie Yen and Scott Adkins in major roles as two of John's primary opponents. Coincidentally, both movies are the fourth installments of their respective franchises and end with the deaths of the titular characters.
• He's Just Hiding: John seems to succumb to his injuries at the very end, but he has survived just as severe if not worse injuries in the previous films. He is also shown keeling over from a distance rather than the film showing his life fade from his eyes. This is exacerbated by comments made by the director stating that the ending was deliberately left open-ended, and that franchise was taking a break rather than ending, as well as hints toward his death possibly being faked.^note John's dog seems curious/confused instead of upset at his supposed grave, and Winston vaguely comments "Who knows?" in response to the Bowery King inquiring if John is in Heaven or Hell, which the latter grins at.
• He Really Can Act:
  • Scott Adkins has had a long career in Hollywood, but he mostly played Mooks that didn't speak much or nondescript B-movie protagonists. His performance as Killa can probably give Colin Farrell's stint as the Penguin a run for its money on how memorably hammy, yet menacing on screen he can be.
  • Rina Sawayama received a lot of praise as Akira, as not only did she capture her character of a badass Continental concierge perfectly, her performance and even action stuntwork matched the caliber of the rest of an already very tenured cast, and this was her debut as a movie actor. Sawayama almost turned down the role specifically because she didn't "do movies", but Chad Stahelski fought hard for her to reconsider as her energy and presence as a popstar made her their first consideration for the role, and you can definitely feel it in the final product.
• I Knew It!: When Chad Stahelski teased that John Wick would not get a happy ending, many fans immediately took it as confirmation that the character would wind up dead by the end of the film, which does indeed come to pass^note although Stahelski later stated that the ending was intentionally left ambiguous and open to audience interpretation.
• Love to Hate:
  • Marquis de Gramont is arrogant, sadistic and repeatedly bends and breaks rules to get what he wants, but with Bill Skarsgård's performance he comes off as interesting and entertaining in every scene he's in.
  • Killa is a murderous crime boss who spends his screentime being a petty Jerkass to everyone, but his hilariously over-the-top personality makes him a blast to watch. His surprising badassery also helps.
• Moral Event Horizon: Marquis de Gramont's execution of Charon and his assault on the Osaka Continental, a massive purge enacted against countless Continental personnel, ostensibly because John Wick attempted to seek refuge with them, but in actuality, by The Marquis' admittance, to simply prove a point against allying with John. Even the Harbringer describes the incident as unnecessary bloodshed.
• Narm Charm: John being sent falling down the steps of Sacré-Cœur, while a bit narmy in how long the scene goes on, is also quite an effective use of a "Shaggy Dog" Story moment: to see John getting so close to the end after a long and brutal fight on the stairs only to end up getting sent back to where he started, with only minutes to spare before the time limit runs out and his and Winston's lives are forfeited, is quite a chilling thought. Had Caine not showed up to help John when he did, it's most likely that John would've really failed in reaching his goal in time.
• Nausea Fuel: As Mr. Nobody struggles to get his hand unpinned from the table after being stabbed by the Marquis de Gramont, the audience is not given the relief of a Gory Discretion Shot, as the camera instead decides to linger on a close-up of his hand as he rends the flesh of it trying to pry it through the blade. The Marquis then adds insult to injury by shaking the injured hand, with an audible Sickening "Crunch!" as blood oozes between his fingertips.
• Nightmare Fuel: The Marquis stabbing Mr. Nobody through the hand for having the audacity to ask for more money is all at once unexpected, nauseating, and utterly horrifying. The Marquis forces Nobody to choose between the knife being pulled out (along with forfeiting his contract) or his hand. Mr. Nobody chooses the latter, and the scene lingers on the agonizing part of him slowly pulling his hand through the blade. It establishes perfectly well the wretched and sadistic monster the Marquis is.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • Famed Berghain bouncer Sven Marquardt memorably appears for a short scene as a Spear Carrier with three lines, all of which are "I am Klaus."
  • Killa only has a few minutes of screen time in a nearly three hour film but Scott Adkins' memorably theatrical performance, which many fans were delighted to see as he rarely appears in major theatrical films, and the fact that he manages to give John a surprisingly good fight despite his obese appearance makes him very memorable.
• Padding: As fun as Killa and the fight against him are, they don't contribute much for the actual plot besides helping smooth out a reason for why the Ruska Roma help John get his duel against The Marquis. In a film already almost reaching three hours in length, Killa's encounter comes off as a conspicuous detour for the sake of getting in an extra action scene.
• Signature Scene:
  • The climactic shootout between John and several dozen mooks in an abandoned apartment complex with exploding shotgun rounds, all covered from a single, unbroken overhead shot, is frequently cited as the most badass action scene in a film already filled to the brim with awesome action scenes.
  • The following shootout on the 222-step stairwell that sees John fighting dozens of hitmen in a brutal uphill battle with only minutes to spare before the time runs out is also this, with the most standout moment being John - after almost reaching the top - is suddenly faced by Chidi who kicks him down the stairs, sending him tumbling down all the way back to the bottom. Cue Caine showing up unexpectedly and helping John up to his feet, then proceeding to kick asses together, with some help from Mr. Nobody and his dog, to get John back to the top once more.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The Cliffhanger ending of the third film saw Winston seemingly betray John after shooting at him several times and forcing him to fall from the roof of the New York Continental to appease the High Table and get back into their good graces. The first act of this film rendered this development moot, however, as the Marquis punishes Winston anyway by destroying the New York Continental and killing Charon, and John seemingly doesn't hold any ill will towards Winston at all for almost killing him and the two are practically back on the same side for the rest of the film.

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