5 Reasons To Be Excited For John Wick 4!

Since I'm now officially going to see the film this Thursday this is my last chance to get out my excitement before I see it!

Here goes.

1. It's Almost Three Hours

That could be good news or bad news. There are plenty of bad long movies. But it seems to be good! The IGN review says they use the space to tell a bigger, grander story. The last three John Wick films were each about two hours flat, so if it's still good, then being longer only means there's gonna be more great stuff!

2. The Film Has Three Protagonists

Anyone who's seen the trailer has probably seen the large cast, featuring the likes of Bill Skarsgard, Clancy Brown, Natalia Tena, and Laurence Fishburne. Or, as they're commonly known to us - Pennywise the Clown, Mr Krabs, Nymphadora Tonks, and Morpheus. But there's even more than that. Recent interviews have revealed that other characters - The Tracker, played by Shamier Anderson, and Caine, played by the legendary Donnie Yen - are the other erstwhile protagonists. While their motivations are mysterious, the director has made his influences clear -  like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, this film will be a labyrinth of twisting motivations across its runtime as its three protagonists try to decide how to survive. So exciting! 

3. The Central Premise Is Awesome

The premise, contained in all the trailers, is simple. John Wick, it seems, has challenged a high-ranking member of the criminal underworld - the Marquis de Gramont - to a duel with pistols. The duel will occur at dawn of the next day. If he wins, he'll no longer be hunted by the underworld. But if he fails to show up, he'll be subject to execution. Considering the comparative weakness of Wick's enemies, it seems the Marquis is going to compensate by throwing waves of nameless goons at Wick the night before so he can't make it. But unfortunately, waves of nameless goons are part of a balanced John Wick breakfast! 

4. The Martial Arts Talent Is Insane 

This is basically the Justice League of martial arts movie stars. Everyone knows about Keanu Reeves - AKA The One. And everyone probably knows that the director was Keanu Reeves' stunt double on The Matrix. 

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. The company behind these films - 87Eleven - is probably the premier choreographing-for-film company in existence. They've run probably half of the great action films of the last twenty years. 300, Sherlock Holmes, Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool. They've attracted and collated talent from all over the world from every martial arts discipline. Sambo, Muay Thai, Wushu, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Karate, conventional gymnastics, acrobats. If you dumped twenty of their guys into any martial arts school on Earth, they could probably defeat everyone in there at once. But of course it's a much better use of their talent to make movies and not actually hurt themselves bad doing this. 

5. Donnie Yen Is In It 

I had a larger section breaking down the actors one by one, but it's really most worth talking about Donnie Yen. He's one of the largest Chinese film stars of the last twenty years. If Jackie Chan is number one and Jet Li is number two, then Donnie Yen is in the top five or six. And unlike the older school of Chinese movie stars, he diversified his skill set by getting advanced belts in jiu jitsu and judo, studying boxing and Muay Thai, and just actually joining gangs and learning how to fight there. 

How good is Donnie Yen? 

The director? Who's assembled one of the best stunt teams ever? Who's considered the cutting edge of modern martial arts? He says Donnie Yen is so good he is, without exaggeration, better than 99% of the stuntmen and choreographers he knows. 

It's gonna be great, y'all.