Source France | Publisher : Metropolitan Video | Release date : 22 July 2023
Video format
2160p24 – Ratio 2.39
Dolby Vision / BT.2020 – HEVC encoding
Master intermediate 4K
Soundtrack
English Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos
Subtitles
French
Rated 4.5 out of 5
Artistic : 9 | Video : 10 | Audio : 9.5
It is brought to the attention of our dear readers that, in addition to the specified and used viewing equipment, the rendering may differ from one installation to another, whether or not it is calibrated, as well as personal preferences and expectations may influence notation. Moreover, the images in the article are not representative of the edition tested.
Test equipment and condition (Config. HP: 5.1.4)
Video broadcaster : Sony Bravia XR-65A80J (Dolby Vision Luminous)
Sources : Oppo UDP-203 Audiocom Reference | Zappiti Reference
Pregnant : Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar (Dolby Atmos), SVS SB-4000
WORK - It's time to overthrow the Great Table!
John Wick discovers a way to defeat the criminal organization known as the Great Table. But before winning his freedom, He must face a new enemy who has forged powerful alliances around the world and who turns John's old friends into enemies...
After Parabellum somewhat tedious, the Baba Yaga wears (once again) its most beautiful suit in kevlar in this Fourth instalment which pushes (again) the limits of action cinema.
Full of noise and fury, no lack of style (cf. the inventive staging of Chad Stahelski – the very videoludic passage in a dilapidated building in Paris – and choreography « lethal » of the Laurent DemianoffThis murderous odyssey, doped with the Dantec scenes (the Berlin techno club, the Arc de Triomphe, the Montmartre hill) makes a stopover in many countries (Jordan, Japan, Germany and France) so that its anti-hero twilight, surrounded by a cast of madness (Bill Skarsgård, Clancy Brown, Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada and Scott Adkins for the little new ones), can dezinguing the criminal at all times in a world of which they have become masters (Lambda citizens are obviously used to it).
Generous, enjoyable and charged with a precious emotion (as only the founding episode had been able to create), this slam in the middle of a pear that is to John Wick what Mad Max: Fury Road is to Mad MaxHit harder than ever!
IMAGE - Insomniac cities with illuminating lights
With its neons and its luminous flashes do you want some, the visual identity marked by the saga (which it has been due since the 2nd part to Dan Laustsen, the leader of the Wolf Pact and Nightmare Alley), pushed to its climax, finds in this magnificent UHD Dolby Vision transfer (improvements vis-à-vis the Blu-ray come to mind) an ally worthy of its opulence.
The compression perfectly holds the blow regardless of the sequence (especially under the stunts of the nightclub) and the level of detail impresses all along with a significantly increased finesse of the least texture (facial hairiness, costumes, scenery, paintings in the driveway of the romantic works of the Louvre Museum).
The bright colorimetric palette (where orange and blue shades predominate) is displayed with a well raised vivacity (gold sand worthy of Lawrence of Arabia, the electric reds and the emerald greens of the Continental Osaka), the best-optimized contrast rate enhances the depth of the blacks (which retain all their relief) and the shine of the whites (the shirt of John wick) while the darkness inhabits a large part of the places visited, and the lights (the candles at the Church of St. Eustatius, the headlights of the vehicles, the reflections on the blades and the parvis of the Trocadéro, the sunrise on Paris, the ceiling lights at the false station Porte des Lilas and of course fluorescent tubes) are distinguished by a reinforced radiation to the possible.
Ding Dong, it's time for the massacre!
Except for a somewhat dull recording level (+ 10dB and the turn is played) and a dynamic a tantinet less aggressive than expected (but no less expressive rest assured), these two soundtracks encoded in Dolby Atmos (rather similar if it is that the VF, with carefully integrated dubbing, is a more powerful hair) give all that they have in the belly... And this from the opening, blinking at the Failed and Dead of the Steven Seagal, with the incredibly loud noise of fists of Keanu Reeves Crushing against a boxing bag. The impacts sound through the listening room with a crazy proximity and the LFE channel already asserts as a heavyweight in its category... And the grandiose mix is just beginning!
The dialogues (no one has to admit) are clear even when the effects are unleashed (most of the time), the spatialisation is defiant during the action scenes (especially during the motorized chaos on the rue de l'Arc de Triomphe), the throbbing of the engines, the impact of the weapons (a quasi-harassing ballistic brutality) and the blasting of the explosions cause the bass to roar, the verticality of the soundtrack is rare but it remains no less well soaked (balls that whistle, debris that fall and people who fall) « Flight ») and the electro-rock score of Tyler Bates deploys with a certain spatial scope.
CONCLUSION - If he can bleed, he can be killed
Sprinkling, this last (?) lap of track that had to make proud John Woo (at the origin of the gun-fu The Crime Union) imposes itself as an orgy of action populated by characters who fart the class and mouths. Moreover, technical prowess obliges, it is towards the very comfortable 4K Ultra HD that you will have to direct (this edition is a killing) so that the image remains a work of art and the sound can continue to beat to 360°!
Yet great fan until then of the series (the 1st is a little jewel, the 2nd is very good, the 3 has its bad passages but lets be watched) I have found (perso opinions) this very bad JW4, the only 5/8 minutes of good on 2h50 of purges (again this is that MY opinion) are those of the plan filmed above, all the rest is that dusty, soft, too long, useless, already seen in the previous opus but better, rebarbatory, boring, laughable, overfeit, incoherent, etc. ...
Of course in 4K the image is beautiful, as long as it is not too much looking at the special effects (sometimes disgusting) and that is all, even the sound is less good than on the others (DTS-HD MA vs Dolby Atmos) or passed the bullet impacts that moved us into the guts.
Last useless opus if this is for the bank account of the protagonists (for the last time it always remains MY opinion, fortunately shared with the 5/6 people to whom I made discover the character) or then Baba Yaga has to put a brief over his costume in order to be consistent with the script (at the same time difficult to be consistent with the emptiness)
I don't even imagine what John "XXX – Marvel – Fast&Furious" Wick 5, on the other hand, I wouldn't do the stupid thing to go to the movies like the 3 or buy directly in blu-ray like the 4, sometimes it's better to avoid reading the dithyrambic reviews that announce you the movie of the century or the best chapter of a saga (my goddaughter if you read this avoids announcing 2h50 non-stop action when the film takes 30 minutes to start, notice that it allowed me to wake up just when it's supposed to start)
P.S: Little question quickly made by passing, the dead ... once killed (especially at the comic moment of the movie > stairs) where are they? Because I didn't see any dust when Mr. Wick slammed his fingers...
Personally, I classify the saga as follows: 1, 4, 2... 3!
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