Like all John Wick films before it, John Wick: Chapter 4 is based on action sequences designed to challenge the way movie action is typically choreographed and shot. Director Chad Stahelski was a longtime stuntman and then stunt coordinator before making his directorial debut John Wick in 2014 and he’s transformed the franchise into a showcase for ambitious combat sequences.
In John Wick 4, one of the most breathtaking fight scenes, sees battle-weary assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) charging from room to room through an abandoned, crumbling building, with the camera following his progress in one long, uninterrupted overhead shot as he guns down the assailant after Attacker. It’s a particularly amazing shot because it’s moving so fast, with so many collisions and quick changes of direction. And John Wick uses incendiary projectiles, setting some of the fighters on fire and letting them burn as he keeps moving forward. Polygon spoke to Stahelski and his stunt crew about how they pulled off that shot.
This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity.
Scott Rogers, leader of the second unit: Chad Stahelski, our fearless leader and director, used to be a real fighter, just like in the ring. And he didn’t hit hard enough to win, he hit as hard as he physically could. So in every John Wick movie he does the best movie he can and then within the movie he does the best scene he can.
So for those of us who are tasked with doing the action, we do that in every scene, whether it’s the club scene with the waterfalls and the fights and the water and the dogs and all that, it’s no less or more challenging than the cars that hit people. There was no where we were like, Oh, that’s easy, we just call that
Stephen Dunlevy, Stunt Coordinator: When we started filming, it was 100 days of non-stop action. We did the Osaka sequence while setting up the top shot in France and also tried to find time to get Keanu driving. And from the Osaka sequence we went straight to the Berlin nightclub, and then Jordan. So everything became one huge, constant action sequence.
Rogers: Chad had this vision – he showed us a promo for a video game. It was “I want to do this – that’s cool” because you see all the characters, and in terms of storytelling, it allows you to see for the first time what’s coming up for John Wick and what he has to deal with before he sees it. So there’s a little foreboding – you see the guys coming from all directions as opposed to what they are [set up] horizontally, where you don’t know what’s around the corner.
Chad Stahelski, Director: The game has been called Hong Kong massacre. I love the game culture – I’m not a huge gamer myself, but I love the storylines. I love the visuals in it Spirit of Tsushima, Assassin’s Creed, all these kinds of games. And we know a lot of people in this industry. I find it interesting that between video games, animation, manga, and Asian cinema, we are all related in some way. We all steal from each other, we all see each other go insane.
Rogers: The whole set was built for this specific purpose. We flew a camera that was designed – and the camera movements were designed – in correlation with the choreography. So we spent a week with the camera [operators] and stuntmen. And this great French stunt coordinator Laurent [Demianoff]developed the fight choreography and movement while we worked on the camera movement to get what Chad was looking for and also to stay in the Wick world where Keanu is actually doing the work.
Stahelski: I knew I wanted to take a top shot. I’m not a big oner guy – I don’t really believe in it that much, unless there’s something to offer when you can see things from a different perspective. We ran some tests; I wanted to do all the muzzle flashes on a vertical plane so it felt different. I went down the rabbit hole to find references so I did [went online to] Type in “aerial shots” or “top shots” just to see how everyone else’s pics were. At the top was Steven Spielberg minority report.
So I tried Video Games Top Shot and at the very bottom it was the bottom Hong Kong massacre. And me [looked at footage] and liked how they did it. They did a lot more speed ramping, which I thought was really cool. I loved it for that. It’s just that I had to be careful with what I’m doing in slow motion on a film that’s already been two and a half hours.
Rogers: It was so complicated. It was like doing a musical because we had a count. And the camera was in a very specific place at a very specific time [each action beat] had to take place. So while we were shooting, Steve called out, “Forty-eight! Forty nine! Fifty!” And everyone was like, “We’re at 20, I have to be here at 25, I have to be there because the camera is going to be in a very specific spot.” So it was really linked [the camera coordination] – there wasn’t much room for change once we got everything started.
Dunlevy: It was the most painful part of this sequence for everyone, having to listen to my voice, just counting. And when you say such long words, they no longer make sense. The numbers just didn’t make sense to me saying the same numbers over and over again. But every hit [was crucial]’Cause you’ve got people on one side of a wall and Keanu on the other, and they have to do a dance. Everyone had to know where to be in order to be able to match the camera on a certain beat. I think we went to over 200 from memory.
Rogers: And they had to pretend they didn’t know what was happening. So there’s a whole choreography where before they were going to interact with Keanu, they had to be in front of the camera and pretend to be looking for him without knowing where he is. So there are many intricate, smaller moments that would have to be watched many times to pick up.
Stahelski: We’ve definitely been inspired by multiple games and movies, along with our own aesthetic. I mean, we’ve done tons of top shots, just never that extended. Most people don’t have this option because they have to make the switch [stunt] Doubles, or fix the wiring for SFX or practical effects. This is where real guys get set on fire. It’s not easy, and leaving the guy very still while he burns. So if a stunt guy messes up, we have to start all over again. So it’s what you would call a directed show-off recording.
Rogers: The funny thing about the shot is that you’re mostly upstairs looking at Keanu’s head. It really could be anyone. But it wasn’t. It was Keanu – he was dying to do this whole, whole sequence.
Stahelski: I’m trying to show you how good my stunt team is, how good Keanu Reeves is. And at this point in the film, I didn’t want you to have action fatigue. So I’m trying to change it visually. We did it partly because we thought the audience would love it. And we’re doing it partly because I really believed that I and my crew would enjoy it. We are fans too.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is now in cinemas.