John Wick Chapter 4 is violent and brutal, with some of the best action shots seen on the big screen thus far. Check out the details in my parents guide movie review.
John Wick Chapter 4 comes in theaters across the United States with a release date of Friday, March 24th. This is the fourth installment in the John Wick franchise and stars Keanu Reeves (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure), Donnie Yen (Caine), Scott Adkins (Killa), Bill Skarsgård (Marquis), Ian McShane (Winston), Rina Sawayama (Akira), Hiroyuki Sanada (Shimazu), Lance Reddick (Charon), Laurence Fishburne (Bowery King), and Clancy Brown. The movie is based on the character created by Derek Kolstad, written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, and directed by Chad Stahelski. Check out all the details in my parents guide movie review.
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John Wick Chapter 4 Parents Guide
In the movie John Wick Chapter 4: John Wick (Keanu Reeves) uncovers a path to defeating the High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.
John Wick Chapter 4 Age Rating Parents Guide
Let’s take a look at what parents need to know about the age rating of the movie before letting their younger children watch John Wick Chapter 4.
Language: John Wick Chapter 4 contains some strong language, with profanity used throughout. Stronger words include f*ck, sh*t, a**, a**h*le, b*st*rd, and d*mn.
Mature Content: Other than the bad language mentioned above, the other big indicators of adult themes include strong persistent violence, hand-to-hand combat, sword fights, gun fights, and a very high kill count. Most of the fighting is extremely brutal, with scenes that will have viewers turning their heads. There was a particularly difficult scene to watch that showed a character falling to his death, landing head first. A dog is also in much of the film, and there are scenes that show the dog almost being shot and hit by a car. Characters are also shown smoking cigarettes and consuming alcoholic beverages, but the film does not have any drug abuse or sex scenes.
Age Rating of John Wick Chapter 4: Lionsgate’s John Wick Chapter 4 has an R rating for intense depictions of violence, adult material, and snippets of language, and the parents’ advisory recommends it for an adult audience, younger adults, and teens 17 and older. The suggestion of parental guidance or an adult guardian is highly suggested for younger kids (or older kids) under 17 years of age for this R-rated film. The minimum age recommendation is 16 years old; it is not suitable for young children. Young viewers are not recommended to view this film. There is no drug use content, no sexual content, and no brief nudity. The film falls within the r-rated motion pictures within the restricted R category.
Overall Thoughts
John Wick Chapter 4 picks up right where the last entry ended, with him preparing to get his revenge against the High Table. He doesn’t look too worse for wear considering he was just shot off of a building, but it’s John Wick after all. By now, most people know that being shot and falling from enormous heights doesn’t mean certain death in this series. Replete with bulletproof suits and multi-disciplinary martial arts, the entire underground syndicate is once again on display as word gets out that he’s still alive. John is back, of course, to settle the score, but figuring out how is just the first part. It doesn’t take long for the action to get rolling, and it is nothing short of spectacular!
John Wick Chapter 4 certainly has big shoes to fill to up the ante this time out, and not unlike the Fast and Furious series, the audience will show up for that reason alone. This is the first film in this series not to be written by creator Derek Kolstad, but it doesn’t seem to suffer much as the story has never been the highlight of it anyway. The fight scenes must have taken a long time to plan out and choreograph prior to filming, as most are long, drawn-out affairs. Some of them have single-shot pans that span multiple environments and comprise dozens of men and sometimes vehicles lasting up to ten minutes. Similar to modern video games, it seems as though the bad guys never stop coming, and even though John Wick takes a beating, he never seems to run out of stamina. The action is highly stylized and overtly unbelievable. I’ve never seen so much close-quarters gunplay in a movie that does or doesn’t involve people dying.
Keanu Reeves, for all of his glory during his recent Keanuaissance, is given very little dialogue in this movie, and many times it’s laughable when he does speak. It isn’t as bad as Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan the Barbarian, but you get the gist. Bill Skarsgard does a great job of playing the villain Marquis, giving him menace but also a bit of douchery as well. Overall, the rest of the cast, including Ian McShane, Larry Fishburne, and Hiroyuki Sanada, give decent performances, but the standout to me was Donnie Yen as Caine. He and John have a tumultuous relationship that sizzles on screen, and their battles are the stuff of legends. At two hours and forty-nine minutes, John Wick Chapter 4 is the longest entry in the series thus far, and it can be felt at times. After all, there is only so much action one can take without a breather. Fans of this series will likely think this is the best one yet, and after witnessing it, it would be hard to disagree with them.
