Ian McShane as Winston, Keanu Reeves as John Wick, and Chad Stahelski - Director in John Wick: Chapter 4. Photo Credit: Murray Close
Courtney Howard // Film Critic
For the past few years, we’ve been privileged enough to join the world’s most skilled assassin John Wick on his vengeance-filled war path. What began as a mission to rain down revenge on the heads of the horrible folks who killed his puppy (a gift from his deceased wife and, metaphorically, his final bit of humanity left) has taken on whole new meaning. Our favorite hitman and the talented filmmaker capturing this journey guide us through fascinatingly dark places exploring heady concepts surrounding retribution, redemption and resolution in director Chad Stahelski’s JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4.
In this latest chapter, Wick finds himself still on the run and on a globe-trotting adventure. Only this time, he’s forced to battle his way through foes and friends to get to the nefarious, arrogant and cowardly leader of the High Table, the Marquis (Bill Skarsgård). It’s a smash ‘em up, crash ‘em up actioner that aesthetically and narratively improves upon everything that came before it. And how this talented auteur was able to pull his incredible vision all together – and do so with the audience “wow” factor in mind – is truly awe-inducing and inspiring.
I’m curious about how your process works when breaking down these big set pieces. Besides keeping your characters at the forefront, what first ignites that creative spark for you? Or is that different each time?
“To be honest, it’s different each time. Sometimes it’s from outside in. Sometimes it’s from inside out. I use the example, when we did the club scene and we used all the waterfalls, my dad is a plumber by trade. So I grew up working on construction sites and helping him do plumbing jobs. I remember when I was young, I saw this little water feature – this water jet – happen and just thought it was the coolest thing. 40 years later, I was like, ‘Let’s make a club outta waterfalls!’
I’ve always been fascinated by museums and art and light. I got to hook up with Jonathan Sela in the first one and Dan Laustsen in the second one. I was a huge Wong Kar-Wai fan, growing up, and Zhang Yimou: THE GRANDMASTER, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, HERO, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS. So you get into that. And you get Leone composition. If you can’t see Leone and Kurasawa in my movies, I don’t know what else to tell ya [laughs].
Imagery is a big part and I’ve always gelled and collaborated with people who think beauty first. If we’re not making something beautiful first, what are we doing? Why bother? It’s not enough to get the shot. You have some directors who try to infuse the energy and I get that and love movies like that, but that’s just a different directorial style. I’m more visual in how I think and try to tell stories non-verbally.
Silent movies; I love watching Buster Keaton. The fact you can tell a story and see who Charlie Chaplin was as a little Tramp or anything like that, or what Keaton’s thinking without talking. Even the non-action, black-and-white silent films, they did a lot. There’s a lot to be learned there. That’s why Jackie Chan was so effective with storytelling and characterization through action. That’s come a long way with me.
Just on an expanded level with color and composition and that’s why you see we’ll always try to change with our lens package. We went from Master Prime to Anamorphic Master Primes. There’s always something we want to play with, with the focal length and composition. Now that digital intermediate and coloring tech and the way we do digital transfers has expanded so much, we can push highlights and contrasts. You can have the blacks that we really couldn’t have… you can push color like there’s pink, there’s purple, there’s tangerine, there’s lime green in this movie. But I couldn’t get that before with the cameras and the cards and the way we color. But now, three years, even after the last WICK, I can push highlights and contrasts further than I’ve ever done before.
It’s not just about more story action, or world, it’s, ‘How do I package it? How do I dress it so hopefully there’s something for everybody in a WICK? Hopefully, if you’re into cinematography, there might be something that’ll interest you. If you’re into composition, there will be something that will interest you. If you’re into action and just want to see sword fights and gun-fu, there’s something for you.”
I love this idea of sunrise/ sunset and seasonal change you utilize here. What were some of the visual themes you wanted to reflect in the cinematography that you collaborated on with Dan?
“Good question. We were never concerned with making a movie, or a plot. It was about story and myth. If you read any good mythological fable, there’s a journey and trials and tribulations. Trial by combat. Trial by fire. Trial by intelligence. In Dante’s work, it’s who you meet in the different rings of Hell. In Odysseus, it’s every trial leads to a new character mission. Ashamedly so, that’s what I’ve stolen and tried to rip off to be part of these movies – to have an Odysseus journey of our own.
A lot of great myths link into a naturalism, right? They link into big symbolism. I’m shameless. I’ll take big symbolism and iconography and put them all together. A sunrise and a sunset: what could be more symbolic that a new beginning and new ending – a light to dark, a good to evil, a transformation and evolution? That’s what you see in everything from horror to action to art films. There’s a symbolism that’s trying to tell you something. You do that with, ‘It’s a new dawn! Here comes John on a mission! He’s a man consumed by vengeance!’ And then the rest of the movie is at night, what does that tell you.
Seasonal; We started the JOHN WICKs going into Winter in the first one and I thought it would be good to kinda do the same thing, to go into Fall. What does Fall symbolize to everyone? It’s the death of youth. Spring is rebirth. Fall is the slow decay of the last of life and then Winter obviously a consumption of death and life – and how do we push that forward? All these little things. [laughs] We’re pretty ridiculous. We get bored easily and try to layer all this stuff into what could be considered a goofy action movie, a very surreal world building franchise. But for our own artistic satisfaction and gratification, we like to put all these little symbolic things in the movie to see if anybody gets them.”
You have absolute titans in your supporting cast. How much of it was an exercise in trust and confidence to bring Scott Adkins’ character to the screen and have him work in that weight suit? He’s like a masterclass in action.
“Same with Marko Zaror. People who may not be mainstream, but in my world, are rock stars – titans of martial arts action movies. To have a chance, an availability and property that allows them the chance to bring them into this world, not only to punch and kick, but to play these great characters. I managed to see them in different lights than the rest of the world. I know Scott and Marko are fantastic actors and to be able to add them into the JOHN WICK world and to build the characters [with them], that’s the real charm.
Scott and I have worked together in the second unit stunt world many times. I’ve known him for almost 15 years total. We’ve met and talked and geeked out together. So to finally work together, it’s almost shorthand. Marko, I’d been aware of for over a decade, but I just never got to meet him, but a lot of my stunt team had worked with him. When I was talking about the character Chidi, my stunt team goes, ‘Oh that’s Marko. You gotta get Marko. You gotta call him.’ So I called him, flew him in and didn’t even have him audition. I was like, ‘It’s yours if you want it. How do we make this you?’
Even Rina [Sawayama], who has never done a film before, has such an amazing music career. My trust goes, ‘She’s already successful and has an amazing fan base. You don’t get there by accident. This woman works hard. If she chooses to put her time and energy into me, I gotta be good.’ When we talked and she flew to Berlin, we both knew this was going to work.”
Lionsgate had announced JOHN WICK 4 and 5 would shoot simultaneously and then, as we know, that changed. Did you maybe pull a BOYHOOD on us, or film a side hustle sequel in secret?
“[laughs] No. Look, I’ll be really honest. To have a studio come to you and go, ‘We want you to do 4 and 5,’ that’s as good as it gets in Hollywood. You have a product and career that people want and are willing to give you the risk of investing. No matter what other differences there are between commerce and art, to have people want to invest in you, that’s a good thing in our business. There’s always a little tension between both sides, but it’s always a real blessing to have.
But you have to ask yourself, ‘Now that I have the responsibility and it’s easy to say yes, am I gonna be able to pull it off?’ To be honest with you, I was very flattered by it, but I had deep reservations. We’ve always had at least two years off between the WICKs and during those two years, that’s a chance for me to get better – to see my mistakes and get better as a filmmaker. And if I don’t have that time, honestly… I should probably take more time in between. But that’s when I really learn my lessons in retrospect and reflect on what I’d done and have new experiences with people and expand my wealth of knowledge.
I felt like doing two together would’ve just yielded me one long 4. I think I would’ve done a fairly good job on a 4, but doing it together, you make allowances and get complacent and there’s no real creative drive to do better, to do more, to exceed what you’d done before. I just felt like, as a filmmaker, I would’ve fallen short of that task. To be frank, I didn’t think I was up for that challenge. I asked and said, ‘I’ll do everything I can on 4, but I’m a good enough director yet to really pace out a good 4 and then put even more energy and talent into 5 and make that better.’ I just think I would’ve done more of the same. That was because of me. So, no. We never shot 5 subversively. [laugh].”
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 opens in theaters on March 24.
