JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4
Dazzling, relentless action with a wounded, faithful heart — for adults only.
Should You Watch It?
Here is the decision in full. This is expert filmmaking — four stars of non-stop, jaw-dropping action, colorful characters, great settings, and performances that turn stylish, even winsome and funny. Underneath the spectacle beats a surprisingly tender heart: a widower who still loves his late wife, fathers devoted to their daughters, and friendship held up as something worth dying for.
It also earns its R. The violence is very strong and near-constant, with a high body count that plays like an exhilarating video game. Roughly 23 obscenities land, including 10 or 11 "f" words. And the whole story unfolds in a criminal world where there are no truly good guys — only a wronged man defending himself against worse men.
So: if you're an adult who loves this kind of action and can watch it without harm to your conscience, this fourth chapter delivers. If you're choosing for children or younger teens, choose something else — this one was never for them.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESJohn Wick, the retired assassin, is still alive — and the international crime syndicate that once owned him wants that fixed. The High Table, twelve crime families ruling as one, sends a vicious emissary called the Marquis to kill John and strip his old friend Winston of his power.
The Marquis unleashes hordes of assassins. But Winston floats another path: instead of killing everyone, John should rejoin the High Table and challenge the Marquis to a duel — freedom if he wins, death if he loses. The Marquis intends to make sure John never reaches that duel at all. What follows is a fight for survival across the globe.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars, and here is what they mean. This is action filmmaking at the top of its craft. The battles between John, his old friends, and the endless waves of assassins are constant and jaw-dropping — hand-to-hand martial arts fused with handguns, samurai swords in Osaka, hand-axes in Paris, and an extended set piece the filmmakers dubbed "car-fu," fought among speeding traffic at the Arc de Triomphe.
Beyond the choreography, the movie brings colorful characters, unique situations, and great settings, with performances that are stylish and sometimes genuinely humorous. There are fun, interesting twists too.
Its one real flaw is length: at 169 minutes, it runs about 15 to 25 minutes too long. But even stretched, this is a superbly made thriller that never loses its grip.
The Worldview
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 lives in a pagan world, but it's shot through with Christian imagery and moral longing. The rituals of John's adoptive Russian family are presided over by an Orthodox priest. Before his final battle, John visits a Paris church to light a candle for his late wife. There are other church settings, a character makes the Sign of the Cross, and the climactic duel takes place at sunrise before a famous church on a hill above the city.
Yet those same scenes carry humanist doubt. Asked whether he believes in Heaven, John answers, "No. But I could be wrong." Asked whether sinners can still be saved, Winston replies, "Who knows." Faith and Heaven are treated as good things — but held at arm's length.
What the film clearly honors is love and family. John wants "Loving Husband" on his tombstone. Fathers here are devoted to their daughters, and friendship is prized. Against them stands a corrupt syndicate that has perverted capitalism for the personal gain of its twelve members — a sharp critique of a society whose rules protect the powerful and crush the ordinary. There are no pure heroes; John is a killer defending himself against killers, and revenge is tangled up with his sense of justice.
The movie can name the ache John carries — grief, loyalty, the hope of reunion — but it cannot answer his "I could be wrong." Scripture can: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong, mixed pagan worldview with overt Christian elements such as visits to churches, a visual example of prayer, a character makes the Sign of the Cross, and the title character lights a candle in a Catholic church for his beloved wife who has died, but, when people ask him or another person about faith or belief in Heaven, they agnostically say “Who knows” and the title character says “No. But I could be wrong,” plus there are some strong moral elements such as title character says he wants “Loving Husband” written on his tombstone, another man says he wrote “Friend” on another man’s tombstone, a father and a daughter are devoted to one another, another father is concerned about his daughter from afar because some criminals threaten her life to force him to kill for them, and the “good guys” are fighting an international criminal organization trying to kill them so they defend themselves from being killed, but revenge is part of their motivation though there’s also a sense of justice to their actions
Foul Language
23 obscenities (including about 10 or 11 “f” words and four “s” words), but no profanities
Violence
Lots of very strong and strong action violence with some blood (some of it is rather implausible if not impossible) includes many hand-to-hand martial arts fighting with handguns, many gun battles, many point-blank shootings, a fight with some hand-axes, many people thrown against cars, vehicles and objects, an old-fashioned duel with two people suffering bloody wounds, characters fall from heights, a character tumbles falls down three long flights of concrete stairs, an assassination, two or so gunbattles with machine guns, etc.
Sex
No sexual content, but camera focuses multiple times on one’s woman’s lips as she gives a play-by-play account on a broadcast of a violent bounty hunt for the title character (the images are an homage to a similar female character in the 1981 cult movie THE WARRIORS)
Nudity
No nudity
Alcohol Use
Some alcohol use such as toasts with vodka
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drugs;
Miscellaneous Immorality
Revenge is a motivation, and the antagonist for the title character is an international umbrella criminal organization that has perverted the capitalist system for the financial and personal gain of its 12 members, which are smaller criminal organizations brought together to maintain order and find a way to prevent or put a lid on gang wars.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
John lights a candle for his wife and admits he doesn't believe in Heaven — "but I could be wrong." What does the Bible say to that kind of honest doubt, and what hope does it offer?
John 11:25–26 · 1 Corinthians 15:20–22Revenge and justice run tangled together through John's story. Where does Scripture draw the line between them, and to whom does vengeance belong?
Romans 12:19 · Deuteronomy 32:35John wants "Loving Husband" on his tombstone — the one identity he refuses to give up. What does it mean to be remembered for faithful love rather than accomplishment?
Proverbs 31:10–12 · Ephesians 5:25The High Table has an elaborate code, yet it's thoroughly corrupt — rules that serve the powerful and crush everyone else. How does God measure a just society, and what does He require of the powerful?
Micah 6:8 · Isaiah 10:1–2The Final Word
This is action filmmaking at its finest — dazzling, inventive, and anchored by a widower's grief and a stubborn loyalty to family and friends. It's also relentlessly violent, salted with harsh profanity, and set in a world with no clean hands. So here is our answer, the same one we opened with: worth the trip — adults only. Planning family movie night instead? Start with our latest family-friendly picks.
