John Wick: Chapter 4 opens with John Wick (Keanu Reeves) and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) ominously discussing the onset of John’s new counter-offensive. From there John kills some people, other people get increasingly upset and punish his friends to varying degrees, and ultimately John challenges the new big bad, Marchese de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard), to a duel in order to secure his freedom from the High Table. Admittedly, the plot is a bit thin, even if the list of exotic destinations is not. It serves its purpose well enough, acting as the connective tissue for the real reason you’re watching this and even closes on an emotionally touching note. The acting itself is similarly serviceable. Bill Skarsgard dons a truly insane French accent and Keanu’s struggle with the spoken word continues. That’s not to say the performances take away from the film, for the most part they actually work quite well with the overwhelming style emanating from every frame.

Speaking of exotic destinations, oh boy does this film have a lot of them. New York City, Japan, France, and more turn this entry into a globetrotting epic. Only the quality of one of the first locations, Morocco, feels a bit out of place in the grand scheme of things, especially since it houses the inciting incident of the whole story. Watching John chase a handful of men around on horseback in the empty desert before executing a (very important) man who might as well be at a picnic just feels underdeveloped compared to the brilliance of what quickly follows.

And what follows truly is brilliant. Once you get past that one rushed scene, every frame oozes style. Bright, vivid, neon colors paint the screen. The electrifying soundtrack sets the blood racing. Whereas earlier entries had one or two truly standout sequences, along with some filler duds, each and every scenario here impresses. There is no shortage of sexy, loud, and stylish locations for John and friends to cause absolute mayhem in. Demand to see this on the biggest screen with the loudest speakers possible. The only drawback is the often noticeable CGI backgrounds, but again, they mostly melt into the positively overpowering decadence of the scenes- so they work.

Now let’s address the obvious. The real reason you’re watching John Wick: Chapter 4 isn’t the acting, overarching narrative, or (thankfully) non-existent social commentary. You’re here for the stunts and oh my does John Wick deliver. Throughout the entire film, the fight choreography is truly insane and incredibly inventive at every opportunity. Whether the characters on screen are using guns, knives, katanas, nunchucks, suits, dogs, or pencils it all flows so fluidly and shockingly never feels silly. The film consistently one-ups itself when it comes to the creativity of the deaths as well. Shooting arrows through arms to create human pinwheels, scaling men’s backs with knives, and lighting enemies on fire with dragon breath ammunition are just a few examples of what keeps you fully engrossed in the ever changing action. Director Chad Stahelski even manages to blend humor into the fight choreography itself without undermining the overall tone of the film, which deserves a round of applause. Caine (Donnie Yen) is simply the cherry on top. A former friend of John Wick turned enemy, the blind assassin acts as an inspired creative wrinkle to the numerous deadly dances. You have not seen door bells used like this before.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is the culmination of the entire series and represents the perfection of all of the different ideas and concepts that have been toyed with up until now. The film’s lengthy runtime flies by, with every second of it earned. It not only delivers top notch inventive action sequences, a Hotline Miami inspired climax which will leave you mesmerized, and a satisfying payoff to the earlier entries’ elaborate world building, but it accomplishes all that with such visual and auditory style and finesse that it honestly sets a new standard for martial arts films moving forward. John Wick: Chapter 4 is a crowning achievement for the genre.

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Rear Window​ presents Jefferies (James Stewart) as an experienced photographer, thus legitimizing his gaze and letting the audience come to terms with his actions. He still peeps through the window of his often under-dressed neighbor and peruses the others as if he were flipping through channels on a television, but because of his profession his gaze has an added sense of permissibility. The film insists he is not simply spying, he is learning and appreciating. In the end his gaze gains extra justification, as it helps solve a criminal case, and the numerous invasions of privacy are forgotten. ​Rear Window​ presents the male gaze as justified and correct, with the simple caveat that the peeping tom must own a professional camera.

Post-classical films such as ​Blue Velvet​ begin to challenge this notion of a justified gaze. It initially provides the same setup, with Jeffrey (Kyle MacLachlan) sneaking into Dorothy’s (Isabella Rossellini) apartment to potentially solve a mystery. As he looks through the shutters of the closet, his newfound peepshow devolves into a shocking display of fetish and sexual abuse. Soon Jeffrey finds himself whisked away from his quaint notions of the American suburbs and shoved into the reality of their seedy underbellies. Instead of glorifying the outcome of the male gaze, ​Blue Velvet​ shows the horrifying results it can produce. Jeffrey’s gaze ultimately rips away his sheltered life and stomps on his innocence. The world will never be the same for him. All because he wanted to get a quick peek.

Moonlight​ then shatters the traditional notions of the male gaze. Instead of the gaze being provided by a straight and white lead, the main character, Chiron (Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes), is gay and black. Unlike Jefferies and Jeffrey, Chiron does not gaze out from a position of power or authority. An innumerable amount of pain and trauma mark his younger years. His home life is nearly nonexistent. He has few real friends in the world. Chiron’s gaze is one of hope and searching for belonging. Not only is ​Moonlight​ different for prominently showcasing a homosexual relationship in a feature film, but also because it depicts a male character using his gaze from a position of incredible weakness.

Since the rules of Classical Hollywood started to be attenuated in the late 1960s, the male gaze has shifted, resulting in a change in how male characters drive stories. How a film presents the gaze to the audience controls how much power a character has. Jefferies’ gaze in ​Rear Window​ presents him as an expert, allowing him to act with impunity. However, Jeffrey’s gaze in ​Blue Velvet​ does not result in the same level of sanitized success, instead offering a tale of how the traditional male power and sexual fantasies can go horribly wrong. And then ​Moonlight uses its gaze to give light to a marginalized group and offer a fresh new perspective. As time has passed, the notion of a male gaze (and others) has obviously persisted due to the medium itself, but it has also been subverted to tell stories from new and inventive perspectives.

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Perhaps most important to note, Daniel Craig gives one of his most lighthearted performances to date. From the moment he opens his mouth a deep southern accent and a hammed up performance strikes you in the best of ways. Craig visually has a blast as the leading man, and the same goes for most of his cast mates. Ana de Armas gives a strong performance as the female lead. At times the nature of her character holds back the range of her performance, but she delivers every beat the story requires. Other names include Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Christopher Plummer; who all do a wonderful job of turning the audience against them and their family throughout the 2h 10min runtime. The only two characters to level complaints against are the children of the family, Meg Thrombey (played by Katherine Langford) and Jacob Thrombey (played by Jaeden Martell). They (and especially Jacob) are a bit one-note throughout the film, mainly used as mouthpieces for a low hanging joke or two.

Anyone worried the whodunit genre ran out of ideas years ago fear not, Johnson still has some tricks up his sleeve for Knives Out. And thankfully only one of these flourishes will have your eyes rolling (you will know it when you hear it). Of course, it follows the standard setup: a crime is committed, the suspects gathered, and then the detective goes to work. However, Johnson alters the standard flow of information, forcing a change in mindset for all of the mystery solvers in the audience. While the finale will not blow any minds, with most people re-calibrating and coming to the correct conclusion, the shakeup provides a large enough change to the formula.

Most of the humor in Knives Out lands quite well. While confined in the house, the characters play off of each other like any bickering family, making their squabbles quite relatable. Perhaps too relatable are the more ham-fisted political jabs. Some of them definitely work, but of course some of them also stick out as preachy. What makes the less worthy material more bearable is the fact that none of these confrontations are entirely one sided. With jabs coming from either end of the spectrum, bad jokes fall aside as simply failed attempts, rather than coming across as purely political grandstanding.

Technically, Knives Out is competently shot. Nothing stands out as too amazing or detrimental. Johnson frames scenes well and the soundtrack works for it. Again, there is not too much to be said here but for the type of film Knives Out is, there does not necessarily need to be.

Overall, Knives Out delivers on all it sets out to do. It brings the whodunit back to theaters with a smart, entertaining, and funny tale (with just a dash of political commentary to boot). The cast clearly loved bringing their characters to life, and anyone watching Knives Out will see why. Find a good group and go see Knives Out to enjoy one of the best theater experiences of 2019.

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