We're thinking we're back!...for another John Wick piece. This time it's an official ranking of all four Wick-tastic flicks. With Ana de Armas exploding onto the scene in spinoff Ballerina, and now also John Wick 5 getting the go-ahead, it's time to look at the full John Wick saga so far and name the best of the best (since there really isn't a bad one)!
Where will Ballerina eventually place here? We'll probably check back in down the line and add that movie to the rankings, as Ana de Armas plays a Eve, a ballerina-assassin trained at the Ruska Roma Ballet School that was introduced to us in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. And since the movie is set between Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4, Keanu Reeves himself gets to make an appearance as as John Wick.
So which John Wick movie is the best? Is it the one where he shoots a bunch of guys or the one where he shoots a bunch of guys while on a horse? Or the movie where he shot a bunch of mercenaries on the stairs? It's all a swirling torrent of bullets, but we've sorted it all out for you.
Buckle up for some of the coolest carnage around. A world of assassins. Secret hotels for contract killers. Ground rules like "No Outside Food!" The world of John Wick is rich and lethal, and it hasn't produced a bad movie yet! The trick, however, is...naming the best one!
4. John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
Coming in at number four is the still-great John Wick: Chapter 2, the first sequel of the series, where Wick, after attaining bloody revenge for his grief therapy puppy, is called upon to kill a crime lord on behalf of that crime lord's jealous brother... on behalf of a blood oath that Wick owes the jealous brother. It's a solid action shoot-em-up follow-up that kicks off the whole "price on his head" bounty storyline that fuels the insanity of the next two films. Wick trying to make his way through Manhattan, pursued by Common, with every nefarious assassin coming out of the woodwork, is a prime Wick. John Wick: Chapter 2 opens up the World o' Wick, laying the groundwork for this tragic, violent story to continue on toward a point of no return.
3. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)
At number 3? Chapter 3! And what a wild freakin' ride this movie is. Wick barely outruns a $14 million dollar bounty, seeks refuge with his O.G. crime family -- the Ruska Roma -- kills a bunch of people in Casablanca, dedicates his soul (and finger) to The Elder, and then fends off the The Adjudicator's small army at the NYC Continental. All to get betrayed by Ian McShane's Winston in the end. It's a thrilling, action-packed adventure that very much acts as a bridging story, picking up with Chapter 2's cliffhanger and ending with a cliffhanger of its own. But it's got horse stunts, Halle Berry, Mark Dacascos, and another upsetting dog death.
2. John Wick (2014)
Landing in second place is the original revenge thriller, where it all started, 2014's John Wick! A New York crime boss' dipsh*t son runs afoul of not just any retired assassin -- THE retired assassin -- and it's off to the races. Neither pleas of mercy nor threats of violence can stop underworld boogeyman John Wick from killing everyone in his path to get revenge on this little A-hole for killing his sweet, tiny dog. Before spiraling outward into a gunslinging globe-trotting odyssey, the first John Wick was just a tight, thrilling murderfest about a grieving monster who unfortunately gets awakened for (what he thinks is) one final killing spree.
1. John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
John Wick: Chapter 4 closes out Wick's tale of redemption and damnation in epic fashion. Pitted against the High Table, which is using all of its vast resources to burn the world (and various Continentals) to kill him, Wick challenges the Marquis to a duel. But can Wick even make it to the duel with a $26 million dollar bounty on his head? It's a race against time into certain death as the hitman whose frightened peers refer to as "Baba Yaga" puts it all on the line to take to steal himself a seat at the High Table. It's the perfect culmination of a series that expanded its lore, and the art of violence, with each successive movie. The battle on the Rue Foyatier and the Arc de Triomphe car chase are not to be missed!
Read IGN's John Wick: Chapter 4 review here.
What order would YOU put the John Wick movies in? Which is your favorite? Vote in the poll above and/or let us know below...
