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Practically all of the action in the “John Wick” series has involved the titular character directly, but “Chapter 4” switches things up by having multiple action sequences that John isn’t even present for. Luckily, the new characters are interesting and compelling enough to keep viewers invested even when the main character isn’t in the picture. It is also a nice departure to see different fighting styles squaring off, which offers a welcome contrast to John’s familiar fighting style.
After Akira (Rina Sawayama) has been wounded, her father Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada) stays true to his promise to John and puts his life on the line to keep Caine (Donnie Yen) at bay, who is a mutual friend of both of them but is forced to do the Marquis’ bidding. Honoring the classic samurai films that inspired the Osaka portion of “Chapter 4,” Shimazu and Caine have a one-on-one sword duel that mixes contemplative stillness with sudden bursts of violent motion.
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Caine’s blindness and unique fighting style are both incorporated well into the choreography, and the fact that he desperately doesn’t want to have to kill Shimazu adds an interesting dimension to the swordfight. It is clear that Caine is holding back, but he is such a vastly superior swordsman that Shimazu doesn’t stand a chance anyway. Caine tries more than once to convince Shimazu to simply walk away with his life intact, but Shimazu refuses, and the fight leads to its deadly conclusion the only way it could. This fight has the potential to ripple into the future of the franchise as the post-credits scene teases Akira going after Caine as revenge for the death of her father.
