Every John Wick Movie Ranked
"John Wick" is the little action franchise that could. The series has become so huge and operatic that it's easy to forget that at one point, no one seemed very interested. When it came to the first film, producers struggled to find theatrical distributors, and star Keanu Reeves was coming off a stirring of box office disappointments. There was talk of sending the first film to VOD, where it might die an ignoble death. And then Lionsgate swooped in to distribute the flick theatrically, and everything changed. While the first film was not a box office smash, it was a hit.
Beyond that, though, it garnered a passionate fanbase wowed by both the killer action scenes and the world-building. Things would only go up from there, with each subsequent sequel growing larger and expanding the mythology further, while also helping turn Keanu Reeves into a superstar again. In the series, Reeves' titular character is a highly capable assassin who has retired. Unfortunately, a bunch of goons make the mistake of killing his new puppy and stealing his car, leading John out of retirement and back out into the increasingly elaborate underworld he once called home.
Let's take a look back through the franchise and rank all the "John Wick" movies, shall we?
4. John Wick: Chapter 2
In this sequel, John Wick's actions from the first film have sent shockwaves through the underworld, and drawn him deeper into a place he was trying to get away from. While I'm sure it has its defenders, "John Wick: Chapter 2" has always felt like the weakest entry in the series to me. Don't get me wrong — it's still a hell of a lot of fun! And Keanu Reeves kicks all sorts of ass. But the film's villain, Santino D'Antonio, is rather weak and while "Chapter 2" expands on the mythology, it doesn't quite reach the dizzying highs of what the franchise would become. Still, watching the film back to back with the first movie can make for an enjoyable action extravaganza. But the "John Wick" films would only get bigger and better from here.
3. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
"John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" is so overstuffed it can often feel exhausting. It also boasts one of the best opening sequences of the franchise, a seemingly endless series of scenes in which John moves from one location to the next battling a barrage of enemies. It all caps off with him riding a horse! After that opening, however, the film falters ever-so-slightly but picks up steam again when Halle Berry shows up as a fellow assassin who has a pair of very good dogs as backup. At the end of "Chapter 2," John was declared "incommunicado," which makes him a bit more vulnerable this time around — seemingly everyone is out to kill him.
2. John Wick
The film that started it all, "John Wick," feels downright intimate compared to what came after it. But the simplicity is key to the film's success. Keanu Reeves' John Wick left the world of being an assassin behind to be with his wife, but she's recently died — and gifted him with an adorable puppy. Unfortunately, a group of goons break into John's house, kill the puppy (boo!), and steal his car. What's John Wick to do? Dig up his guns and get revenge, damn it! The premise — man goes on a killing spree to avenge dog — sounds downright silly on paper, but "John Wick" makes it work by creating a heightened version of reality while building its own world in the process. And while the action set pieces in the franchise would only grow larger, the big nightclub shootout on display here is top-notch stuff.
1. John Wick: Chapter 4
They saved the best for last (unless they end up making "John Wick: Chapter 5"). The "John Wick" franchise reaches its crescendo with "John Wick: Chapter 4," a massive action extravaganza that concludes John's Sisyphean journey in jaw-dropping fashion. This is the film the entire series has been building toward, and it doesn't disappoint on any front. The action set pieces are stunning (at one point, John Wick blows away people with a shotgun that shoots fire bullets, and a lengthy sequence on a set of stairs is as one of the best things the franchise has ever done), the emotional arc is powerful, and all the supporting players are stellar (especially a scene-stealing Donnie Yen as Caine, a blind assassin tasked with stopping John Wick once and for all). Rest easy, John Wick — you've earned your downtime.