Is John Wick: Chapter 4 Better Than The First Three?

When the first John Wick film was released in 2014, my brother, Max summed it up best.  He said: "instant classic".

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The first film set the stage for what an action film should be, and that action level got more and more intense with the subsequent films.  One thing I appreciated is how each film for the most part starts off right where the last ended.  Even though there are years between each actual movie release, the new ones haven't left us guessing on where we were in the story.

John Wick: Chapter 4 was only just officially released on Friday, March 24th, though I was able to catch a showing the night before.  I had higher hopes for the film than I should have.  I usually go into movies expecting them to be just okay, and if they are better I'm not disappointed.

I wasn't by any means disappointed as I watched Chapter 4, there was plenty of action as expected, and the story took off basically where last one ended.  I did however feel the story flow throughout was lacking.  I think the best way to word it is that I didn't feel sucked in to the story like in the previous films.

The two hour and forty-nine minute runtime didn't feel long by any means, just too choppy with the slower parts and action scenes.  It's still shot very well, and deserves to be seen in the theaters.  I am going to check it out again while it's still rolling on the big screen at Marcus Theaters in Duluth.  Maybe another go will change my mind on the flow of the film, and I do want to see the intense roundabout scene, and the use of Dragon's Breath shotgun ammunition on the big screen again.

Aa far as comparing it to the other films in the series, I don't think Chapter 4 was better than the first three, but still fits well enough into the franchise.