Fewer franchises have more goodwill than the John Wick franchise. From the first movie’s humble origins as a B-movie quietly launched in the fall of 2014 to the latest installment John Wick: Chapter 4‘s big-budget tentpole release, the John Wick movies have only grown in popularity and critical acclaim in the nine years it has existed.
Most critics like Time’s Richard Corliss praised director Chad Stahelski’s unique approach to a tired trope, the brooding killer, by “bring[ing] a sleek, chic gusto to the six or seven big action scenes, shooting the mayhem in longish takes rather than chopping it into short shots.
2. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Just two years later, they got their wish, as Chapter 3 was fast-tracked and quickly shot and released in the summer of 2019. Like the last one, the third John Wick brought in even bigger names like Oscar-winners Halle Berry and Angelica Huston and expanded the word of Wick and the Continental, making the High Table a legitimate threat and planting the seeds for future spinoffs like the Ana de Armas-led Ballerina.