A franchise about hitmen is guaranteed to have many dead bodies andJohn Wickis no different. Like many other screen heroes, Wick (Keanu Reeves) gets pulled back into a life he wanted to leave behind. He planned to spend time with his wife, Helen, but they killed his dog and stole his car, and since then, nothing has been the same. Even though Wick is responsible for most of the terminations, there are many other murderous minds with ties to the High Table (a secret international organization featuring 12 of the world’s powerful crime families).
Born out of a spec script titledScorn, the franchise is the brainchild of screenwriter, Derek Kolstad, who almost gave up on Hollywood after writing 60 undeveloped screenplays. His wife encouraged him to keep his hand on the pen, so we got some of the most brutal movies ever made. Many fictional characters have been killed since Kolstad’s story first came to the screen, and withFrom the World of John Wick: Ballerinaset to release next year, more will still lose their lives. The good thing? None of them are innocent people.
So far, here is what the kill count for each film looks like.
4’John Wick' (2014)
It’s always fun to see bullies messing with the wrong person and getting punished. InJohn Wick, we are introduced to “Baba Yaga” as he is grieving the death of his wife Helen. She arranged for him to receive a beagle puppy once he died, and, thanks to the pet, life is a little bearable.
Sadly, Russian gangsters, led by Iosef Tarasov, provoke him. First, they try to force him to sell his 1969 Boss 429 Mustang. When he refuses,they break into John’s home, assault him, kill the pup, and steal the Stang.It turns out Josef is the son of Viggo Tarasov, the boss of New York City’s Russian mafia, who John once worked for. Father is pissed at Stupid Son, but predictably, Father tries to protect Son. Still, John runs through them all.
Fewer Enemies in the First Outing
The stakes are lower inJohn Wick, It’s mostly John vs. The Tarasovs, so fewer people get a bullet. The numbers would have been even lower if Viggo had relied on a few trusted men to do the job. Here, the mob boss places a bounty on John’s head, allowing various assassins to hunt him down. In the real world,mob bosses tend to have reliable hitmen that they can count on for jobs like this.
The original film was also made on a much lower budget,hence there wasn’t enough room to showcase numerous action sequences.According to thebook They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog – the Complete Uncensored Ass-Kicking Oral History of John Wick, Gun Fu, and the New Age of Action. Several principal cast members took lower salaries than they generally do. Additionally, Reeves put his own dollars into the project, and the director modified numerous scenes to keep the budget low.
3’John Wick: Chapter 2' (2017)
Action movies havea rather annoying tropeinvolving delusional heroes thinking they can retire to a peaceful life of tulips and cuddles. An unwelcome visitor will always show up at the door (or blow it up), and that’s what happens to John inJohn Wick 2.
After getting his revenge on the spoilt ‘kid’ who killed his dog, he tries to become a normal citizen again but is approached by the Camorra boss, Santino D’Antonio, whowants him to assassinate his sister, Gianna, so that he can take her seat at the High Table.Santino sees it as John returning a favor he did to him a while back. Wick considers nullifying thequid pro quodeal, but Winston — the kingpin of the secret assassin society faction — reminds him that he has to respect the code.
Wick Does the Bare Minimum
John Wick: Chapter 2
InJohn Wick 2,the titular protagonist kills out of obligation. He isn’t driven by revenge, so he is simply in a “Lemme do this and get done with it” mindset. He is like a white-collar employee, constantly watching the clock for when the stick will strike 5. He is also more disciplined.
A certain level of productivity always stems from going rogue (as we get to see in the latter films), andthe protagonist’s numbers tend to go high when he isn’t abiding by the rules of the underground. Because John isn’t so keen on helping Santino fulfill his wishes, he kills sparingly. In fact, two scenes mainly contribute to the kill statistics: the opening scene where Santino sends men to intimidate John and the third act scene where John confronts the mobster’s henchmen after getting framed.
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2’John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum' (2019)
InJohn Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Wick goes on the run afterhe is labeled “excommunicado” for the unauthorized killing of Santino on The Continental grounds. With a $14 million bounty on his head, he is forced to fight through hordes of assassins as he figures out how to reestablish the peaceful life he once had. From temporarily touching the steps of The Continental to prevent a foe from killing him to seeking safe passage to Casablanca from The Director, (the head of the Ruska Roma crime syndicate), John does all he can to stay alive.
Endless Threats
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Witha slightly longer running time and a bigger budget,there was room for more kills inChapter 3. And there could have been way more, if Wick hadn’t been given a one-hour grace period before his “excommunicado” status went into effect. The assassins come in quickly and in droves, but John Wick is the definitive synonym for “one-man-army,” so he takes on everyone and comes out on top. As is the case in previous movies,most of the kills come via Gun Fu-inspired gunshots, but the most memorable one is one where Ernest’s neck gets snapped against a book by Wick.
1’John Wick: Chapter 4' (2023)
Tired of running, Wick takes his fight to The High Table inJohn Wick: Chapter 4. He heads to Morocco and kills The Elder, aka, The one who sits above the Table. Consequently, High Table member Marquis Vincent Bisset de Gramont grants Winstron unlimited resources to kill John. He alsoenlists Caine (Donnie Yen) — a blind, retired High Table assassin — to kill the protagonist, threatening to harm his daughter if he refuses to do so. John then takes refuge at the Osaka Continental, run by his old friend Shimazu Koji, but things only get thicker from there.
Wick and Caine are the Perfect Action Duo
John Wick: Chapter 4
With a 169-minute running time and a $100 budget, this is the longest and most expensive movie in theJohn Wickfranchise.The stakes are higher, the playgrounds are numerous and the dispute is protracted, so we see many people losing their lives. Caine’s inclusion also helps boost the kill statistics, as he is just as brutal as Wick. After all, it would have been a waste to cast someone like Donnie Yen and not let him obliterate foes in the hundreds. So good is Caine thata spinoff revolving around the character is being developed.
