What I Watched in April 2023

Someone online (I can’t remember who) recently called JOHN WICK 4 (2023) the Citizen Kane of action movies and that is a fine way of describing it. We’ll discover over the next few decades if this film stands the test of time to function as a reference point for its genre but it certainly is trying to be the best version of this kind of film that it can be. It helps that the strange hidden world of crime families and code restricted crime syndicates that has unfolded over the three sequels has become fascinating enough to beg for further exploration. But whether this film will be lumped in with the current vouge of larger-than-life comic book adventures or be seen as something apart from them will be interesting to note. I’m not sure the easy acceptance of the ever-expanding Wick-i-verse would have been possible without the years long MCU series that built to a crescendo in the last Avengers film. Action film fans have usually resisted incorporating more fantastical elements in their preferred R rated entertainment but maybe the slow introduction of those details over the first and second sequel allowed the writers to bypass the stereotypical reluctance to roll with the crazy. Of course, the Fast & Furious films have been destroying the rules of the physical universe for a decade and a half at this point so maybe it was more than just the superhero phenomenon that contributed to John Wick finding a wide audience without losing the hardcore action fanbase.

This fourth film works very well as a kind of uber action film blending a straightforward scenario with multiple oddball characters who provide hurdles that Wick has to overcome to reach his goal. The new characters have distinct roles in the narrative that allow for both a well-rounded standalone tale in this one film but that also serve to allow a capstone to the entire quartet of films. The viewer is never in doubt about motives or goals but methods and outcomes are often in question. The series continues to be wonderfully directed serving as an excellent example of how action cinema can also be cinema art. Beautiful to the eye and jarring to the sensibilities JOHN WICK 4 is almost its own argument against a fifth instalment chronicling Wick’s life. What could top this film’s elegantly staged violence? What could push beyond the story’s perfect dovetailing of loss, vengeance, love and hope? How better could the iron will of a man on a righteous mission be demonstrated? And how much more satisfying a tale could be told using these elements? If it is possible, I hope I’m there to see it. But for now, this film can stand as one of the best versions of this kind of movie. Let future filmmakers take their notes.

The List 

THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG (1972) – 7 (Shaw Brothers historical action)

DEATH SPA (1989) – 6

INQUISITION (1976) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)

JOHN WICK CHAPTER 4 (2023) – 8

THE WITCHES MOUNTAIN (1973) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (1979) – 6 (rewatch on Blu)

MURDER BY CONTRACT (1958) – 8 (Vince Edwards as a smart contract killer)

ENDGAME (1983) – 6

BEGINNING OF THE END (1957) – 5 (rewatch – second half falls down)

COSMIC MONSTERS (1958) – 4 (rewatch – still too dull)

THE DEADLY MANTIS (1957) – 6 (rewatch – pretty effective)

THE BLACK SCORPION (1957) – 7 (rewatch – solid)

MONSTER FROM GREEN HELL (1957) – 3 (rewatch – pretty terrible)

TARANTULA! (1955) – 7 (rewatch)

EARTH VS THE SPIDER (1958) – 5 (rewatch)

THEM! (1954) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)

CODE OF THE SECRET SERVICE (1939) – 5 (OK crime film with Ronald Reagan)

CHINA PASSAGE (1937) – 5 (interesting murder/diamond theft mystery)

EVIL DEAD RISE (2023) – 8

SPACE AMOEBA (1970) – 7 (non-Big G Toho monster epic)