Lisa Johnson Mandell’s John Wick Chapter 4 review says that this savvy, stylish, balletic and brutal franchise definitely gets better with age.

I thought John Wick Chapter 4 would best be seen after happy hour sushi and saki at a restaurant in the casino where my screening was to be held.

I also thought that, to remain engaged in what was likely to be almost three  hours of unrelenting violence, I should take along a little clicker counter to tally up the body count. I even got one for my friend Hailey, who is more than game for anything that involves drinks and Keanu Reeves (who isn’t?)

But once the film started, I realized that John Wick Chapter 4, may well be the best of the bunch so far, and that I wouldn’t need any provisions or props to help get me through it. This film is a riveting thriller in its own right.

For those of you who didn’t see the John Wick chapters that came before, or perhaps just don’t remember them, (it’s okay—you don’t have to be old to forget) here’s where we are in Chapter 4:

The man, the myth the legend just can’t quit the High Table, mostly because the international cabal of the world’s most deadly assassins can’t quit him—they’ve put a multi-million dollar bounty on his head and blackmailed many of his closest friends so they’ll turn on him.

In effort to break free from the High Table by any means possible short of death, John Wick fights, shoots, slashes and martial arts his way around the world in film versions of places you’ve likely visited yourself (is that Versailles? The Louvre? It sure as shootin’ is the 300 step staircase leading Sacré Coeur de Montmartre in Paris, or a reasonable facsimile thereof).

There are massive fight scenes at every stop. My particular favorite is the one at a dance party in a regal Berlin palace, where legions of assassins chase John Wick through fountain-sprayed grounds, right through packs of dancers who continue to indifferently dance to EDM, seemingly oblivious to the mayhem that’s occurring within their midst. German ennui at its finest.

I’m also quite fond of John Wick’s new nemesis, the Marquis Vincent de Gramont, a faux French accented big wig in the High Table, (It guy Bill Skarsgård) and Caine the deadly blind assassin,  (action superstar Donnie Yen). Crucial characters played by Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, the late Lance Reddick, Rena Sawayama and Hiroyuki Sanada are also intriguing.

It seems director Chad Stahelski, who fought his way to the top of this genre with skills acquired as a stuntman, has infused this film with balletic but brutal choreography, bone dry humor and savvy style. That, plus Keanu Reeves et al cast a surprisingly scintillating cinematic spell.

BTW: Hailey and I were so engrossed in the film our body counters can hardly be considered accurate. She ended up with 213, and I ended up with 136, but only because I didn’t count the ones who popped back up after seemingly being bludgeoned to death or shot multiple times in the head.

Rated R

2 hours 49 minutes

If this John Wick Chapter 4 review encourages you to fight your way to the cineplex, get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

Lisa Johnson Mandell’s John Wick Chapter 4 review says that this savvy, stylish, balletic and brutal franchise definitely gets better with age.