Over four films, a prequel TV show (The Continental), and an upcoming spin-off film (Ballerina), Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves have built one of the best modern action franchises in the John Wick series. Thanks to Stahelski’s background as a stunt performer and coordinator, and Keanu Reeves’ intense dedication to training for the film’s choreography, the hand-to-hand combat in the John Wick franchise is often considered to be very realistic by experts online. But a former Navy SEAL is the latest to watch the close-quarter battles in John Wick: Chapter 4, the latest film in the franchise, and he wasn’t as impressed as fans were.
DJ Shipley, a former Navy SEAL, recently sat down with Insider to rate action scenes from popular movies and shows for realism. Shipley was harsh in his breakdowns of other popular franchises, like The Raid and Netflix’s Rebel Ridge, and, just like Mr. Wick’s dedication to revenge, the Navy SEAL didn’t hold back his thoughts about the movie. The poor decisions in John Wick: Chapter 4 began early, as Shipley reacted to the Tokyo hotel shootout scene. He said:
“To run into what I would consider the center of a room with 12 adversaries is the worst scenario. As soon as he made entry, you run down the longest wall, take a right-hand turn, and then keep a wall to one of his shoulders the entire time.”
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Ian McShane is returning to the world of ‘John Wick’ in ‘Ballerina.’
One of the most iconic tricks from the John Wick franchise is Reeves’ tactical reloads, which have since been adopted by sports shooters in competitions. Shipley saw Reeves do it in the scene, but he wasn’t as impressed as the rest of the fan base:
“You can do a tactical reload. So, I haven’t run the magazine completely dry, and I’m moving from one transition point to another. Pull the gun, slide, drop, reload, drop a new mag in, send it back, and now I have it. I can do the whole thing with essentially one hand. But for him, he sticks the guy with the blade, does a little John Wick flick, knocks out the mag, locks in a new one, and just pretends like this 220lb literal ninja behind him isn’t going to do anything to disrupt it.”
More ‘John Wick’ Movies Are Coming!
Welcome back, Mr. Wick, is what fans will likely be saying to Keanu Reeves in a few years. Despite 2023’s John Wick: Chapter 4 giving the character a very definitive send-off, Keanu Reeves isn’t done with the world of John Wick just yet.
As well as appearing in Ballerina (which releases in theaters on June 7), Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski are currently developing a fifth John Wick film for Lionsgate. Details about the new movie are scarce, and it isn’t clear how John Wick will return for a fifth film. One of the best fan theories is that John Wick 5 will literally see the titular assassin battle his way out of hell. As cool as that would be, it likely won’t happen.
Source: Insider
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
