Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…

Best Films of 2023
#10. John Wick: Chapter 4

This fourth installment in the John Wick franchise might just be the best pure action movie ever made. Director Chad Stahelski, a former stuntman who doubled Keanu Reeves in the Matrix films, crafted enough breathtaking set pieces for three blockbusters, then stuffed them all into this one as if it’s the last movie he’ll ever get to make.

While the action is certainly the biggest draw here, I’m equally astonished by the look of the film. This is the most gorgeous cinematography I saw all year — how it was passed over for an Oscar nomination is beyond me.

Opening with a sunrise desert scene that nods at Lawrence of Arabia, moving through the neon colors of Osaka, Japan, then into the glowing waterfalls of a Berlin nightclub, before culminating in the twilit streets and landmarks of Paris, this movie is an explosion of visual delights.

One shot in particular, an uninterrupted take that moves through and then above an apartment building as Wick wields a shotgun dubbed the “Dragon’s Breath,” is the moment I threw my hands up and said, “are you fucking kidding me?” What did we mere mortals do to deserve a bounty like this? And that was before they got to the epic Sacré Coeur staircase scene.

Apart from its visceral pleasures, John Wick: Chapter 4 is a wonderful acting showcase. Reeves has always been an inspired choice as the unstoppable Wick, but here he’s surrounded with his best supporting cast yet.

Legendary Asian actors Donnie Yen and Hiroyuki Sanada bring gravitas and incredible martial arts ability to their roles, while Bill Skarsgård chews every bit of scenery as the villainous Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont.

Ian McShane and the late Lance Reddick are pure class reprising their roles as the manager and concierge of the Continental Hotel. Laurence Fishburne also returns as the Bowery King, building on the chemistry he has shared with Reeves since the first Matrix.

Relative newcomer Shamier Anderson is charming as Mr. Nobody, a bounty hunter whose principal weapon is a cuddly but vicious Belgian Malinois Shepherd. And Rina Sawayama, the singer/actress who also contributed today’s SOTD, makes a great impression as an Osaka concierge who might just show up in her own spin-off.

I’ve heard rumblings of a fifth John Wick film in the works. The success of this one made that inevitable. But as much as I’d like to see this team return with a whole new bag of tricks, I kind of wish this movie was the final chapter in Wick’s saga. Its graceful final moments, melancholy but satisfying, are the perfect way to wrap up one of the truly great franchises.