Bill Skarsgard Is Beautifully, Admirably, Thrillingly Punchable In John Wick: Chapter 4
This post contains spoilers for "John Wick: Chapter 4."
"John Wick" is our greatest modern action franchise, but the movies have become more and more complicated as they have progressed, and some of the plot points in Chad Stahelski's "John Wick: Chapter 4" will only resonate with those who were taking notes in the last few chapters.
But the basics are all one really needs to follow the films: "John Wick" takes place in a fantasy universe where a measurable percentage of the human population are professional assassins. To accommodate them all, a complex underground society has formed, complete with its own bylaws and codes of honor. Assassins can gather in specially designated hotels where murder is off limits, and where they will be connected with sommeliers and tailors who will feed and dress them well, but also provide high-tech firearms and formal ware that is also bulletproof.
These hotels are also connected to job boards, allowing those seeking murder work to see which victims might be worth the most. It rarely seems to be world leaders, but fellow assassins can fetch tens of millions of U.S. dollars for their kills. Overseeing all of the assassin mishegoss is a mysterious board of directors called the High Table, which has many inexplicable and byzantine processes for making decisions. There are a lot of gold coins, secret passwords, and other Illuminati-like iconography involved. The High Table can overrule any decisions made by lower assassins.
In "Chapter 4," the High Table is represented by the Marquis Vincent de Gramont, played by actor Bill Skarsgård. The character is so smug, you just want to slap the bastard.
The discreet charm of the bourgeoisie
Whenever characters meet with the Marquis, he's tooling about one of his many, many mansions, often surrounded by outsize, expensive works of art, or spending time in his massive stables. The High Table appears to possess a great deal of the Earth's wealth. In one notable scene, the Marquis and John Wick (Keanu Reeves) sit at a table, overturning large metal plates, made to look like numbered tarot cards, deciding the details of an upcoming duel to the death. The table is located right next to the Eiffel Tower. The Marquis wears a steel grey tailored suit. He commands a great deal of money and power. And yes, because of Skarsgård's youthful features, he looks like a little boy. He comes across as unsophisticated, smug, and overprivileged.
It helps that Skarsgård speaks with a wispy and weak voice, affecting a French accent that may or may not be genuine. In a world of assassins, especially assassins like John Wick, who can stand back up after a savage beating and a gunshot wound, this wimpy youth feels out of place. It is almost unfair that he be allowed to make decisions for assassins. While he boasts of his killing skills, and indeed stabs someone through the hand in one scene, the Marquis is clearly a wet noodle of a man. Skarsgård doesn't communicate skill and toughness. He only communicates arrogance. To see a little dweeb like that in charge of a powerful and well-moneyed guild will only inspire rancor from the audience. Heck, if a dweeb like that was the assistant manager at the local UPS Store, you still might get a little peeved.
The Marquis de Sad
The character is fundamentally sad. A smug little twerp you just want to smack. Later in the film, John Wick challenges the Marquis to a duel, and he actually employs another assassin to do his dirty work. It's his right, according to the unfathomable rules of the Wick-verse, but golly what a weasely move. Not to give anything away, but audiences will get no bonus points for assuming that the Marquis meets a fate fitting to his arrogance.
Skarsgård has been acting professionally since 2000, when he was 10 years old and still living in his native Sweden. His first non-Swedish film was Joe Wright's "Anna Karenina," and he swiftly moved into high-profile American productions thereafter, including "Allegiant," the third film in the once-notable "Divergent" series, and the "John Wick"-adjacent action film "Atomic Blonde." His most notable role and the role that changed Bill Skarsgård's career forever is that of Pennywise the Clown in the two "It" movies. Playing a notable, striking horror movie villain cemented the actor in the pop consciousness and gave him a reputation for his ability to play heavies.
Skarsgård would then play villains in "Deadpool 2," "The Devil All the Time," and "Eternals." It's fitting that he should, tapping into his talents, eventually face off against one of modern cinema's more notorious badasses, John Wick. Keanu Reeves, a 58-year-old hero of the people, will have to butt heads with a shrimpy, smug youth. Gen X for the win, baby.