SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 4. If you have not yet seen the film, proceed at your own risk!
It’s not easy to build an original big screen action series in Hollywood these days. For the most part, studios prefer to lean on the name recognition of popular intellectual properties – be they from books, comics, video games, or television. But that’s part of what makes the John Wick movies an impressive anomaly. In 2014, stunt veterans-turned-directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch teamed up with Keanu Reeves to make a unique, kick ass film about an assassin who comes out of retirement to get revenge for his murdered dog, and over the course of the next decade, that film managed to spawn what is now considered to be one of the best action franchises of all time.
Said series has seemingly now come to an end with the release of John Wick: Chapter 4, with the titular protagonist being put to rest in the third act – and conclusions lead to reflections. Looking back on the four special movies, how do they all stack up against each other? In an effort to answer that question, we’ve put together this ranking that puts them in order from good to greatest.
4. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
When it comes to ranking the individual titles in a franchise, sometimes the last place entry rightfully comes with the connotation that comes with designation, but sometimes it’s just a case where said title isn’t quite as good as the titles that came before and/or after it. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is definitely a case of the latter. It’s a spectacle that delivers some of the best fight sequences and set pieces in the franchise series… it just also has a bit of an energy dip at the start of its second act and ultimately feels a bit overlong.
One prominent feather in the cap of the film is the fact that it features the best first act in all of the John Wick movies (with John racing around New York as every assassin at the city tries to collect the massive bounty on his head), and it’s also the movie that delivers three of the best, most badass antagonists in the franchise played by Cecep Arif Rahman, Yayan Ruhian, and Mark Dacascos.
3. John Wick: Chapter 2
Going into John Wick: Chapter 2, one could imagine it being a total disaster – and had the filmmakers taken the wrong feedback away from the response to John Wick, it easily could have been. Thankfully, that’s not what happened. Instead of solely focusing on making cooler, more exciting action sequences (which the film delivers), the movie also doubles down on the exciting worldbuilding that is done in its predecessor, and it creates a special atmosphere in which the film executes a thrilling story of both paying debts and extreme vengeance.
From the battle with Common’s Cassian through the streets of Rome (not to mention a shootout in the subway) to the showdown with Ruby Rose’s Ares in the mirror-filled “Reflections On The Soul” museum exhibit, director Chad Stahelski cooks up some spectacular sequences in John Wick: Chapter 2, and it could be said that it has the best ending in the John Wick series if it were not for…
2. John Wick: Chapter 4
Endings are always hard – and that’s especially true when there isn’t a long-term plan in place. The John Wick movies were made chapter-by-chapter with no roadmap to follow, so when it came time for John Wick: Chapter 4 to try and wrap things up, there wasn’t already some grand idea in place. That’s a tough place from which to start, but that just makes the film’s accomplishments that much more remarkable. Running nearly three hours long, it’s an epic and bombastic sequel that features everything that makes this franchise so incredible.
Following an opening that sees Keanu Reeves’ character resurrected following his fall at the end of Chapter 3 and take the fight to the High Table, the film turns things up to 11 at the end of Act I with the spellbinding attack on the Osaka Continental, and from that point on it’s a constant high-energy, blissful ride. The combination of the Arc de Triomphe battle and the race up the stairs at Sacré-Cœur Basilica make for one of the most incredible experiences in modern action cinema, and following it up with the thrilling, emotional, and twisty duel is perfection.
1. John Wick
Within any big screen franchise, it’s always hard to top the film that started it all. Not only does it obviously set the bar against which all of its processors are compared, but its quality and popularity is the reason a franchise exists. While not a universal rule, it’s the case with Back To The Future, Jurassic Park and the Scream movies, and it’s the case with John Wick.
Given how complex the series has become, John Wick is a movie that is actually funny in its simplicity, with the hero narrowly focused on getting revenge for the killing of his puppy and the theft of his car, but it’s also remarkable in how it establishes all of the best flavors of the franchise. The genius style of action is introduced with John’s dizzying assault on the Red Circle Club (later followed by the protagonist showcasing how much death he can dole out while behind the wheel of a fast car), but we also get introduced to a collection of fantastic and interesting characters, including Continental favorites Winston (Ian McShane) and Charon (Lance Reddick). All of the sequels are excellent, but none of them touch the original.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is now playing in theaters, and John Wick, John Wick: Chapter 2, and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum are all available to stream with a Peacock subscription. For more reading about the franchise, check out our ranking of John’s greatest opponents and John’s closest allies, and as a bonus you can read our feature comparing the most badass characters of Keanu Reeves’ career.
