Bear in mind what I stated about each motion scene telling its personal little story? To take that even additional, true grasp filmmakers know sufficient to strategy these kinds of set items like every other facet of a story — that means that one should take note of pacing, tone, and even act construction. For half the sequence, Chad Stahelski and his staff of collaborators stage a white-knuckle battle that (largely) replaces the instantaneous outcomes of a bullet to the chest with the far more extended handicap of knives being thrown every means. Immediately, viewers who might have been a bit desensitized by the rampant gun violence of this collection will discover the refreshing twist that attackers do not merely go down after one knife wound. They merely choose themselves again up, dig the knife out of their very own physique, and use it as one other weapon towards Wick.

Much like the resort siege that takes place in the course of the climax of “Chapter 3,” loaded up with enemies carrying impenetrable physique armor, John is compelled to give you a really totally different technique of placing down anybody with the misfortune of getting in his means. Which means breaking limbs, smashing henchmen into glass shows, all however burying them in knives, and, in a single notably nasty occasion, forcing a knife into one attacker’s eyeball (performed by stunt performer Tiger Hu Chen, who’s labored with Reeves on a number of films earlier than). The cherry on high comes when Wick fends off all his enemies, notices one final injured man pulling a knife out of himself on the bottom, and heaves a stray axe proper into his cranium earlier than strolling away.

All all through, Stahelski retains a formidable maintain on discovering the humor out of such a ridiculous sequence of occasions … however with out ever making the characters themselves self-aware concerning the gag. From starting to finish, the roughly 5 minute scene performs out like a gore-splashed brief movie that provides audiences a barely totally different taste of what “John Wick” has to supply. Till we get to see “Chapter 4” for ourselves, we’ve got no selection however to crown the knife battle from hell as the top of the franchise.