John Wick 4 is being compared to some of the greatest action movies ever made

It has been described as an epic "in every sense of the word".

In 2014, the original John Wick surpassed all expectations - being released to critical acclaim and a strong box-office return. Starring Keanu Reeves as Wick, a legendary hitman who leaves retirement behind to seek revenge against the men who killed his puppy, a final gift from his recently deceased wife, the film wound up launching a beloved franchise - with each subsequent sequel upping the action mayhem. Later this month, John Wick: Chapter 4 will arrive in cinemas and will see Reeves' assassin return, this time facing off against "a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe". As part of the latest entry in the series, Bill Skarsgård (Barbarian), Donnie Yen (Rogue One), Hiroyuki Sanada (Bullet Train), Scott Adkins (Avengement), Shamier Anderson (Invasion) and pop star Rina Sawayama will join the cast, with the movie to be a whopping 169 minutes in length. And while fans of the franchise's expectations are sky-high for the sequel, based on the first reviews out for the follow-up, it appears they can rest easy. Having premiered for a select few, John Wick: Chapter 4 currently holds an impressive 88% Rotten Tomatoes score. Here's a handful of some of the sequel's glowing reviews: Digital Spy: "John Wick: Chapter 4 is an epic in every sense of the word: epic in length, epic in scale and epic in thrills. Not bad for a series that started out with a hitman avenging his dead puppy." Entertainment Weekly: "How does nearly three hours of wham-bam noise and nonsense, unmitigated by any meaningful plot, work as well as it does?" Looper: "There are no rules in the John Wick universe, where violence can emerge from any direction and any unassuming figure can be a fearsome killer, and this epic-length latest entry takes advantage of that like never before." The Daily Beast: "Designed as a culmination as much as a continuation, it may not be consistent enough to rank as the franchise’s finest, but when it gets going, it cooks with gas." Variety: “Chapter 4 feels like the first John Wick movie that wants to be a Clint Eastwood spaghetti Western. It’s like Sergio Leone crossed with John Woo as seen in Times Square." That said, there have been some detractors, including The Guardian, who wrote: "Those who appreciated the original for its brutal, sinewy agility have another thing coming: a lumbering, stultifying gargantua of a film." John Wick: Chapter 4 arrives in Irish theatres on 24 March.

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