Movie reviews: 'John Wick: Chapter 4' is a well-choreographed ballet for the bloodthirsty

This week, pop culture critic Richard Crouse reviews new movies: 'John Wick: Chapter 4,' 'A Good Person,' 'The Lost King' and 'You Can Live Forever'

"Why don’t you just die?" screams one of the hundreds of people looking to kill the titular character in "John Wick: Chapter 4," the wild new Keanu Reeves assassin movie now playing in theatres.

Why doesn't he just die? Because he's John Wick, a mix of Anton Chigurgh, Wile E. Coyote and the Energizer Bunny, that's why.

If you’re a fan of the movies, you already know Wick can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. You don’t need the backstory to enjoy the new film, but it might help. Here's a quick John Wick Wiki to get you up to speed.

The John Wick Universe is a place where an association of twelve crime lords, called the High Table, govern the underworld's most powerful criminal organizations. They control the Continental, a hotel chain with exclusive branches sprinkled across the globe that serve as homebases for assassins. It is a place run by a strict set of rules, like never do "business" on the premises, by managers like Wick's friend Winston Scott (Ian McShane) who runs the New York outlet.

Legendary hitman Wick ran afoul of the High Table, and was declared excommunicado. He is persona non grata and they want him dead. Trouble is, he's hard to kill.

Also, he really loves dogs as much he loves killing people. There. You're caught up.

At the beginning of the new film, High Table elder and all-round psychopath, Marquis de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård), displeased with Winston's continuing connection to Wick, decommissions the Continental New York. "He is the face of your failure," he sneers.