John Wick: Chapter 4 Director Had Greek Mythology On The Brain When He Crafted The Film's Action [Exclusive]
"John Wick" is such an unlikely franchise. After all, it started with a simple tale of a man seeking revenge for the death of his dog. Now, four movies in, this tetralogy has evolved into a massive epic spanning continents, dozens of characters, and hundreds of corpses.
One thing that helped make this transition easier is the exquisite attention to worldbuilding and lore. The escalation of the world and mythology in how each movie introduces new concepts and ideas that build on what came before makes this franchise stand out as unique and special among action movies. By now, this is not just a revenge tale, it is a tragic myth.
Indeed, "John Wick: Chapter 4" is a globetrotting epic, one that — as our own Jacob Hall wrote in his review out of SXSW — "[is] staged with such bravura skill and visual wit that it exposes the vast majority of American action direction as the lazy sham it is."
It makes sense, then, that actual mythology, specifically Greek mythology, played a part in influencing not just the story, but the incredible action of "John Wick: Chapter 4."
A Herculean task
Speaking with /Film's Vanessa Armstrong, director Chad Stahelski opened up about the influence of Greek mythology in the film, particularly the legend of Odysseus. For Stahelski, what drew him to those myths is the memorable iconography of the trials characters like Odysseus or Hercules went through. things like the Golden Fleece, the Minotaur, and the Hydra. If you think about it, these are essentially set pieces, ones that nevertheless help paint a picture of the epic story.
"If you can picture Odysseus in his journey tied to the mast, and the sirens are calling — that's worldbuilding. That's not just action, is it? They're wrapping it and showing you something about him — about fortitude, about resilience, about all this stuff. We've taken a lot of cues from that."
Indeed, more than the other three films, the set pieces in "John Wick: Chapter 4" take on a mythological scale. This almost 3-hour-long movie breezes by, thanks in large part to its giant set pieces that break each arc into more digestible chunks. Each of these set pieces has its own unique set of enemies, scope, and environments that make it impossible to really try and compare one with the others.
Memorable locations
As Stahelski says, it is one thing to have two actors punch and kick each other:
"But if I put those same two people against the Eiffel Tower, now you're looking at the two people, the skill, and the Eiffel Tower. And now for some reason, that same punch and kick looks amazing to you."
Indeed, the best fights in the franchise are more than just about stunts. The "John Wick 2" subway shootout is not just a fantastic game of chess between two hitmen, but it rules because it is a discreet shootout in the middle of a very busy subway station. Likewise, the fight by the Arc de Triomphe in the new film that plays out like a game of Crossy Road is infinitely more memorable because of that location and the speeding cars. Stahelski continued:
"If you look at the Arc de Triomphe, you've seen guys spin cars before, you just haven't seen it the way we did. You've seen Keanu shoot at people, but you haven't seen it in the middle of five lanes of traffic. You've seen a fight scene before, but you haven't seen it in a club with 40 waterfalls. So we're constantly trying to change that."
The tasks of John Wick may not have involved minotaurs or sirens, but his epic story did involve all corners of the known world, set pieces with formidable, legendary opponents, and monstrously funny bosses (Scott Adkins, anyone?).
"John Wick: Chapter 4" hits theaters on March 24, 2023.