More is more in the latest and longest 'John Wick' sequel. In limited release, the Dardennes paint more desperate characters into a corner and Adèle Exarchopoulos smells trouble in a French fantasy.
I'm obviously glad to hear it because I always prefer people like movies than not like movies, but I feel I need to take a [vague, ineffectual] stand against the fact that the new normal for action movies is 150+ minutes.
I wish I could find more to enjoy in the John Wick films. In theory, everything it's about--Keanu, carefully choreographed action, revenge for a dead dog--are exactly the kind of things I'd want to see in a movie. But I find them pretty boring, ugly, and fairly dumb for the most part.
The only gripe I've heard that echoes my dislike of it was from a friend who commented on how many point blank headshots Keanu pulls off in the second one--why does he even have a gun for his balletic kills if they're always that close anyway?
It's pretty amazing that Equilibrium is not a very good movie, and yet it'll probably stand the test of time due to gunkata. Which is so goddamn ridiculous, and yet...
I just watched the five minutes and had a very good time. And not once did I ask myself where all those bullets came from, how Bale seems to excrete guns from his sleeves, and also how he isn't deaf...
There’s a category of movie I refer to as “hot nonsense” where it doesn’t matter how dumb it is, I’ll accept whatever illogical rules the film puts forward, as long as it’s kinda coherent and done with some panache. See also: Prometheus, most Sammo Hung films.
I'm just an unfrozen caveman lawyer but you would've thought the company behind RunPee would be hitting easy PR lay-up with this John Wick runtime. And now you remember that app exists. And you'll learn like I just did people still submit user reviews and engage in debates such as "the audience for Shazam [2] can hold it why would they need this." Have a great weekend!
I’m not sure what this says about me, but I doubt another movie this year will bring me as much joy as John Wick: Chapter 4. The non-stop carnage made me giggle like a kid, the Warriors nod was groovy, and the use of Paris locations ... mwah. Those steps at Sacré-Cœur are always an arduous climb, but damn. All this and Clancy Brown too! It did not feel like a three-hour movie.
I saw JW4 the day after, unfortunately, yet another shooting at yet another school here in Denver and was frankly wondering if I should just leave up until pretty much the moment the lights dropped. It just seemed like the wrong day for a franchise that often includes a level of gun fetishism that makes me uncomfortable at the best of time.
about five minutes in, when they dared to make that Lawrence of Arabia homage, I smiled and didn't stop for the remainder of the runtime. They did it again.
I am still not over the fact that we live in a world where the third sequel to a 101 minute, reasonably lean action film is 169 minutes
I came in with the same skepticism over the series' bloat and mission drift. And yet.... the movie freaking works.
I'm obviously glad to hear it because I always prefer people like movies than not like movies, but I feel I need to take a [vague, ineffectual] stand against the fact that the new normal for action movies is 150+ minutes.
The new Zhang Yimou film, which I think has since completed its US run, is a spry 159 minutes of inside Chinese history jokes and twirling.
I wish I could find more to enjoy in the John Wick films. In theory, everything it's about--Keanu, carefully choreographed action, revenge for a dead dog--are exactly the kind of things I'd want to see in a movie. But I find them pretty boring, ugly, and fairly dumb for the most part.
The only gripe I've heard that echoes my dislike of it was from a friend who commented on how many point blank headshots Keanu pulls off in the second one--why does he even have a gun for his balletic kills if they're always that close anyway?
This is covered in the supplementary material "Gunkata for Dummies"
It's pretty amazing that Equilibrium is not a very good movie, and yet it'll probably stand the test of time due to gunkata. Which is so goddamn ridiculous, and yet...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U02E2sjwlLM
I just watched the five minutes and had a very good time. And not once did I ask myself where all those bullets came from, how Bale seems to excrete guns from his sleeves, and also how he isn't deaf...
There’s a category of movie I refer to as “hot nonsense” where it doesn’t matter how dumb it is, I’ll accept whatever illogical rules the film puts forward, as long as it’s kinda coherent and done with some panache. See also: Prometheus, most Sammo Hung films.
I'm just an unfrozen caveman lawyer but you would've thought the company behind RunPee would be hitting easy PR lay-up with this John Wick runtime. And now you remember that app exists. And you'll learn like I just did people still submit user reviews and engage in debates such as "the audience for Shazam [2] can hold it why would they need this." Have a great weekend!
I’m not sure what this says about me, but I doubt another movie this year will bring me as much joy as John Wick: Chapter 4. The non-stop carnage made me giggle like a kid, the Warriors nod was groovy, and the use of Paris locations ... mwah. Those steps at Sacré-Cœur are always an arduous climb, but damn. All this and Clancy Brown too! It did not feel like a three-hour movie.
I saw JW4 the day after, unfortunately, yet another shooting at yet another school here in Denver and was frankly wondering if I should just leave up until pretty much the moment the lights dropped. It just seemed like the wrong day for a franchise that often includes a level of gun fetishism that makes me uncomfortable at the best of time.
about five minutes in, when they dared to make that Lawrence of Arabia homage, I smiled and didn't stop for the remainder of the runtime. They did it again.