'John Wick: Chapter 4' director Chad Stahelski reveals video game inspiration behind epic action scene
Spoilers ahead, if you haven't seen 'John Wick: Chapter 4'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'John Wick: Chapter 4' has arrived and it is well on its way to becoming a worldwide phenomenon. The fourth chapter is a direct continuation of 'John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'. After the film's release, director Chad Stahelski has shared some interesting nuggets about what inspired some of the major action sequences in the movie. Turns out, it is a video game.
'John Wick: Chapter 4' has a stellar ensemble cast including Keanu Reeves as John Wick, Laurence Fishburne as Bowery King, George Georgiou as The Elder, late Lance Reddick as Charon, Clancy Brown as Harbinger, Ian McShane as Winston, Marko Zaror as Chidi, Bill Skarsgård as Marquis, Donnie Yen as Caine, Aimée Kwan as Mia, Hiroyuki Sanada as Shimazu, Shamier Anderson as Tracker and Rina Sawayama as Akira.
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Video game influence
Though the movie has an innumerable number of memorable stunt sequences, one of the scenes took the fans by surprise. The top-angle, one-shot fight sequence involving the indestructible John Wick firing away dragon bullets, took the gamers by surprise who instantly connected the scene to the game 'Hotline Miami.' But according to Comicbook, director Chad Stahelski has said the iconic fight scene is actually inspired by a lesser-known game called 'Hong Kong Massacre'.
Stahelski opened up about how the film crew went about shooting the top shots and the difficulties that come with lighting and choreographing a stunt scene like that. Stahelski then opened up about how the video game scenes helped them visualize and roll out the details of the scene. He further noted that this way of shooting the scene amped up the action. The audience instantly connects with John Wick because in the scene, Wick's perspective mimics that of the first-person shooter POV in a video game.
"So top shots were never very cool with us, with lighting or choreography, because it gets old quick. But I had seen this video game and I'll throw a shout-out – I think it was called "Hong Kong Massacre" – they did this top shot and we had been doing so much with the big muzzle flashes and it just kind of clicked like, "Well, if I'm above, we shoot like this and we shoot like this, and it draws these cool lines with the muzzle flash, and if I get the right flicker effect, it's like Etch A Sketch. It looks really cool."
Importance of action sequences
'John Wick' movies are known for the depiction of stylised lengthy action sequences and has grown into one of the best action franchises in recent times. The innovative and intense action sequences of the movie make up most of the movie's runtime. With every suceeding movie in the 'John Wick' franchise, the precisely choreographed fight scenes are getting more innovative and powerful — and the recent 'John Wick: Chapter 4' doesn't disappoint either.
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'John Wick: Chapter 4' is currently running exclusively in theatres.
