John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) review

Installment number four of the franchise once again has near-silent (and seemingly unvanquishable) assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) out to destroy "The High Table" (a "council of crime lords" that have it in for him) but finding himself hunted after by the Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), visually-impaired Caine (Donnie Yen) and tracker Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson) ... and eventually the entire city of Paris.  It's moodily-lit and well-choreographed, which should please the "style-is-substance" crowd as well as the gamers - one sequence looks like it was inspired by the top-down shooter Hotline Miami - although I don't think it remotely deserves its three hour running time, considering Wick isn't exactly loquacious (someone counted: he says 380 words ... which comes out to two per minute) and the carnage becomes exhausting well before it wraps everything up.  But if it truly is the last of the series, I guess he went out with a bang ... and then a whimper.  How's this for a sign-of-the-times: things are so tough financially speaking even a contract killer is worried about his 401k.  Now that's nuts.