Ass Sass Sins

 “John Wick: Chapter 4” movie directed by Chad Stahelski, 2023

If there was an example of terminal, neo-liberal and debased American cinema, this is it. Even more over-the-top than previous versions, it is a simple-minded violent video game pretending to be in reality. The plot is as thin as a tasteless saltine – John Wick wants to get out from under 'The High Table' and no longer be an assassin. To do this he has to kill probably over 200 people. It's comedic its so idiotic. At one point after he's fought his way up the steep steps going to Paris' Sacre Couer church several times, Wick is kicked all the way back down the steps like some murder slapstick act. Sisyphus he ain't.

Wick incinerates Stunt Man #207

Wick shoots more shots than any automatic can hold, his clips seem to arrive out of nothing, he doesn't miss while everyone else does. He's invincible because he's fast and maybe wearing kevlar! A blind guy is his most deadly opponent. Goofy Japanese gangsters still use samurai swords. An evil and possibly gay Frenchman heads the attempt to kill Wick. Rave dancers in Berlin high on ecstasy are not phased by bloody fights going on in their midst. A High Table hotel exploded into dust in New York is suddenly just a standing, empty shell. Traffic around the Arc de Triomphe never stops in the middle of a vicious firefight. Worst of all Lawrence Fishburne and Ian McShane lent their cred to this mess, along with legions of stunt-men. This movie clocks in at almost 3 hours, with most of it Wick fighting hordes and hordes of assassins to the point of boredom. If this were a kung-fu movie (which it kinda is) we'd be laughing at what low quality crap Hong Kong, Singapore or Taipei cranks out. But this is Hollywood.

This travesty got 94% from audiences AND reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes. In its first weekend it took in $73.5 million for Lions Gate, which Bloomberg called a 'blowout.'  Even the Social-Democrats at Jacobin liked this debased horseshit. Most of the U.S. audiences who watch this film have never been to Osaka, Berlin, Paris and even New York. It's a poor man's vacation reel, full of cliches. Would every bad guy in Paris gang-up on Wick if they knew who they were fighting? No. Even the armored Samurai clones in Osaka and the gold-toothed thugs of Berlin would think twice. But they keep comin' and comin' because of 'the money.' Money, money, money! No one thinks of sniping except the dark-skinned assassin. Everyone else wants to duke it out 'mano a mano' in close combat. Really? I imagine most people consider this a running joke – but it is a joke without any real humor.

The saddest ethnic bullshit is a bunch of Belorussian gangsters in Berlin called the “Russki Roma” who brand Wick as part of their clan after he's been shot-gunned by their Orthodox priest. And yes, Wick's bastardized Russki nickname is 'Baba Yaga.' The French marquis running the attempt to kill Wick represents old decadent European aristocracy and dresses like a dandy. He's so 'not American' – just another surrender monkey. The Table decrees a duel at the end like we are back in the 1800s. The stereotype of archaic, effete France and Europe is complete.

The underlying message is that good deeds and friendship rule over the requirements of assassin jobs for The Table. Yet, unaccountably, Wick shows up at a friend's High Table Hotel in Osaka only to be discovered and his friend killed. His friend's daughter is injured, and then she disappears. Yeah, good thinkin' Sherlock, with friends like you... One assassin hoping to be paid $40 million doesn't shoot Wick because Wick saves his dog. Ahhhhh... The blind assassin keeps him alive so he too can be free of The Table. Wick even saves him, to his own detriment.

If this sounds like a ridiculous version of the far better Bourne series, you are right. Young boys watching this circus might think they too need to get revenge – as revenge is always the motivation in nearly every violent movie, and its Wick's as well. After all, they killed his dog! Combat is just like a video game and a ballet - ask the Marines or the Army. At the end – spoiler alert – we see the grave of John Wick. I breathed a sigh of relief. But is he really dead? Only the dollar counters in Hollywood know for sure. But Keanu Reeves sure looks old and tired of it all.

Mini Review:  "1923" the forerunner to 'Yellowstone' should be called 'Big House on the Prairie.' 

Prior blog reviews on this subject, use blog search box, upper left, to investigate our 16 year archive, using these terms: “Kill the Assassins!” “The Story of My Assassins,” “The Plot to Kill King,” “All the King's Men,” “Hannah,” “Redbreast” “Fargo,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Devil's Chessboard.”

The Cultural Marxist

March 30, 2023