I had posted after watching John Wick 3 that the inclusion of Halle Berry almost ruined the franchise for me. Nothing personal against Halle Berry. If they had found a good role for her, no problem. And I would agree with a strong female character for her, as stories and real history are filled with strong female characters and female heroes.
But no. At Berry's insistence, no doubt, they gave her the role of a "female" John Wick. Meaning there she goes beating up ten, twenty male fighters all at once. So, I cannot buy into that. And I am NOT a misogynist or a chauvinist. Quite the contrary.
Like I said, I believe in strong female characters. But my criticism is that a woman, or anyone for that matter, doesn't have to prove their strength by beating people up. Or by killing them by the dozens. I mean, aren't we seeing in real life enough psychos out there killing people? The headlines are filled with stories like that. Are we supposed to believe these mass murderers are strong characters?
I say it's bullshit. Look. The story had an ex-assassin return to avenge the wrong done to him in his own way. But the LEGEND of the John Wick character (the Boogey-Man) as was his nickname to the Russians, was that he was a one-of-a-kind type of assassin.
Which is why the inclusion of Halle Berry as the female John Wick ruined it for me. Now, John Wick is no longer a one-of-a-kind assassin. Now we have a 5' 3", 110 lbs. woman who is 50+ years old as his fighting style equal. That means there's nothing special about John Wick anymore.
Now, it's like there's nothing to see here, folks. Now, you can just round up anyone, any age, any gender, any size, and you can have another John Wick.
I was willing to let it go, if the one scene Halle Berry was in was the ONLY scene she would be in. But I have learned that is not the case. I have learned that she will indeed be back in John Wick 4, and no doubt, the equal or dare I say, the superior to our beloved hero, John Wick.
So screw this John Wick franchise. I have gone on record as to insisting that beating people up and/or killing people by the dozens is not how you prove to be a strong character. Is this what we are teaching our kids? Is this what we are teaching our sons and now our daughters?
Being a public school teacher as I have been for thirty years, I have seen more fights between teenagers than anyone should ever have to witness. And yes, far more fights than I had seen than when I myself was a teenager. IT'S UGLY. Is anyone out there listening?
And most of these fights I've seen are between GIRLS. Sure some guys will duke it out, but it's over in a minute or two. When girls fight, they are scratching and clawing with their nails, pulling out handfuls of hair, ripping at clothes, poking, gouging, anything and everything!
IT'S UGLY. It's not the choreographed dance-like moves, that the fighting sequences in the movies portray. NOTHING like that. I never want to see another girl fight the rest of my life.
Nor do I want to see a 56 year-old Halle Berry beat up and kill dozens of grown men twice her size, and then try to believe it can really happen. Because it can't. I will not see any more John Wick movies. Halle Berry's inclusion in the franchise didn't almost ruin it, it ruined it.
