With John Wick: Chapter 4 making its box office debut this past weekend to widespread acclaim, we thought it might be a good idea to offer up a bit of a retrospective on the franchise as a whole and sort the four films (so far) our order of preference. We don’t take on this task lightly, mind you – picking a favorite John Wick film is like being asked to pick a favorite child. Nevertheless, we must establish a pecking order.
For the uninitiated, the John Wick films follows the brutal and bloody adventures of the titular retired hitman, who is scorned by a group of Russian mobsters when they steal his car and murder his puppy. To really add insult to injury, the puppy was a gift left to John by his recently deceased wife, so he wasn’t about to take this slight lying down.
This revenge mission kicks off a series of events which lead Wick on a globetrotting journey to finally free himself of the powers presiding over the world’s criminal underworld who would see him killed, so he can live out his days peacefully and in reverence of his late wife, Helen.
Without further ado, let’s see how all of these adventures stack up against one another in our definitive ranking of the John Wick films, which sees the “Baba Yaga” pile up the bodies of his enemies in increasingly brutal, and creative ways.
4. John Wick: Chapter 2
There’s plenty to love about the follow-up to the original John Wick, but we consider Chapter 2 to be the weakest of the bunch. Its primary saving grace is what is perhaps the most exhilarating cliffhanger ending in the entire series after John is declared excommunicado when he commits a murder on Continental grounds. However, the pacing of this film preceding this insane conclusion is a little on the weak side, in particular the film’s opening action sequence.
While it succeeds in providing intense action out of the gate, from a storytelling point of view it’s just a rehashing of dialogue from the first film to reestablish Wick as the force of nature we already know him to be from the first film, arguably wasting somewhat valuable runtime. That critique aside, Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) is a fittingly cocky, hateable, and vile villain we’re glad to see taken out, consequences be damned.
3. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
There’s not a whole lot of bad to be said of the films rounding out the rest of this list, as there isn’t a lot left about that we can fault! The action sequences in Parabellum built on the foundations laid by the first two films, with some thoroughly satisfying and brutal action sequences involving increasingly creative weapons which include books, throwing knives, and horses. We found Asia Kate Dillon’s villain “The Adjudicator” to be a little on the weak side as far as the franchise’s big bads go, seeming to serve only as a somewhat irritating shot caller whose only purpose is to transition the film to the next plot point.
While Reeves’ fight scene with phenomenal The Raid alumni Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahmana is worthy of a chef’s kiss, we couldn’t help but feel that the pair were underutilized additions to the John Wick universe, particularly for those who are familiar with their previous work. Overall, though, the stakes, setpieces, action and story all made the John Wick threequel more than worthy of its predecessors.
2. John Wick
Ultimately, whether or not you weigh the original John Wick or Chapter 4 higher in your list of preferences boils down to whether you prefer the simplicity of the comparatively low-stakes origin story, or the bombastic final chapter in a world that is now rounded out and no longer shrouded in mystery.
To the blind observer, John Wick opens with a loving husband grieving the loss of his wife, who is gradually brilliantly built up to be much more than meets the eye. To this day, the film brilliantly flips the “lone wolf vs. the world” action script on its head. The Russian mafia boss seemingly accepting that his son has just signed his own death warrant by messing with the Baba Yaga is still something that is executed to perfection, and gets us giddy every time.
From there, in its tight runtime, it also lays seeds for future installments by introducing The Continental and the stringent rules by which it is governed. All in all, the first John Wick is a simple, thorough, and well-paced action movie. After all, the opening chapter succeeded in getting Wick fans to come back again, and again, and again.
1. John Wick: Chapter 4
We agonized a fair bit over whether or not the original film or Chapter 4 would be taking out the top spot, but ultimately, the latter turned out to be ever-so-slightly better in our books. By the fourth entry, the science of a John Wick action sequence has been refined to perfection – and the addition of action juggernauts Donnie Yen and Scott Adkins only serve to elevate it further.
Despite taking longer than other films to wind up and get into the action, the additional exposition serves as a welcome, and crucial means of raising the stakes not only for John, but for everyone around him, as his conflict with the High Table comes to a head and starts affecting those nearest and dearest to him.
All of this culminates in an absolutely thrilling final act. John’s trek across the city of Paris on his way to Sacré-Cœur is truly the ultimate action hero’s pilgrimage, with some of the most impressively choreographed and shot sequences we’ve ever seen. The car-fu in the roundabout, the experimental John Wick Hex / Hotline Miami shoothouse one-shot (which hit a nostalgia bone with its use of music), and the final ascent up the stairs to the church are simply unmatched by any other action film we’ve seen in a long, long time.
