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In 2014, the world was introduced to John Wick and action movies were never the same. In an era of superhero blockbusters laced with CGI aliens, backgrounds, vehicles, and even costumes, John Wick's tactile and carefully choreographed action with a charismatic lead who was clearly participating in said stunts was a wake-up call that we can ask--nay, demand--more from our action films. Of course, the world of John Wick is far from over. A spin-off from the franchise, Ballerina--a film set between the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4, with one of The Director's (Anjelica Houston) proteges, Rooney (Ana de Armas), hunting for those who murdered her family. In celebration of Ballerina's arrival and the John Wick franchise's continued existence, we decided to take a seat at the High Table and determine the definitive ranking of every John Wick action sequence across all four films. Some brief rules before we get started: - Executions, knockouts, or explosions on their own don't count--blows (or bullets or blades or pencils or library books) must be exchanged between combatants
- We'll combine big action sequences where it makes sense, For instance, a big melee action scene that culminates in a one-on-one fight in the same location, or sequences where John is making his way from Point A to Point B but encounters numerous obstacles are lumped into a single massive sequence.
Tick, tock, Mr. Wick.
24. Killing the Elder
John Wick: Chapter 4 As cool as it is to see John Wick riding through the desert on horseback, this scene is more or less a means to an end with little memorable action, though it technically hits all the checkpoints of our criteria. Even though the ending of the sequence is played for the shock of John killing the Elder, it mostly feels like a less-surprising retread of the execution of Santino D'Antonio in Chapter 2.
23. Casablanca Alley Fight
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum This is another transitional fight scene wherein some goons attack John just as he's arriving in Casablanca to see Sofia, and while there's some satisfying bone-crunching action, it's more of a functional scene than anything resembling a full-fledged showdown.
22. Final Duel
John Wick: Chapter 4 While this is essentially the payoff to all four films, it's still more of a dramatic scene than an action sequence. Technically it qualifies, since two people shoot at each other, but let's not pretend this is on the same level as basically anything else on this list. This is the Wick-equivalent of Luke fighting Vader--not technically astonishing in the same way as other fights in the series, but emotionally and thematically intense in a way few other sequences are.
21. Perkins v. John
John Wick Perkins mostly gets the short straw in the original Wick, but this fight, in which she ambushes John in his room at the Continental, shows what her potential could've been had she not broken the rules. There are some funny bits in the brief span of this fight--Charon trying to call John as he's fighting for his life, Harry walking into the hallway in his underwear at the end--but it mostly just serves as a way to get John information he needs to advance the plot.
20. RIP Marcus
John Wick Loyalty is hard to come by in the world of John Wick, but Marcus standing up to intense punishment by Viggo and Perkins shows the true nature of his character. Marcus does manage to get some shots in before being unceremoniously dispatched by Perkins, but it's too bad we never got to see John and Marcus go into serious battle together.
19. Church Attack
John Wick More memorable for John's infiltration of Viggo's stronghold inside a church than for the gunfight that occurs once the bad guys (relative term) arrive on the scene, this is still a riveting sequence that ends in a way that Wick fights rarely do: with John losing. This, of course, sets up the iconic “I'm thinking I'm back” scene moments later.
18. John v. Viggo
John Wick This was the hardest sequence to place; the hand-to-hand fight with Viggo in the rain is perhaps the franchise's only underwhelming fight--and it only gets more disappointing the more movies there are. John's been through the wringer, at this point, for sure, but knowing that he later gets hit by a zillion cars and shot a whole bunch and still fights his way through thick and thin makes it feel like he wasn't giving Viggo his all. That said, the weak fisticuffs are counterbalanced by the debut of car-fu as John fights his way through Viggo's men in order to take on the final boss.
17. Seven Cuts for the Bowery King
John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum This scene is memorable for its intense brutality, even in the context of the John Wick universe. So. Much. Stabbing. It's a brief, but excellent, showcase for Mark Dacascos' Zero to establish himself as a worthy adversary for John that pays dividends later in the movie, not to mention raises the stakes of what the Adjudicator is willing to do at the High Table's behest.
16. Killa Harkan's Nightclub
John Wick: Chapter 4 The John Wick movies love nothing more than a hardcore battle in the middle of a crowded space, and the nightclub sequence as John's trying to take out Killa Harkan is the version of that scenario on steroids. The clueless dancers are footloose and fancy-free as John and Killa brutally pummel each other, leaving a pile of bodies in their wake.
15. John Finally Gets His Man
John Wick Brilliantly intercut with one of Iosef's cronies playing a first-person shooter on the safehouse TV as John infiltrates and kills, basically, everyone, this is a climax that feels well-earned and incredibly satisfying by the time John puts an end to Iosef's insufferable life. There's not much back-and-forth here, nor any real sense that John might be in danger. This is John in complete control, but it's thrilling nonetheless. Plus, there's a lovely little button scene of Viggo getting a phone call, presumably to inform him of what's happened, where he says only, “Make the arrangement.” Dude is cold.
14. John's Return to New York
John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum John's return from Casablanca is interrupted by Zero and his men, first for an intense conversation (and, as seems to happen whenever Zero is around, stabbing) in the midst of Grand Central, before the thrilling motorcycle chase of John fighting off ninjas with swords while driving at a breakneck pace toward the safehaven of the Continental, ending with Charon enforcing the sacred rules of the hotel before Zero has a chance to finish the job.
13. Cool It, Cool It, Cool It
John Wick After getting captured by Viggo, John manages to break himself free before getting some assistance from Marcus, who finally picks a side and confirms that he's actually watching out for John. This leads to a full frontal assault on Viggo's vehicle with the biggest shotgun in the world, where John convinces the guy to rat out his own son. Quintessential Wick-ing.
12. John Gets His Ride Back
John Wick: Chapter 2 Wrapping up one lingering line-item from the first movie, it's really fun opening the sequel with John getting his car back from the chop shop run by Abram, Viggo's brother. The Baba Yaga infiltrates the enemy's operation and gets what he's after, just like he always does, while Abram reminds the audience just how storied of a killer John is. One of the coolest moments in the series comes as Abram tells his henchman that all the stories he's heard about John Wick are not quite true--but only because they've been watered down.
11. Night at the Museum
John Wick: Chapter 2 The first instance of what would become a John Wick staple--a fight in an exquisitely complex modern menagerie of trick mirrors and wild glass displays--the museum sequence that closes out the big action for Chapter 2 is full of stellar gunplay, crunching bones, and a fairly satisfying confrontation with Ares, Santino's boss-level bodyguard, whom John dispatches with her own weapon. Plus, it has one of the most memorable instances of one of John's best moves: whipping his empty gun at an enemy as he moves on to find a new weapon.
10. Viggo's Men Invade John's Home
John Wick While there are many bigger fights throughout the franchise that are more explosive than this Act 1 brawl in John's home, this scene is the thesis statement for the entire John Wick soon-to-be franchise to follow. This is where the first movie really sets expectations for everything to come--John's impactful fighting style, no wasted blows or bullets, Keanu clearly doing stunts himself, long takes with minimal edits--and is unforgettable for that reason. Plus, it culminates in a line from a local police officer that acts as both comic relief and a key indicator in the kind of world John inhabits: “Working again, John?”
9. John v. Ernest
John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum One of the best one-on-one fights in the world of John Wick also concludes with one of the gnarliest kills. It's always a blast when John goes up against someone who so clearly physically outmatches him that he's got to use all tools at his disposal--even library books. When John forces the book into Ernest's mouth, breaks his jaw, then uses the book to break Ernerst's neck, and then returns the book to the stacks? Pure cinema.
8. Siege at the Continental
John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum This sequence would rank highly even if it didn't culminate in a glass-breaking beatdown in the bowels of the Continental between John, Zero, and Zero's best goons. This is one of the richest set pieces of the movies, turning the deconsecrated Continental into a battleground, and it gives a peek at just how cool Winston is under immense pressure--and finally lets Charon show off his skills. Plus, this is the first time in John Wick history that one shot from John's gun doesn't quite do the trick thanks to some incredibly resilient body armor, and it's a blast to watch him have to work a little harder.
7. Gianna's Coronation
John Wick: Chapter 2 Following Gianna's suicide, John embarks on one of the lengthiest sequences in Chapter 2, forced to fight his way through Gianna's personal bodyguard, Cassian, in addition to tons more goons both through the coronation crowd and in the catacombs below the estate. One of the raddest moments in the Wick movies happens during this sequence: John's got his tactical shotgun but needs to reload, so he pins an adversary down with the business-end of the gun until he can reload and then, well, you know. This scene is John's masterclass of target practice, all while cycling through different weapons and improvising in close quarters. The whole sequence concludes with epic fisticuffs between John and Cassian in the streets of Rome before they find themselves crashing into the lobby of the Rome Continental.
6. Osaka Continental Melee
John Wick: Chapter 4 Worth it for John's usage of nunchucks alone--remember when he holds that one guy's head against the table and windmills the nunchucks against his skull a few times?!--the massive sequence in Osaka's stunning Continental is full of spectacular stunts and wince-inducing hits. Akira climbing up the back of the big guy using her knives as leverage, the one-on-one battle between Koji and Caine, Caine's use of electric doorbells to give away the locations of his enemies, and John trying to stay silent after Caine thinks he's successfully killed him--if only briefly. The excitement is constant and manages to give complete arcs for the new characters introduced during this sequence.
5. NYC Free-for-All
John Wick: Chapter 2 Otherwise known as the moment where we realized just how far-reaching the secret society of assassins really is. Everything from violinists to street vendors come after John in this sequence, essentially a gauntlet level of mini-bosses before John arrives face-to-face with Cassian for a rematch. This time, they silently pew-pew their way through bustling Manhattan until Cassian winds up riding a forever subway with a knife in his aorta.
4. Rocking the Kasbah
John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum It was inevitable the John Wick movies would reach this point, where dogs would join in on the action. Giving Sofia two sidekick dogs pays off as we see her--and the pups--in action alongside John as they escape the kasbah after things with Berrada go bad. A fitting mirror that one of the most brutal, exciting sequences in the franchise starts because the bad guy shoots a dog. This time, though, the dog gets to fight back.
3. Red Circle
John Wick Remember when John slams a glass pitcher into that one guy's head, then pummels him onto a high-top bar table before giving him the old double tap? The fight in the Red Circle nightclub is full of memorable kills like this, set to the thumping music with a backdrop of completely clueless club-goers (something that will become a running theme in these movies). This is the prototype for the stylish environments (and environmental kills!) we'd get in later movies, particularly the hall of mirrors in the art museum of Chapter 2, the inner sanctum of the New York Continental in Chapter 3, and the Osaka Continental battle from Chapter 4. Plus, there's a bonus Kevin Nash appearance as the scene kicks off.
2. Paris Free-for-All
John Wick: Chapter 4 This is the one everyone was talking about after Chapter 4--the one with that wild overhead long take as John tears through a rundown Paris apartment with a dragon's breath shotgun--but that's only a piece of what this sequence offers as John fights his way through Paris' best assassins. You've also got John doing his best car-fu against the flow of traffic at the Arc de Triomphe and, thanks to John's rescue of Mr. Nobody's dog (of course), teaming up with Nobody and Caine as they fight their way up the comically lengthy staircases of Rue Foyatier. All this in an effort to make it on time to his duel against The Marquis where he'll ultimately meet his end--and enjoy final victory.
1. Escape from New York
John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum The sheer amount of awesomeness in this sequence alone would be enough for any typical action movie, but having all of these moments in the span of a single sequence in which John is trying to escape New York is a tour de force. Many of Chapter 3's most memorable moments come from here--John using a horse as a weapon, John on horseback being chased through traffic by goons on motorcycles, and the antique shop knife fight, which might be the most impressively choreographed close-quarters fight in the series. Especially with that brutal, slow stab into that one dude's eyeball. In a series that runs the risk of desensitizing viewers to violence, this sequence is a reminder that John Wick will always find new ways to surprise you.
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