John Wick: Chapter 4 is packed with groundbreaking action sequences, but the top-down shootout still manages to stand out. The John Wick franchise has changed a lot over the years, as Chad Stahelski and his team have continued to innovate and experiment with their action scenes. The lengthy one-sH๏τ sequence in Chapter 4 wouldn’t fit in if it was in the original John Wick movie, but by the time John travels to Paris for his fateful showdown with the Marquis, it makes perfect sense. Even with so many jaw-dropping moments to choose from, it’s a highlight of John Wick: Chapter 4.
The top-down action scene underlines Stahelski’s approach in Chapter 4, as his style and substance become inseparable. While many action movies try to create a naturalistic style of fighting that blends into the background, Stahelski prefers to draw attention to his filmmaking. It’s easy to watch Chapter 4 and marvel at the sheer audacity of the stunt work, choreography and direction, but it all works in harmony. There are several scenes designed to make audiences wonder what happened behind the scenes to allow the crew to pull them off, especially the top-down action sequence.
What Inspired John Wick’s Top-Down Action Scene
Stahelski Took Notes From A Video Game
Chad Stahelski draws from a wide range of influences when constructing the John Wick movies. He has spoken about his love of Asian cinema, ’70s action movies, classical art, comic books and more. For the one-sH๏τ action sequence in John Wick: Chapter 4, he was inspired by the 2019 action video game The Hong Kong Mᴀssacre. (via Polygon) This makes sense, because the action does have a video game atmosphere to it, as John moves from one room to the next with an endless horde of ᴀssᴀssins coming in from all angles.
Stahelski managed to remix his various influences into something that feels fresh and original.
Stahelski mentions that he also looked up other famous top-down sH๏τs while researching for John Wick: Chapter 4, and he came across Steven Spielberg’s work in Minority Report. Spielberg is much more likely to deploy a long-take than Stahelski, so it makes sense that he would examine one of the masters before attempting such an ambitious sequence. Ultimately, Stahelski managed to remix his various influences into something that feels fresh and original, and it results in a scene that’s quite unlike any other action movie.
How Chad Stahelski And His Team Pulled Off The John Wick 4 Scene
Timing Was Key For The Stunt Performers And Camera Operators
Executing the top-down action sequence in John Wick: Chapter 4 was a big challenge for Chad Stahelski and his team, especially since the production had so many complex action scenes being filmed back-to-back. In an interview with Polygon, stunt coordinator Stephen Dunlevy says, “We were doing the Osaka sequence while prepping the top sH๏τ in France, and also trying to find time to get Keanu driving. And from the Osaka sequence, we went straight into the Berlin nightclub, and then Jordan on top of that.” To help keep all the top-down scene’s moving parts in order, Stahelski and his crew treated it almost like a musical.
Dunlevy recalls having to count out loud on-set to keep the camera operators and the stunt team in the right places at the right time. He says, “Everyone needed to know where they needed to be to match up with the camera on any given beat. I think we went up to over 200 from memory.” Within this framework, it was up to Keanu Reeves and the stunt performers to hit their marks. It would have been easy to use a stunt double for John’s action, but Reeves insisted on performing his own stunts. The other stunt performers had to lie perfectly still while on fire, to imitate the ᴅᴇᴀᴅly effects of the incendiary ammunition.
The John Wick franchise has a bright future, with several spinoffs planned as well as John Wick: Chapter 5. As Stahelski’s ambitions continue to expand, there’s no telling what kinds of action scenes he might cook up in the future. So far, the top-down shoot-em-up scene in John Wick: Chapter 4 is arguably his boldest and most spectacular scene so far, although there’s plenty of compeтιтion. Hopefully, the upcoming behind-the-scenes documentary, Wick is Pain, will shed more light on how Stahelski, Reeves and the rest of the crew continually manage to raise the bar.
Source: Polygon
