John Wick: Chapter 4,”Reviewed

John Wick has returned, and this time he's better than ever. "John Wick: Chapter 4" is a cinematic triumph, surpassing its predecessors in every way. While the franchise has had its share of problems in the past, this film rises above them to deliver a truly thrilling experience that will leave you on the edge of your seat.

Keanu Reeves once again delivers a tour de force performance as the titular hit man, cementing his place as one of the greatest action stars of our time. But it's not just Reeves' performance that makes this film so exceptional. The direction, cinematography, and score all come together in perfect harmony to create a cinematic masterpiece.

Sure, there are still some of the same problems that plagued the earlier films, but they're minor in comparison to the sheer brilliance on display here. And besides, these problems are more interesting to ponder in hindsight than to be bothered by in the moment.

But what truly sets "John Wick: Chapter 4" apart is the way it transforms its bloody displays of violence into something more. There's a moment in the film, towards the end, where everything shifts. Suddenly, the violence becomes suspenseful and even romantic, without losing any of its inherent silliness. It's a testament to the filmmakers' skill that they were able to pull this off so effortlessly.

I won't spoil the details, as they're too good to give away. Suffice it to say that the movie builds slowly but surely towards a climactic moment that will leave you feeling light-headed with excitement. It's a true cinematic high, one that you won't soon forget.

One of the curiosities of the John Wick series is that, as an entirely original creation dependent on no prior properties, it has nonetheless given rise to an alluring and self-perpetuating mythology of its own. The premise of Wick world is cleverly paranoiac, built around the tentacular connections between the crude underworld of contract killers and the shadowy overlords who keep them in action.

That wicked authority is called the High Table; it dispenses orders to kill on pain of being killed, ratifies contracts for murder, and brokers the deals for bounty hunters. It commands John to kill, and it sets him up to be killed, but it also sets the tone of the movie. The High Table exemplifies a super-élite of secret societies with elaborate rites, deeply rooted aristocracies, a flaunting of mind-bending wealth, and the executive ruthlessness of a transnational shadow government that has the power to wreak havoc in public with impunity .

It also has the power of information—an enormous database on its registered killers (it apparently goes back centuries) and a terrifyingly comprehensive surveillance network that tracks the hunters and the hunted during their mortal maneuvers and discloses their whereabouts to devastating effect. Its agents hide in plain sight at, for instance, a hotel called the New York Continental, in Manhattan’s financial district.

The High Table itself reveals its enduring traditions in the anachronistic equipment and furnishings of its central intelligence office (complete with card files, blackboards, rubber stamps, and switchboards). The venerable sect of hired killers can trace its lineage to a few authorized families, an aristocracy of blood (pun intended) that pulls the death dealers out of the grubby streets and endows their gruesome trade with a faux dignity. Their rigorous code of conduct dominates the movie’s, and the franchise’s, over-all tone and import: the intricate set of seemingly nonsensical rules plays the role of military discipline and order, but it also signifies, with a politicized wink at the rites and manners of high society, the implacable law of violence, which pretensions to refinement both embody and conceal.

Most of “Chapter 4” is an amusingly punctuated slog. It’s distinguished from its predecessors by the starkly drawn yet complex lines of conflict. The promised duel, ingeniously plotted and cleverly staged, depends on a droll race against the clock—one that gives new meaning to the notion of fighting one’s way through traffic—and a long staircase that becomes a virtual agent of destiny. In short, the last half hour or so of the movie’s nearly three-hour span is giddily intense, swoony, swashbuckling, and sensational yet superficial fun. Right after I saw the movie, I couldn’t stop talking about that ending. It makes the rest of the movie worth sitting.

In conclusion, "John Wick: Chapter 4" is a must-see for anyone who loves action movies, or just great filmmaking in general. It's a tour de force of cinema that will leave you breathless from start to finish. So don't miss