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Warning: Spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4 Below!John Wick: Chapter 4 is the first Hollywood movie to truly use Donnie Yen’s talents to their fullest. In John Wick: Chapter 4, John and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) prepare to take on the High Table. While John is determined to finally win his freedom from the High Table, this mission is complicated by the return of his old friend Caine (Donnie Yen).
As a retired assassin himself, Caine is coerced to take out John Wick for the High Table, in order to save his daughter. Yen’s performance as Caine is a major highlight of John Wick: Chapter 4, but it does not stop there. John Wick: Chapter 4 is also by far the best Hollywood role Donnie Yen has ever had, and the one to really let the Hong Kong martial arts star show what he can do.
John Wick 4 Brilliantly Utilizes Donnie Yen’s Skills
Donnie Yen has been headlining martial arts films in Hong Kong for decades, and began to gain more international attention with Sha Po Lang, Flashpoint, and the Ip Man martial arts movie franchise. As the latest martial arts movie star in the John Wick franchise, Yen’s extensive skills as a martial artist are put to fantastic use in John Wick: Chapter 4’s fight scenes, with Yen engaging in gun fu, swordplay, and hand-to-hand fighting throughout the movie. John Wick: Chapter 4 also applies this greatly to Caine’s complex relationship with John in the film.
Caine has an exhilarating martial arts fight with John in the Osaka Continental, before later joining forces with him in John Wick: Chapter 4‘s ending fight on a large outdoor staircase. These set pieces perfectly demonstrate Yen’s skills. Yet, with Yen’s Caine being such a highlight of John Wick: Chapter 4, it also exemplifies how underutilized he has been in the Hollywood productions he has been in previously.
How John Wick 4 Uses Donnie Yen Better Than Other Western Films
Donnie Yen starred in a handful of Hollywood movies in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, specifically Highlander: Endgame, Blade II, and Shanghai Knights. While Yen has some decent fight scenes in the three films, he was also largely kept in the background with few opportunities to really shine. Yen later had a more substantial role as Chirrut Imwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but still only got in one major fight scene in the film.
Yen’s supporting role in xXx: Return of Xander Cage finally started to let Yen put his martial arts abilities to use as Xiang. Nonetheless, his portrayal of Caine puts all of his previous Hollywood movies to shame with the quantity and quality of his fight scenes. Hollywood has overlooked Donnie Yen for far too long, and thankfully, John Wick: Chapter 4 finally put an end to that with his unforgettable, action-packed role as Caine. If the ending of John Wick: Chapter 4 is any indication, Donnie Yen could also have the chance to shine as Caine again in the future.
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