'John Wick: Chapter 4' Ending Explained: Is John Wick really dead?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ‘John Wick’ is one of the rare franchises which get better with each passing chapter and ‘Chapter 4’ takes it to a whole new level. After the bombastic ending of the third chapter, Wick has now returned to take down the Elder, a person considered to be bigger than the High Table. However, things are not going to be easy for him because the entire underworld is ready to shred him to pieces for money, a lot of money.
In Chapter 4, Wick (Keanu Reeves) embarks on a journey through Europe in order to find the Elder and get his freedom. But it seems one of the senior members of the High Table, Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgard), is punishing everyone who helped John Wick after he decided to betray the table. As a result, he rallies a message in the underworld that whoever kills John Wick, will be getting a MASSIVE reward. So, the hunt begins for our own protagonist. Does he come out alive? Let’s take a look.
RELATED ARTICLES
'Action cinema at its finest': Early reviews call 'John Wick 4' the best sequel yet
‘John Wick: Chapter 4: Ending Explained: Wick joins the FAMILY again
In the last act of the movie, Wick has delivered a message to Gramont that he wants to fight the high table and get his freedom. However, in order to even sit on the table, he needs to be a part of the family who has worked with the table or is a part of crime syndicate as well. John travels to Berlin to request a duel on behalf of the Ruska Roma syndicate. Even though his adopted sister Katia (Natalia Tate) holds a grudge against him for leaving them behind, John is able to earn the family’s crest after killing the German High Table senior Killa (Scott Adkins).
John is able to challenge Marquis to a duel with Winston as his second. On the other hand, Marquis says Caine (Donnie Yen) will be his second. The rules are pretty simple. Both parties join the venue, choice of weapons, and time of the duel and if one of them failed to appear, he and his second will be executed. So, it gets decided that the final duel will take place as Sacre-Coeur, where they will battle against each other with pistols. They will continue to come 10 paces closer to each other after each shot. If John wins, he gets his freedom and Winston gets reinstated to the high table. However, if Marquis wins, then John will be executed and Winston as well.
‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ Ending Explained: Carnage on the streets of PARIS
As soon as they move away from the meeting, Marquis makes a plan not to let John reach the Church. So, he lets the entire crime syndicate of Paris know that he will give $26 million to the man or a group who kills John before dawn. The price raise on his head inspires the entire city of criminals and assassins to start hunting him down. An epic fight sequence takes place on the streets of France and John is forced to fight against an entire city of criminals. After enduring a lot of injuries during the fight, it seems that John might not be able to reach the Church on time. However, Caine (Yen) arrives at the right time and helps John reach his destination in time. Even when they have to fight each other in the final battle, Caine helps him and makes viewers realize that they have been best friends in the past.
‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ Ending Explained: Is John Wick dead?
The final duel is set to take place now and the players have taken their positions. It is set at thirty-paces with ten-pace intervals each time the pistols are fired, and neither participant is killed. John and Caine take their first shots and no one is killed. They move forward and take their second respective shots. No one is killed once again and it’s time for one final shot. The final shot sees Caine firing and nearly killing John. To everyone’s surprise, John doesn’t shoot his last shot.
Marquis knows that John is down and wants to take this opportunity to kill him. Marquis takes the pistol from Caine’s hand to execute him, but he didn’t know that he has become a victim of their plan. While pointing the gun at John, Winston laughs and calls him an “arrogant fool” because he didn’t realize that John never took a shot from his gun. Marquis looks back at John who is ready to shoot and kill him. John kills Marquis and wins the duel.
Winston is reinstated and John gets his freedom. John is fatally wounded and collapses on the steps of the church, appearing to be dead. His funeral takes place in New York and John is buried next to his wife. King (Fishburne) asks Winston if John will be in heaven or hell, to which, Winston says, “Who knows?”
The ending seems to be giving an idea that John Wick might not be dead, but in hiding, and enjoying his freedom.