John Wick 4 Will Have Plenty of ‘Car-Fu’ Sequences That Are Choreographed Just Like Fight Scenes
Keanu Reeves has been synonymous with kung-fu ever since his days of being plugged in to The Matrix (1999). The gentle yet firm-fisted actor, who is almost 60, is practically unmatched by anyone else currently in the action film genre, save for probably Tom Cruise who still has kept his pedestal as the master of death-defying stunts.
However, Reeves certainly gives him a run for his money as the virtually unstoppable boogeyman, John Wick. The John Wick franchise has essentially blown up the action movie status quo, brandishing some of the greatest and most innovative fight choreography seen in modern film. Every sequel successfully takes it up at least ten notches, and the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4 is set to be the biggest yet so far, upping the ante on not only ‘gun-fu’ but ‘car-fu’ as well.
The John Wick franchise essentially coined the term ‘gun-fu’, which they deemed as the unique and perfect blend of Wick’s preferred fighting styles of both Brazilian and Japanese jiu-jitsu, standing judo, and “tactical 3-gun” as director Chad Stahelski has called it. Altogether it turns John Wick into the deadliest assassin alive, not just in hand-to-hand however, but also behind the wheel. The action series has also perfectly crafted what is known as ‘car-fu’, the art of using a car as a weapon. It’s probably the most poetic creation yet, since Wick’s stolen car was one of two things that set him off way back at the beginning.
Audiences first saw Wick use true ‘car-fu’ in John Wick: Chapter Two (2017), both in the opening scene while chasing a motorcyclist and soon after while going to ‘peacefully’ retrieve his stolen Mustang from the first film. Sending mobsters flying left and right, Wick shows no mercy and all the talent on four wheels, and Reeves is literally the master behind nearly every single stunt. Behind-the-scenes featurettes on the Blu-Ray version of John Wick: Chapter Two have shown Reeves training tirelessly not just on the fighting mat or on the gun range, but behind the wheel of a Mustang Mach 1.
Determined to perfect all of his skills, he spent months on obstacle courses, learning every kind of necessary car stunt to construct the film’s sequences around such preparation. In SlashFilm’s report, director Stahelski and other cast and crew disclosed in a brand-new interview with Total Film magazine, set to release on February 2nd, that Reeve’s polished car-fu skills will only get infinitely crazier on the big screen in John Wick: Chapter 4. Reeves himself said:
“We took the car driving to the next level, which I really enjoy. There’s 180s, forward-into-reverse 180s, reverse-into-forward 270s, drifting … [It] was really fun to get a chance to learn those skills, and to play.”
John Wick: Chapter 4 revs into theaters on March 24th.
