It has now been ten years since the John Wick was introduced to the world, not only revitalising Keanu Reeves’ career as a bona fide action star, but also establishing a film franchise that has changed modern action cinema for the better, as many have since tried to imitate the inspired filming techniques and rich world-building that came with each of the four entries. While there is reportedly a fifth instalment on the horizon, its latest release nonetheless was a fitting sendoff for the titular character, and as such I will rank each of the four film in the illustrious franchise thus far.
- John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
I begin with the only entry in the series to feature a hyphenated addition to its title, in this case “Parabellum” (which is a type of semi-automatic pistol), but for me it also happens to be the weakest entry in the series.
It’s worth noting that this rank is relative, as Parabellum is still a solid action flick that builds admirably on the wild promise of its predecessor’s ending. It continues the franchise’s penchant for endlessly creative actions sequences right from the get-go, such as John’s fight with the enormous assassin Ernest (played by Serbian NBA player Boban Marjanović) and the amusing moment where John and his pursuers throw a myriad of knives at one another with connecting.
However, this is also the first film in the franchise that left me with legitimate fatigue from the action, which felt stale at times, particularly during the action sequence in Cuba, which I also find to be the weakest in the entire franchise. While its technical aspects recoups, particularly in the concluding action scenes, weak one-and-done characters and Winston’s infamous out-of-character decision to try killing John in the final moments drag down what is otherwise an entertaining action flick.
- John Wick: Chapter 2
Ranking the second entry in the series at this position was tough, as Chapter 2 truly lived up to the potential of the franchise’s initial feature and is much closer in quality to the other entries than it is to Parabellum.
Of course, this too just speaks to the high bar set by the franchise. What Chapter 2 does so expertly is take the action and the lore of the first film and double down on it all, with a bigger budget that allowed director Chad Stahleski to have to real fun with the blistering, visceral action sequences (remember the pencil story, anyone?), while adding legitimate political complexity to this world of assassins. There is also some clever cross-editing used that does wonders for the film’s pacing and delivery, such as when a contract is put on John’s head and he must take out multiple assassins in public, or when he goes shopping for suits and guns, with the portrayal of the gunsmith as a sommelier proving to be particularly ingenious.
The film’s ending was also one of the better cliff hangers in recent modern cinema, as it left an immense air of excitement for what was to come next for the franchise and its titular character, without ever leaving you feeling cheated as Chapter 2 unquestionably delivered the goods.
- John Wick: Chapter 4
Despite landing at number two, there is an argument that Chapter 4 has all the elements to be considered the best in the franchise, as it is a three-hour action epic that is the culmination of everything that had come before, making it the Endgame of action movies, if you will.
What held Chapter 4 back from the top spot is that it suffered from some of the same pacing issue found in Parabellum, creating a sense of sluggishness at certain moments of action (there were way too many stairs in that finale), but Chapter 4 is just so much better in every other facet that it can certainly be considered amongst the greatest action movies ever made.
Chapter 4 features some of the best action sequences ever put to film, aided by incredible cinematography that allows the scenes to play out with the long takes that the franchise has become known for, which is on full display in the Arc de Triomphe sequence in particular. However, the film’s greatest strength comes from its broad cast of characters, from a redeemed Winston (Ian McShane) to the compelling interwoven histories of standout newcomers such as Shimazu Koji (played by recent Emmy winner Hiroyuki Sanada), Shimazu Akira (Rina Sawayama), and the standout Caine (Donnie Yen), who, alongside John, forms the emotional core of the film in surprising and nuanced ways. Such characters even help elevate a rather one-dimensional villain such as the Marquis (Bill Skarsgård), though he is nonetheless a fittingly irredeemable foil who makes us love to hate him.
While a fifth instalment might be on the horizon, as things stand this is an astounding conclusion to the four-film arc of one of action cinema’s greatest heroes.
- John Wick
While it was a tight call between Chapter 4 and the film that started the entire franchise, I ultimately went with the latter considering its immense influence on modern action cinema as we look back ten years later.
While there were still solid action movies around the time of John Wick’s release, they featured decidedly generic heroes with run-of-the-mills motivations, while action sequences were usually bogged down by the overuse of cuts due to the way in which said scenes were shot. I had maintained for years prior to its release that these were issues dogging action cinema at the time, but then along came John Wick, which was, so to speak, the shot in the arm the genre.
Part of what made it such a creative and commercial success is that the movie was directed by two former stuntmen, franchise mainstay Chad Stahleski and David Leitch, the latter of whom was uncredited for his co-directing duties but has gone on to be a successful and influential action director outside of the franchise, directing the likes of Deadpool 2 and, most recently, The Fall Guy. The pair had worked with Reeves on the Matrix franchise, and it was partly because Reeves had vouched for them that the film was greenlit, though there was still trepidation from the studios, which is evidenced by its relatively modest budget, estimated to be between $20-$30 million.
John Wick was of course a notable commercial success that led to an entire franchise, but more than that it was just different. The hero is a merciless killer and a “boogeyman” who instils fear in his foes, yet he also has an admirable set of ethics that transcended those around him, while his return from retirement was bolstered by the murder of the dog left by his late wife, who actually died of an undisclosed terminal illness prior to the film’s timeline.
Pairing all this with impeccably shot action sequences that betray John Wick’s low budget, one of the best performances of Reeves’ career, not to mention an utterly compelling villain portrayed by the late Michael Nyqvist (the likes of which the franchise has not seen since), and you have not only the best and most unadulterated entry in the John Wick universe, but also one of the finest action movies ever made.