John Wick: Chapter 4

Chad Stahelski’s 2023 film is built less as a plot than as a series of duels in named cities: Osaka, Berlin, Paris. Each has its own visual rule, and the overhead long take in Paris is the clearest case; it was shot on a purpose-built set and the idea came from the 2019 video game The Hong Kong Massacre. The Sacré-Coeur stairs section states the film’s thesis in one sequence: the hero climbs, is knocked all the way back down before the top, and climbs again. Stahelski has said it took five or six days; the big fall, covering about sixty-five percent of the 220 steps, was performed by stunt double Vincent Bouillon on his second attempt, in one unstitched take with no digital assistance. The length is not an accident. The expanded worldbuilding pushed the first assembly close to four hours, and editor Nathan Orloff cut it down substantially. An alternate ending in which John visits his own grave was shot and abandoned after a violent reaction from a test audience. Donnie Yen’s blind assassin is a direct reference to the Zatoichi series. A good fit if you would rather watch each city open a new fighting rule than follow a story. Less so if you want scenes removed so the narrative can move.