Keanu Reeves has returned to the spotlight once again withJohn Wick Chapter 4, the most recent installment in the near decade-long franchise. In the fourth entry, John’s decided tohunt down the High Table, the leaders of the mysterious organization that sits atop this world’s overarching assassin empire. With a runtime of almost three hours, there’s no shortage of electrifying action sequences, but there’s oneJohn Wick 4scene in particular that lends itself perfectly for a video game adaptation.
Despite debuting in 2014,theJohn Wickfranchisehas only received two video game adaptations, those being a disappointing and largely forgettable VR game titledJohn Wick Chroniclesand the more enjoyable but still rough turn-based tactics gameJohn Wick Hex. It seems theJohn Wickfranchise is cursed when it comes to video game adaptations, but there’s one sequence inJohn Wick 4that, if adapted directly, could finally give the action hero the video game he deserves.
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John Wick 4’s Dragon’s Breath Scene Is the Perfect Blueprint for a John Wick Game
Towardthe end ofJohn Wick Chapter 4, over two hours into the relentless rollercoaster of bullets and perfectly-executed fight choreography, John Wick needs to fight his way through an abandoned hotel. Just like the last few entries, by this point in the movie, John isn’t facing off against any common criminals, but an army of fully kitted-out soldiers, some of which are wearing full pieces of armor. Thankfully, these assassins have brought with them a tool that quickly gives John the upper hand.
First foreshadowed a few scenes ago when the entire criminal network of Paris decides to suit up to hunt down Wick, this particular group of assassins brings Dragon’s Breath rounds to the fight. Forfans ofCall of Duty, or just about any other popular military shooter, Dragon’s Breath rounds will be all too familiar, likely causing some of the most memorable and brutal deaths in gaming. As John Wick quickly finds out, these Dragon’s Breath shotgun rounds imbue each shell with fire, making each shot even more lethal.
As John Wick takes the weapon for his own and makes his way upstairs to face off against an inevitable horde of well-equipped assassins, the camera begins to shift upwards, eventually giving audiences a bird’s-eye view of the action. As John begins to mow down the foes in his way, some audience members might begin to feel like they’ve seen this kind of action before, maybe in a video game. This entire sequence inJohn Wick Chapter 4feels extremely reminiscent ofHotline Miami, with John Wick dashing through doorways, quickly blasting away any enemies in that room, and turning around to cover himself from any foes that have just entered the room from behind.
According to a recent interview withJohn Wick Chapter 4’s director, Chad Stahelski, this sequence wasn’t actually inspired byHotline Miami, but instead the 2019 gameHong Kong Massacre, which itself is inspired byHotline Miamiand the action movies of John Woo.John Wickvideo game adaptations haven’t had the best luck so far, and a lot of that is down to the difficulty of adapting such an energetic and methodical source material. It’s hard to make players really feel like they’re John Wick when they just can’t have the same reaction time. But maybe the best course of action is actually puttingJohn Wickin a top-down shooter likeHotline MiamiorHong Kong Massacre, where the player can go down in just one hit like their adversaries.
