“John Wick: Chapter 4” was largely shot in Berlin and is also partly set in the German capital. When director Chad Stahelski and his protagonist Keanu Reeves returned to Berlin shortly before the theatrical release of the strong last part of the action saga, we took the opportunity to talk to them about their work and especially about the action.
In conversation with FILMSTARTS social media editor Janine Walle, the focus is, among other things, on the planability of action scenes, including the necessary improvisation, brilliant one-shots, dangerous stunts and the handling of weapons and horses.
Chad Stahelski: There is always a bit of improvisation.
Keanu Reeves: The Donnie Yen Scenes! The Museum Battle! I guess it depends on what you mean by “improvised”. It wasn’t that we didn’t have a plan. But we had to scrap the plan and work something out on the spot.
Chad Stahelski: With action movies you always have a concrete plan. But when you’re there, getting ideas or things don’t go as planned, you’re always ready to make changes. Our stunt teams and cast were all ready to make changes. I call this a pivot, which means that we always take a small step in a different direction.
Donnie Yen is a genius!
Chad Stahelski: Yes, we are always moving and Donnie is good at that.
Keanu Reeves: He is a genius and on a very high level. He chooses moments when he is particularly good at expressing what his character is about and works with the stunt team. He understands what her intention is, but then puts his own spin on it.
Chad Stahelski: I think Keanu, but so does Scott [Adkins]Marko [Zaror] and Donnie are all on such a high level that they can take the actual plan and choreography and then work together as a dialogue scene to make the most of the scene on the day of shooting.
Chad Stahelski: Difficult. But once you figured out the logistics, it was much easier for me personally. It was more difficult for Keanu. He must remember and perform all moves without anyone making a mistake. Sometimes you need a few takes. But once you get the logistics down, let the professionals do the work and everyone gets by.
Keanu Reeves: Yeah, but man, you pulled it all off with the camera movements that were timed and pre-planned.
Chad Stahelski: Yes, this took a while to plan. But we have practiced a lot and some correction is still needed on the shooting day. But once it’s set…
Keanu Reeves: You really sell these shorts…
Chad Stahelski: A lot of work has gone into it.
Is Keanu Reeves a Nunchuck Expert?
Keanu Reeves: The nunchucks were really hard. It took me a long time to master this one. A key then was not to use them ingeniously and artfully, but to actually use them as brutal weapons.
I enjoy reloading and handling pistols. I have some fun scenes in “Chapter 4” where I disarm and reload others. And in this movie, cars are used as weapons. I really enjoyed that.
Keanu Reeves: Yes, people are thrown into a moving van. That was incredible, that was crazy.
Chad Stahelski: Our stunt team did a great job. We had more than a dozen car hits, we destroyed about 45 real cars. Everything was real, the windows were real – but no one was hurt. That was really good. We are very happy with the results.
Keanu Reeves: I like horseback riding, although I’m not very good. However, the horses in Jordan were not movie horses, but real police horses. They had a different kind of education and were not as adept at making films. So we had to adjust everything a bit and have more control, but it was exciting. On days like this I always find it exciting to sit on my horse.
“John Wick: Chapter 4‘ will be shown in German cinemas from March 23, 2023.