Lionsgate’s boffo John Wick franchise looks to have hit another reversal after an $8.9 million Thursday night previews performance. Industry track projects a $65-70 million opening weekend for “John Wick 5 Back on the Table After Box Office Blowup”. That could make it a match for several non-ensemble action franchises, including James Bond, Ethan Hunt, and Jason Bourne.
Keanu Reeves stars as a retired assassin who has retired from his violent career after the death of his wife. But when sadistic mob boss Iosef Tarasov (Game of Thrones Alfie Allen) and his gang members steal the 1969 Mustang that he was driving and kill the dog that was a gift from his wife, Wick is forced to return to his former life to seek vengeance.
In this latest installment, Reeves’s character is more remorseless than ever. His crucifix and praying-hands tattoos give him a resurrected, more merciless take on God’s chosen slayer, and he’s armed with a new, more lethal arsenal of weapons.
There’s also a new cast of characters and more twisted, brutal action sequences that expand upon what audiences have learned about John Wick in previous films. While the first three films were primarily about John’s background, Chapter 4 brings in more international players and reveals more about what he calls “The High Table”–a shadowy international assassin’s guild that’s a modern twist on King Arthur’s Round Table.
The film features a convincing clandestine underworld built on an economy powered by gold coins and rife with establishments predicated on strict rules and codes of conduct. Reeves’s performance and Stahelski and Leitch’s action scenes enliven this grimy world with an air of realism that’s never too overtly glamorized or sentimental.
While John’s character may be more remorseless than ever, his actions are always grounded in an emotional sense of justice. Throughout the movie, he finds himself in increasingly desperate situations as he faces an army of bounty-hunting killers on his trail.
With an impressive cast of actors, including Jerome Flynn, Donnie Yen, and Hiroyuki Sanada, John Wick’s 5 Back on the Table After Box Office Breakup provides more grit, grunt, and savagery than ever before. The action sequences are a mix of traditional hand-to-hand combat and other physically challenging moves, such as riding a motorcycle or horse, while retaining some of the more emotionally engaging elements of the first three movies.
In the meantime, he’s also faced with a ruthless group of assassins from “The High Table,” led by Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard). The film takes place in Europe and reveals more about the shadowy crime syndicate and its deadly leaders.
The gangsters have put a massive bounty on Wick’s head, motivating him to strike. But as he begins his quest for vengeance, he finds it’s not enough to kill the responsible criminals.
He must revert to his old ways and turn the tables on them to survive. With a $14 million price tag on his head, it’s time for Wick to face off against the world’s most ruthless and dangerous people.
