If John survives, will that be a good thing for the people who helped him? No. In “John Wick 4,” I enjoyed the movie more when I was more concerned about the safety of his friends than about John’s victory.
John is being pursued by the Supreme Council, which sets the rules and punishments for various criminal organizations. The Osaka hotel that sheltered him is under attack, and the manager, Koichi, and his daughter, Akira, are drawn into the conflict. John, it would be a problem if the pursuers arrived before you could check on your friend.
My old friend, Kane, was also pursuing John because his daughter was being threatened, making it difficult to celebrate the enemy’s defeat. Even during the Osaka combat, where I enjoyed the different weapons and movements, I kept thinking about the people they were trying to protect. If John has a reason to live, then those who stood in his way also have a reason to return.
The bulletproof suit and repeated falls alleviate some of that worry, and the 169-minute combat is undoubtedly long. However, this film also made me think about not only how well John avoids bullets, but also about who pays the price for his survival and whether the people who helped him will make it to the next day. *John Wick 4* is stronger when it shows who bears the cost for John’s survival, rather than just how well he kills.
Does John’s survival benefit everyone?
John’s survival is not good news for his friends either. I felt that the movie became more interesting from the moment I realized that helping him put someone’s family in danger.
Osaka hotel manager Kozi helps John hide. What is important here is not the location of the hiding place, but the fact that there are daily routines that must be maintained even there. Kozi has a daughter named Akira, and they have a hotel they protect together.
John needs a place to escape to, even if only temporarily. However, the people who offer him that refuge risk their own lives because of that brief act of kindness. The film does not simply portray the act of helping a friend as a noble gesture; it shows the potential consequences.
If the hotel is attacked, John’s escape becomes a fight between Ko and Akira. Simply ensuring John’s safe escape is not enough to resolve the issues that have arisen here. Because of this discrepancy, I supported John, but I felt uneasy.
This film does not place all the responsibility on John. The Supreme Council is the one that orders the attacks and exploits friendship as a weakness. However, saying that the villains are at fault does not erase the price the friends pay.
This point becomes even clearer through Kane. The retired assassin is pursuing his old friend, John, because his daughter is in danger. To John, Kane is an enemy trying to kill him, but he is also a father trying to return to his daughter.
Therefore, when Kane appeared, I didn’t simply accept that a strong opponent had arrived. My feelings were conflicted: I wanted to save John, and I hoped that Kane would be safe. Either way, it would be bad news for someone else.
In a typical chase scene, the feeling of satisfaction increases as the number of people obstructing the protagonist decreases. However, it is difficult to feel that way here. This is because we already know that the opposing side also has people they need to protect.
What I particularly appreciate is this very discomfort. The film thoroughly explains John’s situation, but it doesn’t insist that only his perspective is important. It’s even more painful that the words “old friend” couldn’t stop the conflict.
Koji, who chose loyalty, and Kane, who was forced to comply under threat, stand on different sides. However, both are at risk of losing what they were trying to protect due to their relationships with John. John’s escape comes at a cost to them.
The Osaka battle is good because it shows this situation through the fighting movements.
In Osaka, even the enemies have people to protect
The Battle of Osaka highlights the different ways of fighting and reminds us of what each side was trying to protect. I was more concerned with what each side would lose than with who would ultimately win.
John and Kane, and Koji and Akira, are fighting in the same space. However, if we divide them all into John’s side and the opposing side, the enjoyment of the scene is reduced by half. Although they entered the same fight, their reasons for wanting to leave here are different.
John must escape the pursuit, while Koichi and Akira must protect the hotel. Kane points his weapon at his friend because of the threat facing his daughter. The film explains this situation and does not forget it, constantly revisiting it with different weapons and movements.
In particular, the decision to place Koji and Akira together is a good one. For these two individuals, the hotel is not merely a place to temporarily hide John. It is a place protected by a father and daughter, so it is difficult to hope only that John escapes successfully when it is attacked.
Akira’s aggressive stance also clearly demonstrates this difference. She is not someone who watches John’s fight or waits for help. She is someone who directly puts her own body on the line to defend her position.
Kane also has a place to return to on the other side. When he faces Koji, the sense of loyalty to his friends clashes with the desperation to protect his daughter. I was not entirely happy when either side’s attack succeeded.
However, the combat does not become sluggish under explanations of the circumstances. In Osaka, Kane utilizes detection devices in combat. The very act of identifying the opponent’s movements adds to the enjoyment of the gameplay.
The intrusion detection system, which was previously used for security, has been reassigned to offensive operations.
At this point, I also laughed. However, once the laughter is over, how dangerous Kane is becomes even clearer. Being a father worried about his daughter does not make him any less of a threat to John.
I like this scene because it does not lower the tension by making the enemy seem pitiful. The stronger Cain is, the more I worry about John, and the more I learn about Caine’s circumstances, the less I can wish for him to be defeated easily. The feeling of enjoying the fight goes hand in hand with the desire for it to stop.
The action sequences are not a break that allows one to momentarily forget the characters’ circumstances. Instead, they reiterate who is fighting for whom through their physical movements. And the power that prevents this difference from being merely an idea within a scene comes from the actors’ bodies.
Reeves’s fatigue and Sawayama’s anger are both necessary
I like the performance that shows compassion for the exhausted John without obscuring Akira’s anger. If Reeves plays someone who wants to survive, Sawayama holds the place of the person hurt by that survival.
Keanu Reeves expresses John’s fatigue through brief words and heavy movements. Especially when facing his old friend, Caine, he doesn’t only focus on eliminating his opponent. The combination of caution in his eyes and the long-standing friendship makes it a difficult fight, even when he wins.
Lina Sawayama’s actions, from her aggressive movements defending the Osaka hotel to the clear expression of her anger after losing her father, Koji, are not used to explain how difficult things are for John. While she is not the sole female protagonist, she is someone whom John’s circumstances cannot push aside.
If you consider both performances together, it is not easy to say which side I am on either. Even though I know that John is exhausted, it is difficult to ask Akira to understand him. I cannot retract the feelings that I expressed towards John simply because Akira is angry.
I believe this discomfort is the actors’ greatest achievement. If only John’s fatigue had been emphasized, the hurt experienced by those around him would have been reduced to mere events that troubled the protagonist. If only Akira’s anger had been highlighted, it would have been difficult to connect with John’s perseverance.
Here, the two feelings do not erase each other. The desire to rest because of exhaustion, and the feeling that my life has been ruined because of you, both remain. Because no one ranks who is more pitiful, I worry about the relationship even after the conflict ends.
Donnie Yen moves slowly, then attacks suddenly. Even if one sympathizes with his concern for his daughter, seeing that speed makes one worry about John first.
The Marquis de Gramont, played by Bill Skarsgård, is the man who holds the authority to issue orders within the High Table. His attitude of making others fight while not fighting himself is irritating. Friends point guns at one another, while the person who actually gave the order keeps himself out of harm’s way.
The difference is more pronounced in the scene where the Marquis threatens Caine’s daughter. There is a difference in the weight between the one giving the order and the one who must point a weapon at a friend because of that order. I could not place Cain in the same position as the Count simply because he is my enemy.
However, even if the actors convey this suffering, doesn’t the impact lessen if the body, which has endured gunshots and a crash, appears too unscathed?
The statement “It’s boring because I’m not dying” is only half true
I agree with the criticism that the injury was treated lightly, which led to a decrease in tension. However, the fact that John persevered does not mean that everyone around him was safe.
Bulletproof vests can stop bullets, but they cannot make repeated falls believable. Even after a significant fall, if combat continues, one begins to feel less apprehensive about the next impact. Instead of worrying about how badly one might be injured, one starts to focus on when they can get back up.
The suit is bulletproof, and the film has even taken out insurance against falls.
It’s a shame to simply dismiss the exaggerated action sequences as something to just enjoy. The film emphasizes John’s exhaustion, so the impact should also be felt physically. There’s a disconnect between his difficult movements and the physical capability required to fight again.
I don’t think the fact that John is difficult to kill is inherently a problem. The problem arises when he doesn’t feel what he’s losing with each time he endures. If the conditions of the next fight don’t change, the pain from the previous fight becomes less significant.
The duration of 169 minutes exacerbates that weakness. There were sections where my own fatigue became noticeable before John’s. Even after the shooting stopped, the fact that we still had to fight felt more like a burden than a relief.
However, it would be incorrect to say that the film costs nothing. The scars that remain on John’s body and the scars that are inflicted on the lives of others are different. The former may fade, but the latter will undoubtedly remain, vividly, in Osaka.
The fact that the hotel was attacked does not negate the fact that John got back up. The place that Ko and Akira were trying to protect had already become a battlefield. This is why it cannot be said that John’s survival was a victory for them as well.
Kane’s situation cannot be resolved simply by wearing a bulletproof suit. Even if the bullets are stopped, the choice remains: to kill a friend while his daughter is being held hostage. The more fiercely he fights, the harder it becomes for me to bring him down.
Therefore, I only agree with half of the criticism that the danger has disappeared. While I am less concerned about whether John will endure the next attack, I continue to worry about what those who are helping him might lose. This film, while minimizing the physical pain, does not eliminate the pain of relationships.
The reason I wanted a shorter combat sequence was also for this reason. Rather than repeatedly showing John enduring, I needed more time to focus on the feelings of those who remained by his side. So, how far has this sequel strayed from the revenge plot of the first film?
The first installment was about the reasons for revenge; this one is about the reasons to stop
While “John Wick” encouraged viewers to root for revenge, the fourth installment shows the consequences of that revenge on those who were hurt. However, John’s choice to find a way out through the organization’s old code of conduct feels overly convenient.
In the first installment, John picks up a gun again after losing the dog his wife left behind. Because that dog represented a connection to his deceased wife, I immediately understood the reason for John’s anger. No lengthy explanation was needed to comprehend his desire to start a fight.
The fourth installment explores the extent to which the conflict has escalated. The friend who sheltered John is now in danger, and even that friend’s daughter must resort to using weapons. It is now difficult to support every fight simply because John has lost something.
In the first installment, I hoped that John would succeed in getting his revenge. I still hope that he survives. But this time, I keep stopping to ask myself whether, because of that wish, I am putting other people’s safety second.
Therefore, the focus on duels in the latter half is a good approach. This is because it distinguishes between eliminating all incoming opponents and escaping from a fight. Skill in killing alone will not allow John to achieve the life he desires.
The decision to reduce movement after a massive chase is also accurate. The film focuses on waiting and judgment, rather than on the speed of running and shooting. At this point, I was more concerned with *why* John was drawing his gun, rather than *how* quickly he could shoot.
What is regrettable is the rule that opens that path. The Supreme Council wields immense power, capable of pursuing people across the city and threatening families. However, when the old duel procedure is invoked, the solution seems too simplistic in comparison to the magnitude of the problem.
The rules are established, so the explanation is understandable. However, the explanation is not entirely convincing. I was troubled by the point where the procedures established by the organization became the answer for John, who had come this far while avoiding its power.
However, the film does not simply leave the viewer waiting for the outcome of the duel. It makes us remember who was pushed and who was injured in the process of getting to that point. It is commendable that the film treats John’s potential escape and the injuries of those around him as separate issues.
Overall assessment: Where John held out, others are left scarred
My rating is 4 out of 5 stars. It is worth 169 minutes of your time. It preserves my support for John without letting me forget the price paid by those who helped him. The film is more powerful when it shows who gets hurt so that John can survive, rather than simply focusing on how well John kills.
Osaka’s contrasting fighting styles and the actors’ physicality make that cost vividly apparent. However, the repetitive fights over 169 minutes and the injuries treated lightly keep it one step short of a perfect score. I want to trust the exhausted body, but the recovery after each fall repeatedly chips away at that faith.
If you enjoy the thrill of following the positions and movements of characters even in long battles, then it is worth spending time with. It is especially recommended for viewers who want to understand why friends must fight each other. On the other hand, if you strictly scrutinize the consequences of gunshots and falls or prefer a short and fast-paced narrative, it is better to avoid it.
When observing, it is better to follow the person each character is trying to protect, rather than simply counting the number of fallen enemies. In Osaka, pay attention to the differences in the movements of the four characters. In Paris, observe the streets where cars and people move together. Even the same shooting incident can be interpreted differently it looks different when read as a fight to return to someone.
Following this, when watching “John Wick,” the difference is clear: the reason for starting revenge becomes the reason for stopping. When placed side-by-side with “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” the extent to which survival and escape are different is also revealed. This film moves away from the belief that taking down more opponents is itself the solution.
The fact that John perseveres does not automatically redeem those around him. I appreciate this sequel not for John’s resilience, but for its portrayal of the price that the people around him pay.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can you watch “John Wick: Chapter 4” without having seen the previous installments?
The action sequences are easy to follow, but understanding why John and his friends are in this situation requires watching the previous installments. For first-time viewers, it is recommended to watch the series in order, starting with the first episode. In particular, the pursuit and survival elements from the third episode carry over into this story.
What is the running time of “John Wick: Chapter 4”?
The film has a runtime of 169 minutes. While it is a film that allows viewers to fully enjoy a long combat sequence, there are also sections where the repetition of the fighting can become tiring. If you are looking for short and fast-paced action, this film may not be for you.
Is this movie based on a true story or a novel?
This is the fourth installment in a film series, not a work based on a true story or a separate novel. It is better to focus on the exaggerated action sequences and the sense of loyalty between friends rather than realistic assassination plots.
Does “John Wick: Chapter 4” have a post-credits scene?
There is a post-credits scene after the ending credits. This scene continues the story of the surrounding characters, so it is recommended to watch until the credits finish. It is best to watch without knowing the specific content beforehand.
Is there a way to make action movies more enjoyable?
Rather than focusing on how many enemies fall, it is better to follow whom each person is fighting to protect. In Osaka, it is worth paying attention to the different weapons and movements used by each character. In Paris, the scene becomes more enjoyable when you watch not only the gunfire but also the paths taken by cars and people.
