Exclusive John Wick 4 Clip Shows Off Keanu Reeves' Nunchuck Skills
There's a popular maxim among many high-profile filmmakers who've already achieved great success and are looking to pay it forward to the next generation to follow in their footsteps. It goes something like this: The best film school you could ever attend is simply watching as many movies as you can. And that certainly has a ring of truth to it. But for me, personally? I think I'd also like to pull up a chair, put a camera on Keanu Reeves, and just let him wax poetic about all the absolutely ridiculous work he had to pull off in order to make the "John Wick" movies look even half as convincing as they do.
The summer movie season may be starting to ramp up in earnest, but we here at /Film have yet to get over the high-wire thrills and endlessly entertaining action of "John Wick: Chapter 4." The (presumptive) final chapter of the assassin's downright mythological struggle the High Table somehow managed to exceed the already-high bar this franchise had set for itself (dare I say there hasn't been any more definitive take on the film than /Film's original review by Jacob Hall, which you can read here). But as much as the story itself took on an even grander and more operatic tone this time around, racing towards a conclusion that finally allowed Wick to get out of the game for good and rest in peace, arguably the most impressive aspect of the film comes from — what else — Reeves' tireless and unparalleled work behind the scenes to get the action choreography down perfectly.
Because there's never enough proof of what a machine the actor is, /Film is proud to exclusively debut a new clip of Reeves mastering the art of the nunchuck. Check it out below!
Watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes clip from John Wick: Chapter 4
So, you brought nunchucks to a gunfight, eh? If you're a mere mortal, that could pose a problem. If you're John Wick, it's just another day at the office. Early in "John Wick: Chapter 4," a massive siege on the Japan-based Continental Hotel demands a little improvisation from our eponymous hero. Attacked by the absolute best and most formidable foes employed by the High Table (not to mention Donnie Yen's killer Caine), Wick finds himself in the fight for his life, fending off waves and waves of assassins with anything that's at hand — including double-wielding his own gun and, of course, some nunchucks. As dazzling as the prolonged fight sequence that follows proves to be, that only scrapes the surface of the effort that Reeves, the stunt people, and the action gurus led by director Chad Stahelski had to pour into this part of the movie.
Previous videos have touched on the details of filming this nunchuck-heavy fight but, thanks to Lionsgate, we've now received our most in-depth look to date. The special feature, appropriately titled "Keanu's Nunchucks," details some fun tidbits like how it was modeled after the famous Bruce Lee movie "Enter the Dragon" or that it required a whopping six months of training for Reeves to familiarize himself with the deadly weapon. As he wryly puts it himself:
"The one thing Chad had in his head, he had nunchucks. But it couldn't just be nunchucks. It had to be: 'Nunchucks, but how do you use that with a pistol?'"
Balancing nunchucks with established fighting techniques like judo and jiu-jitsu and a gun all at the same time? That's movie magic, baby.
"John Wick: Chapter 4" is currently available to purchase on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray.