John Wick: Chapter 4
Cert: 15 | ★★★★✩

Revenge has never looked slicker or more deadly than in the latest instalment of the much- loved John Wick saga. Reprising one of his most famous roles, Keanu Reeves is back in his trademark black suit/shaggy hair combo as he takes on the people who wronged him and his family in this deliciously playful martial arts opera.

Our hero is still on the run from the mighty High Table, a council of crime lords who govern the underworld’s most powerful criminal organisations.

With a target and a huge bounty on his head, Wick seeks refuge in Tokyo, Berlin and then Paris where his presence attracts all manner of criminals wishing to collect the reward for killing him.

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Keanu Reeves (Lionsgate)

Pitting Wick against dapper villain the Marquis Vincent de Gramont ( IT and Barbarian star Bill Skarsgård, hilariously over the top), director Chad Stahelski and his writing team deliver an engaging, if a little overlong, neo-noir thriller full of high camp and impressive action set pieces.

With more than a little help from the CGI department, John Wick 4 is perhaps best seen as fantasy rather than a film that has any link to reality.

With characters able to dodge bullets left, right and centre, the film is a homage to the classic martial-arts genre with a sprinkling of old Hollywood Westerns where protagonists never seem to run out of ammunition or ways to stay alive.

Capitalising on his infamous monosyllabic delivery, Reeves knows exactly what is expected from him and doesn’t hesitate in delivering the goods.

Just like its predecessors, the latest film is to be taken with a generous pinch of salt, while audiences are also encouraged to apply all of the suspension of disbelief they can harness in order to enjoy it.

John Wick 4 is everything fans of this much-loved franchise will keep on turning up for again and again.

With a preposterously outlandish premise and some incredible edge-of-your-seat moments, the film also never takes itself too seriously — and honestly, that’s exactly where its genius lies.