Been a friggin' minute, and I have to admit I was very much looking forward to this movie since hearing about it. So how was it? I will fully say it's pretty good but whether or not you hold it as highly as the John Wick quadrilogy is up to the person, and frankly I am in dire need of a rewatch to make that decision myself. But it simultaneously follows suite and yet plays around with the formula a bit that's been established, with a relatively new agent who takes on the mantle more of a guardian than assassin who is on the hunt for what is deemed a cult of assassins who killed her father when she was young, simple story but the devil is in the details. Obviously Ana has been more of a grower on me, and I may or may not have my own headcanon this is Paloma from No Time To Die before she was in Cuba, but man does she firmly plant her action hero flag in this movie. I mean she gets her ass beat six ways to Sunday but in the few instances of Jedi wisdom I agree with, perseverance reveals the path and she keeps getting up to pretty brutally dispatch opponents. Whether or not this continues with a sequel, I like the story they told here even if it is common as dirt. Of course we got Keanu in it and I'm happy they do much much more with him than just a glorified cameo and he comes in clutch like always. Gabriel Byrne is our villain and the performance itself was good but the material is pretty weak, no fault of course on the actor but it is your typical John Wick villain. There's probably a reason Norman Reedus wasn't brought up a lot in the marketing and considering I've seen next door to zero of his work, for the brief screentime he has I had enough interest and actually wanted to see him throw down more! Of course we also got Ian McShane but who I wasn't expecting was our man Lance back, in his final role no less and while they're very much ancillary characters I'm never going to turn away the chance to see them. The action fare has that gold stamp of approval from previous entries, with a fair bit of innovative fighting including a pair of ice skates, hammers, and a flamethrower, so it got faaaaar from predictable or boring, with ample love going to the stunt crew and the choreographers. Visually it's a striking film, with unabashed favorites including a rocking club and the snow filled night that gives it so much substance on screen, but even in environments like a log cabin or some construction site on Continental grounds still has elements that play into the action where every fight has one memorable moment minimum. I would be remiss to not briefly touch on the score, while far from explosive still sets mood and tension well and frankly any movie with Swan Lake gets at least half a point! So all in all I'm happy to have seen it, it's worth supporting your local theater to watch it, and I can see die hard fans of this series eagerly pick it up on video in the future. So 3.5 stars, 8/10, and I'll be back tomorrow for one more new release.
