MOVIES: Big, big action by John Wick, a Can-Con fest and what you should know about ink

The two big stories this weekend are clear: 1. John Wick is back and bigger than ever. I review it below. 2. Succession is back streaming for a final season. The first episode premieres Friday (it's on CRAVE in Canada) and though I've seen it, I was cautioned "not for review." I guess that's because you can't tell all from one chapter. I will say this: if you liked the series so far, and Emmy voters sure did, you'll like it again. Logan Roy still hasn't settled who he wants to succeed him and now his children have turned against him. There's other drama going on for Rupert Murdoch, who many think is an inspiration, but both stories are worth watching.

Or there are these ...

John Wick Chapter 4: 3 ½ stars

The Colour of Ink: 4

Babysitter: 2 ½

Until Branches Bend: 2 ½

88: 2

The Five Devils: 3

JOHN WICK Chapter 4: That simple revenge drama about a man angry that somebody killed his dog has grown into this giant extravaganza with epic ambitions. It's almost three hours long and subtly alludes to giant films like Lawrence of Arabia. There's even a sequence in a Middle Eastern desert. And it boasts some 13 or 14 set pieces of wild action, gun play and violence, staged dynamically by director Chad Stahelski who used to be a stuntman. He puts what he learned there to great use here. Like a wild battle against a hotel kitchen staff armed with swords or two particularly vibrant sequences set in Paris. One is a car chase in heavy traffic around the Arc de Triomph. The other has John Wick trying to go up a set of 200 stairs while assassins are coming down to try and stop him. He falls all the way back down twice but gets up to try again. Of such weird silliness this movie builds a dynamic and fun movie.

Keanu Reeves as Wick is stoic and not much for showing emotion. It's all action for him. He's expelled from the cabal of assassins he once belonged to and now there's a bounty on his head because of a serious infraction he committed last film. He's set on taking down the so-called High Table that runs the organization like a board of directors. One of its members, the Marquis played by Bill Skarsgård is trying to stop him and recruits a killer played by former MMA fighter Scott Adkins and a blind swordsman played by Hong Kong movie legend Donny Yen. The action keeps coming. At the same time there's a whole mythology revealled around the organization. There are principles (“Second chances are the refuge of those who have failed.” “The Table will never stop.”). To get the bounty off your back you have to defeat a leader in combat. Wick chooses a duel. It's one of the best action movies ever. (In theaters everywhere) 3 ½ out of 5

THE COLOUR OF INK: It's always interesting to learn about a group of people with a shared fixation, a sub-culture if you will. Brian D. Johnson, who used to review movies for Maclean's Magazine, takes us to people who are into ink, creating it, using it, finding just the right shade, the deepest black for instance. How interesting could that be, you ask? Very, it turns out.

Jason Logan is the main figure, and something of a guide. He's been an illustrator for the New York Times and the Globe and Mail and has written a book on the subject of ink. He runs a company in Toronto and sends his product to artists all over. The film takes us to meet some of them and others who make ink themselves. Thomas Little in North Carolina gets his material from old rifles. A Norwegian artist uses ink made from an octopus fossil. A woman in Washington State has an “ocher sanctuary”. Margaret Atwood talks up the printed word over digits on a screen as she writes with her pen.

Logan is seen collecting materials, buckthorn berries, for instance or wild grapes (“There's so much living color in nature”) or rust from an old rail spike. And of what he and others make of them he says “These inks feel like they're living.” It's the word of an enthusiast and it's fascinating. The film delivers it with a mellow, almost poetic tone. (in theaters: Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City now, Edmonton and Vancouver next month) 4 out of 5

BABYSITTER: This is the opening film at a festival of Canadian Films that people in Toronto can attend at the Scotiabank Theater and people anywhere can watch on Super Channel Fuse. That starts Tuesday and will be showing nine features and 25 shorts. You can see the list at https://www.canfilmfest.ca/films-1

Babysitter, the only one I've seen so far, is a raucus comedy from Quebec that grapples with hot topics like misogyny, sexism, ogling and more. Most of the creative people are women, including the director Monia Chokri, who also plays a lead role, and the screenwriter, Catherine Léger, who adapted her own stage play.

This is a study of the male gaze through women's sensibilities. In here, men stare a women's bodies all the time. The main character, Cédric played by Patrick Hivon, gets noisy and drunk at a Mixed Martial Arts bout, kisses a women reporter during her live TV standup and becomes a celebrity and a pariah. He's suspended from work, hires a baby sitter (Nadia Tereszkiewicz) to help care for his child since is wife has to go to work and tries to make amends. His brother suggests a letter to apologize to the reporter. Maybe a book to apologize to all women. They have enough material as they ponder all the aspects. The babysitter meanwhile is dressed in a skimpy maid uniform and likens herself to Brigitte Bardot. She provokes more fantasies than rethinking. The film isn't subtle and for a comedy not all that funny, but it is lively and does have five nominations, including best motion picture at next month's Canadian screen awards. (Canfilmfest) 2½ out of 5

UNTIL BRANCHES BEND: Also Canadian, this film has won awards and this week played one-night-only in various cities across the country. It opens for longer engagements in Vancouver Fri. March 24 and Winnipeg March 27. Watch for it elsewhere. It's a visually beautiful movie filmed in BC's Okanagan Valley where a whistleblower tries to warn of a potentially harmful pest in the peach crop. When I reviewed its festival screening last fall I had problems with parts of the story but the film directed by Sophie Jarvis does make its point. I gave it 2 ½ out of 5. VIFF named awarded it best BC film.

88: Initially this one appears to be a relevant drama about campaign financing in American elections which after a Supreme Court decision seems to be wide open. Donors can get around limits on what they can send by contributing to Political Action Groups. These so-called PACs do the official contributions and the effect is that big money isn't controlled in politics. This film tells a fictional story to explore that issue but is so overstated that it's hard to take seriously.

A black politician played by Orlando Jones is preparing a run for the US Presidency (in 2024) with a message of inclusiveness and equal opportunity.” He talks about how much of the earth's wealth is controlled by the 1%. One of his staffers (Brandon Victor Dixon) notices something strange in the contributions that come in: they're “laundered” through non-profit groups and PACs and all add up to some form of 88. A reporter friend who is a Jew sees a code there.

The eighth letter of the alphabet is H. 88 is HH, which white supremacists will recognize as Heil Hitler. There's a whole explanation backing that, including a book and a chat with the author. But why would white supremacists back a black candidate? There a reason for that too, just not a convincing one. The film touches on many current political issues including police vs blacks and cites a startling statement from Abraham Lincoln. It's well-acted but the director, an English/Nigerian listed simply as Eromose, is working too hard to be radical in his view of America. (Available now VOD and digital) 2 out of 5

THE FIVE DEVILS: The title refers to a recreational swimming facility not supernatural beings. I'm also having trouble figuring out any allegorical meaning but let's proceed anyway. A young girl (Sally Dramé) lives with her parents in the French Alps and senses their relationship is cooling. They're a bi-racial couple. She (Adèle Exarchopoulos) teaches at that facility; he (Moustapha Mbengue) is a firefighter and often away. When his sister (Swala Emati) comes to visit complications fly.

There's a disaster recalled from years before, as well as a relationship the characters have been trying to forget. It's not good to reveal everything here; better to watch the daughter get close to finding it all out. She has a talent and this could be the supernatural aspect we're expecting. She has an extraordinary sense of smell. She can tell where you've been by detecting smells on your clothes. She collects odors in small vials and may be able to create some. The visiting aunt has a vial herself, a magic potion it seems that when the girl inhales those odors, gives her visions from years before. She sees her mother, aunt and father and a friend from the village. And a cataclysm that affected them all. It's directed and co-written by Léa Mysius, her second feature, all in French and nicely mysterious. (TIFF Lightbox Theater in Toronto; others soon) 3 out of 4