When John Wick was released in 2014 it did fairly well at the box office, but it didn’t exactly set the world on fire. Its legacy, however, didn’t take long to establish. If there is any single movie of the 2010s that changed the industry and led to a whole wave of similar movies (we’ll stop short of calling them copycats, because for the most part that wouldn’t be fair), it was John Wick. In less than a decade and a half nearly two dozen Wick-esque films have come along that clearly would not exist were that Keanu Reeves classic not have gone on to be so beloved (and such an impressive world-builder). But first, some exceptions. The first film’s two co-directors, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, started a production company, 87North Productions, that has been responsible for many of the films on this list. The same goes for the franchise’s other big production company, Thunder Road Pictures. However, they have a few that are only slightly Wickian. Not quite enough to be factored in here but still worthy of a shout-out. For instance, The Fall Guy, The Informer, The Contractor, and Dust Bunny.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Those films may have an action approach or even an assassin as part of the narrative, but they’re just a bit too far off from Wick to really be considered direct results of Wick. These examples, though? Zero chance they’d exist without Wick.
22) Love Hurts
Making the lovable Ke Huy Quan the star of his own Wickian franchise was certainly a good idea, and it wasn’t the worst idea to tailor it to his comedic chops, but boy does Love Hurts not work. This is the only movie to follow in Wick’s footsteps that falters from moment one and never recovers.
The screenplay is paper thin, and the action sequences are pretty cliché, but the big issue here is that it’s actively going for a romantic angle, yet Quan and Ariana DeBose have zero on-screen chemistry (it doesn’t help that she’s 20 years his junior). Love Hurts and Heart Eyes opened on the same weekend, both of them genre films with love for their respective subgenre’s (kung-fu and slasher, respectively) past. Love Hurts would be the bigger dud by a mile even if Heart Eyes weren’t surprisingly excellent.
Stream Love Hurts on Prime Video.
21) Trigger Warning
Trigger Warning, starring Jessica Alba (in her first movie in years), came from Basil Iwanyk, founder of Thunder Road Films. And it does fit in with his company’s filmography. But it’s also the blandest of all of them.
The film has been described as Rambo meets Wick and that’s an apt description, but it is highly lacking in either of those franchise’s level of excitement. In fact, it consistently seems content just delivering watered down versions of those films action sequences without any thought given why the sagas’ protagonists became icons. Many post-Wick films have ended up as Netflix exclusives (seven of the 22 total films listed here, in fact), and this one is the worst of the bunch.
Stream Trigger Warning on Netflix.
20) The Mother
Jennifer Lopez can be great in a movie, just see Out of Sight or Hustlers for proof. And much to her credit, she really does give The Mother her all, ultimately making the movie better than it would have been without her.
Even still, there’s nothing here that wasn’t done better in other “must protect the children” actioners. At the end of the day, this really could be summarized as a movie about John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum‘s Sofia Al-Azwar (Halle Berry) if she came out of the shadows to protect the child she’s kept her distance from. But it was already interesting to see Sofia’s internal conflict at the sacrifice required to keep one’s distance from their own child for said child’s safety. In other words, Parabellum already did the more interesting version of The Mother.
Stream The Mother on Netflix.
19) The Protégé
The Protégé may actually be the most disappointing movie here. If any star should have joined the Wick franchise and rivaled its title character’s skills, it should have been Maggie Q.
Yet, even with her and the one-two punch of Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Keaton along for the ride, this is a movie that escapes the memory as soon as it’s over. There are few impressive hand-to-hand brawls, and Q is as excellent as a badass as one might expect, but this is the blandest movie on this list.
Stream The Protégé on Starz.
18) Hotel Artemis
If any movie here is quite different from Wick, it’s Hotel Artemis. After all, there really isn’t much action. However, there is a hotel that specifically caters to criminals. If that isn’t the Continental, what is?
And, come to think of it, The Protégé isn’t the most disappointing movie listed here, it’s this one. Even with a meaty role for Jodie Foster and excellent supporting work by Dave Bautista and Jeff Goldblum, this ends up being a movie that was all world-building and no payoff. It is the definition of all style and no substance.
Stream Hotel Artemis on Paramount+.
17) Nobody 2
It was only a matter of time before a Wickian movie took its action hero on vacation, and that ended up being Nobody 2. And, if you were looking for passable summer movie season action fare, it sufficed just fine.
But it’s still a case of a movie feeling content replicating its predecessor. The tone is lightened and it technically delivers on the action and the comedy, but it doesn’t deliver on either enough to be seen as a standout in its genres.
Stream Nobody 2 on Netflix.
16) Kate
Like Maggie Q in The Protégé, it’s tough to see such a natural born action hero as Mary Elizabeth Winstead saddled with such average material. But, at the very least, Kate has a greater emphasis on mood and character development than the aforementioned movie.
While the film is a bit on the predictable side, it’s a case of the bad outweighing the good. Winstead is outstanding, the neon look is perfectly Wickian, and the tragic nature of the narrative sticks with you.
Stream Kate on Netflix.
15) Fight or Flight
If the long takes, presence of assassins, and gun-fu choreography weren’t proof enough that Fight or Flight is Wickian, it comes from Thunder Road Films. Unfortunately, it didn’t end up being a bit hit for Thunder Road.
Even still, this is one on the list that will end up being appreciated in time. It’s Wick if Wick was way less serious. And, to that point, Josh Hartnett was an amazing choice for the protagonist. A man who should have been an A-lister for the past 30 years instead of the touch-and-go career he’s experienced, Hartnett is more than able to both convincingly fight and lighten tones.
Stream Fight or Flight on Paramount+.
14) Pretty Lethal
The newest addition to Wickian cinema is Pretty Lethal, which is also the sub-subgenre’s first real attempt at crafting a horror narrative. For the most part it works, with an eclectic group of five protagonists ably brought to life by Iris Apatow, Maddie Ziegler, Mean Girls‘ Avantika, A Quiet Place‘s Millicent Simmonds, and Lana Condor.
Ziegler is the standout, but Uma Thurman also has a good time as the villainous Russian gangster keeping the young women captive after murdering their troupe leader. This is basically the Wick franchise’s Ruska Roma if they weren’t trained to kill from a young age, but were forced to adapt to the life in dire times.
Stream Pretty Lethal on Prime Video.
13) Day Shift
Just as Passenger 57 was Die Hard on a plane Day Shift is John Wick with vampires. And, while it’s silly, it works.
A way of looking at Day Shift is that it’s John Carpenter’s Vampires with lighter visuals and a greater emphasis on humor. The villain is pretty bland, but Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco have a ton of chemistry, not to mention the fact that the vampire hunting scenes are quite enjoyable.
Stream Day Shift on Netflix.
12) Silent Night
Oh, how things come full circle. We just wish they had come all the way full circle.
If there is any auteur whose work was a clear inspiration to the Wick franchise, it’s John Woo. Wick even helped re-popularize his trademark “gun-fu.” So, to see Woo helm a film for Thunder Road Films was a very exciting prospect. The end result, Silent Night, is fine. It was admirable that they tried to experiment and have a silent protagonist, but it leads to a film that feels disconnected from the audience and the audience disconnected from it. To circle back to that first mini paragraph, we just wish Woo had taken on a Wick spin-off, instead of something that feels somewhat like it could exist in the same universe.
Stream Silent Night on Peacock.
11) Nobody
Some will take issue with Nobody being ranked this low. After all, it was written by Derek Kolstad, creator of the John Wick franchise and writer of the first three films (the first two of which he wrote solo).
But take away the novelty of comedic legend Bob Odenkirk being an amazing action hero and it’s a pretty flat affair. The bus scene is the best Wick set piece to exist outside a Wick film, but there’s no real hook to this one like there is with the movies that rank above it for the purposes of our list. Suffice to say, though, we like Nobody, don’t let its placement at position 11 fool you.
10) Extraction
Remember how we said there wasn’t quite enough of a hook in Nobody? Extraction has a slightly better hook, and it comes down to its protagonist being a grieving father.
An action hero is always more interesting when they feel they have nothing left to lose, so they take on the fabled one last job to more or less get their heart thumping again. We fear for them because we know they don’t care if they’re going home or not. That’s the case with Chris Hemsworth’s Tyler Rake in Extraction, though it is a case of the sequel beating the original at its own game.
Stream Extraction on Netflix.
9) Extraction 2
How does Extraction 2 beat the original at its own game? It’s pretty simple: the action sequences are even more drag-out, knock-down outstanding. The 21-minute “one-take” sequence is about as epic an action sequence as 2020s action cinema has produced.
It will be interesting to see where the future of this franchise takes us, because Extraction 2 ends on a note promising a wider lens. We’re all for it, because while neither is high art, they are extremely fun.
Stream Extraction 2 on Netflix.
8) Gunpowder Milkshake
Now we’ve come to the under-sung hero of the post-Wick movies: Gunpowder Milkshake. Like the original Wick film it opens the door and allows a view into a whole world of assassins. And, while it doesn’t feel like an entirely different world of assassins from those in Wick, it’s never too similar as to feel cliché.
It would be easy to point to Gunpowder Milkshake and just say it’s the woman version of Wick, but that’s far from the insult those who wield it think it is. It works like a charm, bringing in a crew of Hollywood vets and giving Karen Gillan equal space to kick butt acrobatically and with a host of inventive weaponry. Stylish, smart, fast-paced, and bolstered by outstanding work by Gillan, here’s one that could either work as a one-off (and that’s more or less what its closed ending leaves it to be) or as the start of a franchise.
Stream Gunpowder Milkshake on Netflix.
7) Atomic Blonde
As soon as the trailer for Atomic Blonde debuted, with Charlize Theron engaging in a drawn-out, single shot battle against multiple assailants in an apartment complex, it was clear that John Wick‘s influence had started to grow. Here we had the first example of a movie carrying that particular Wickian style.
Atomic Blonde was David Leitch’s first credit film as a director (he went uncredited for the first Wick) and with it one of the best modern action movie helmers was introduced to the world. Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw, Bullet Train, The Fall Guy, there isn’t a dud in the bunch. And, while those movies are a bit breezier and more entertaining on the surface, there’s still something more impressive about Atomic Blonde, with its plot rife with betrayals and Cold War era paranoia.
Stream Atomic Blonde on HBO Max.
6) Sisu: Road to Revenge
Technically, neither Sisu nor its sequel, Sisu: Road to Revenge, were direct results of the Wick saga. They don’t come from any of the same people and the director, Jalmari Helander, has more specifically cited the original Rambo film and the oeuvre of John Woo as more direct inspirations.
The inspiration of those films is certainly obvious but, come on, Sisu is extremely Wickian. Its nearly silent protagonist with a ton of plot armor couldn’t be any more Wickian if he watched the whole franchise with a pen and notepad on his lap. Either way, they’re great watches for fans of the franchise, even if the sequel isn’t quite on par with the original film. But that has more to do with the original being so great, it’s not a slight against Road to Revenge, which is an all-around very solid action movie sequel.
Stream Sisu: Road to Revenge on Netflix.
5) The Beekeeper
What makes The Beekeeper a Wickian film while other Jason Statham fare like A Working Man is not? For one, A Working Man is based on a book, but that wouldn’t disqualify it. More importantly, The Beekeeper is more focused on big, shadowy organizations, just like Wick.
For one, Statham’s character is systematically dismantling a scamming criminal organization and, two, he himself is part of a big “Hive” of assassins. The film also isn’t opposed to a little gun-fu. Director David Ayer may not have ever come out and said it was inspired by Wick, but this, one of Statham’s best movies, almost certainly wouldn’t be in existence without the Reeves franchise.
Stream The Beekeeper on Prime Video.
4) Monkey Man
A very impressive and atmospheric directorial debut by Dev Patel, Thunder Road Films’ Monkey Man is a consistently effective revenge tale. In fact, it may be the most emotional revenge tale on this entire list and, as you’ve seen, it’s been mostly made up of revenge tales.
We are consistently forced to feel the rage and pain of Patel’s Kid just as we’re forced to witness his resourcefulness when he gets himself into situations that should make him meet his end. Very well shot and mostly paced to perfection, Monkey Man can feel a little relentless and dour, but it’s something every Wick fan should watch at least once.
3) Bullet Train
Bullet Train is easily the most stylish film on this list, yet that style never overwhelms its substance. It wants to tell a sprawling story in a single locale and have a blast doing so. Mission fully accomplished.
Brad Pitt is great in the against-type role of a perpetually confused hitman who isn’t quite sure why he is where he is. He’s a ton of fun to watch here, filling an action hero role but with a twist. Ably supporting him is a note-perfect cast all playing quirky fellow assassins with their own means and methods of killing and operating in the field. Who knows how a sequel to this one would shape up, but there should absolutely be a Bullet Train 2.
Stream Bullet Train on Hulu.
2) Violent Night
Violent Night doesn’t get enough credit for how successful it is in blending genres. Tonally it’s pretty dark, but not aggressively so. It tackles greed and rage and does it in an extremely violent way but also starts off with a vomit joke and caps the events with a pretty fantastic but cartoonish death for its villain (getting sucked through a teeny chimney).
But, even with its underrated script working for it, the film mostly falls on the shoulders of David Harbour, and Santa Claus may very well be his best role to date. He plays him with the perfect amount of exhaustion, but we never lose hope that he’ll get his hands dirty if it’s for the right cause, like saving a little girl who has yet to become jaded enough to warrant a spot on the naughty list. Here’s hoping the sequel measures up, because this was an immediate new festive favorite for those who could get on its wavelength.
Stream Violent Night on Peacock.
1) Sisu
Sisu is basically if you took John Wick, gave it a Grindhouse-esque coat of pain, and had Wick go up against Nazis. And when protagonist Aatami Korpi goes after Nazis, he only leaves behind body parts. For most people, that’s about as satisfying a sight as there is to see.
All the Wickian bones are right here. We have a man who went from a violent profession (soldier, as opposed to assassin) to a quieter life only to then get yanked back into it and react violently in the process. This is the best Wickian movie because of the lead performance by Jorma Tommila, its straightforward narrative (it may very well do the simplistic revenge tale better than the original John Wick) works like a charm, and the action sequences feel like they’re really going for the gut. It’s an intense actioner, yet not so overwhelmingly intense as to sacrifice rewatchability.
Stream Sisu on Prime Video.
Which of these Wickian films is your favorite? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Netflix -
Courtesy of Crunchyroll / Sony Pictures
