Very few franchises can manage to maintain a high level of consistency across multiple installments, never mind score better reviews each time out, but that’s just one of the many reasons why John Wick is regarded as one of the best in the business.
The grandstanding action saga has also enjoyed the benefit of seeing its box office totals increase each time Keanu Reeves lays waste to an army of faceless goons in stylish and inventive fashion, which has culminated in the action saga becoming a certified billion-dollar property.
With Chapter 4 joining the 10-figure club, Lionsgate’s lucrative cash cow has underlined its credentials as a top-tier slice of cinematic excellence, something that few could have predicted when the first installment arrived in theaters back in 2014. Since then, the ante has been upped significantly in terms of scope, scale, budget, and spectacle, but the downside is that the ending of the most recent entry is pretty much irrelevant and obsolete.
After all, no self-respecting studio is going to let a billion-dollar IP define its own conclusion, and it was only days after Chapter 4 hit theaters that director Chad Stahelski admitted that Chapter 5 was in no way off the table. At this stage, we’d be more surprised if it didn’t happen, especially when interest in watching the sharp-suited assassin lay waste to all before him continues to draw in a bigger crowd every time it happens.
More John Wick is never a bad thing, but maybe Chapter 4 shouldn’t have gone for a conclusion nobody ever really expected it to uphold for any amount of time.
Published: May 19, 2023 10:21 am