Saturday night has brought me to both the conclusion of my weeklong catch up of John Wick films and of the series.

I’ll be honest with you; I was a bit nervous going in after finding out in the morning that Chapter 4 had a runtime of 2hrs 49mins, making it the longest in the series. I didn’t know how I was going to get through it, and I was a little afraid of what to say to my friends who were fans of the series.

Watching it at the cinema, on a big screen, with lots of volume, and with an audience the film is targeted towards, certainly enhanced the experience. There were a couple of times that laughter broke out, mostly at audience reactions, and I found that I wasn’t the only one confused as to if the film is meant to be taken seriously or not. The vibe I got is that the audience found the “hilarity” of it.

In Chapter 4, John after being shot off a rooftop by Winston, continues his path to freedom from The High Table. But rather than following any threads already established in the first three films, we are introduced to new characters and plotlines in his quest.

While the franchise has come a long way from its first instalment with improved storyline and acting (albeit the bar was low!), I am left a little confused by how the ‘universe’ created has progressed. It seems to have gone from a secret, somewhat underground society living amongst civilians to now everyone being an assassin. That or the civilized society knows about the order and just doesn’t care. It’s never really been acknowledged, so it falls into one of the attentions to detail gaps the franchise is littered with.

What the John Wick franchise is widely well known for, are the clever and engaging action sequences and Chapter 4 is no exception. There is one absolute stand out sequence set in an abandoned building which uses an overhead shot that includes flamethrowers and is stitched together so seamlessly, you’d think it was a single shot.

And while it’s worth watching this film for that sequence alone, there are many other great action sequences to like.

In answer to the question is this the best in the series? I would have to go with yes. I liked Chapter 2 as well, however Chapter 4 has quite a lot of good action sequences. I do think it runs for longer than is needed, but it wasn’t as hard a slog as I thought that it was going to be. And again there were some clear scenes that weren’t needed to progress the story. There also aren’t really many call backs to the past films, so you could easily get away with not seeing any of them follow along in this last instalment.

If you are planning on seeing John Wick: Chapter 4, I would recommend going to the cinema as it does look great up on the big screen.

Most importantly, my friend who wanted to see it for her birthday, enjoyed it. It’s ok, she knows I won’t be watching the films again – once is enough for this cinephile.