John Wick is “a man of focus, committment, sheer will,” who defies death and survives would-be fatal injuries many times throughout the series.
This list contains discussions of graphic violence and intense fight sequences.
Throughout the John Wick saga, the title character demonstrates an unnatural ability to survive almost any dire situation. John Wick (Keanu Reeves) regularly walks off gunshot wounds, car crashes, and falls that should break bones. As the series goes on, the stakes get higher and the battles John finds himself in become increasingly more intense.
Reeves underwent rigorous training to bring to life a character who is known for his endurance. One of the John Wick movies’ most important quotes, which effectively sums up John’s entire character, comes from the first movie’s main villain Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist): “John is a man of focus, commitment, sheer will.” The most famous fights that take place in John Wick movies are the ones where John proves these words time and time again.
10Gets Thrown Off A Balcony At The Red Circle
John Wick
John Wick
John Wick regularly defies death by taking on twenty assailants by himself. However, when John goes to the Red Circle nightclub in pursuit of Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen), he is also stabbed before being thrown over a balcony by Kirill (Daniel Bernhardt). He hits the ground with nothing to break his fall. While the audience realizes that injuries that should be fatal will not affect John, this sequence also segues into more exposition on the setting and the Continental Hotel. John asks to see a doctor when he gets back to the Continental, demonstrating how the hotel provides everything an assassin might need.
9The Opening Sequence Of Chapter 3
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
RRelease DateMay 17, 2019DirectorChad StahelskiCastHalle Berry , Mark Dacascos , Cecep Arif Rahman , Keanu Reeves , Angelica Huston , Yayan Ruhian , Laurence Fishburne , Jason Mantzoukas , Ian McShane , Asia Kate Dillon , Lance Reddick , Tiger Hu Chen
John engages in a continuous string of fights taking place in some odd locations for the first 20 minutes of John Wick: Chapter 3. First, John is attacked by a single hitman while retrieving supplies from a library and is stabbed through the shoulder during this fight. He is also still injured from the events of John Wick: Chapter 2’s ending, powering through wounds to the abdomen and visibly limping. After the library, he runs to “Doc’s” (Randall Duk Kim) office to get stitched up and retrieve some medication.
John then flees and ends up in a shop full of antique weapons and fights several assassins while retrieving knives from display cases. He then runs to the next location – a stable for horses – and fights off several more assailants before riding away on a horse. John is always able to fight off a ridiculous number of enemies, and the meds help him continue despite his injuries. However, this sequence is still an impressive feat of strength and skill.
John Wick: 10 Injuries That Would Have Killed Anyone
John Wick has taken a lot of pain yet is still able to dish out incredible amounts of violence. Some of this stuff, he should not have survived.
8Fight With Cassian In Rome
John Wick: Chapter 2
John Wick: Chapter 2
RRelease DateFebruary 10, 2017DirectorChad StahelskiCastJohn Leguizamo , Ian McShane , Thomas Sadoski , Common , Keanu Reeves , David Patrick Kelly , Lance Reddick , Laurence Fishburne , Ruby Rose , Peter Stormare , Bridget Moynahan
John Wick: Chapter 2 introduces Cassian (Common) as a formidable adversary to John. After John “kills” Cassian’s charge Gianna D’Antonio (Claudia Gerini), the two hitmen engage in a brutal fight. During the fight, they both tumble down a lot of stairs around the Rome Continental, which would have killed or broken bones for anyone except these two men. While Cassian is set up as a bigger threat to John than other unnamed assassins, the general circumstances in which they meet are also dangerous. The first time they meet, the setting provides extra barriers. The second time, John is fleeing every other assassin in New York. Yet John survives meeting Cassian both times.
7Almost Hanged By The Ruska Roma
John Wick: Chapter 4
John Wick: Chapter 4
RRelease DateMarch 24, 2023DirectorChad StahelskiCastHiroyuki Sanada , Clancy Brown , Scott Adkins , Keanu Reeves , Ian McShane , Bill Skarsgard , Laurence Fishburne , Rina Sawayama , Donnie Yen , Lance Reddick , Shamier Anderson
In John Wick: Chapter 4, John travels to Berlin to get the Ruska Roma to support his duel with the Marquis (Bill Skarsgård). They are not pleased to see him because everyone who is a potential ally of John Wick is being hunted by the High Table. Katia (Natalia Tena) orders John to be strangled with a slowly tightening noose. John manages to speak and proposes his plan. Katia releases him and John goes to his next fight, when almost being strangled would incapacitate most people for some time.
6Motorcycle Fight & Crash
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
John Wick: Chapter 3 finds another interesting location for a fight as John returns to the New York Continental: on a highway while everyone is riding motorcycles. Zero (Mark Dacascos) and others are pursuing John on bikes and unsheath blades in unison. John not only has the dexterity to adapt quickly to fighting on a motorcycle, but survives crashing in front of the Continental with no helmet. Once John touches the front steps of the hotel, he is declared “safe” by Charon (Lance Reddick) and Zero cannot attack him as he is on Continental grounds.
12 Best John Wick Fight Scenes From Across All 4 Movies
The John Wick franchise is filled with memorable fight scenes, but these stand above the rest, and include some of the best action in modern cinema.
5Winston Shoots Him Off The Continental Roof
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
After John helps Winston (Ian McShane) and Charon defend the New York Continental from the High Table in John Wick: Chapter 3’s ending, Winston betrays John. The Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon) is willing to give the Continental back to Winston, but John’s transgressions against the High Table are still a problem. In order to secure his power, Winston shoots John several times and sends him toppling off the roof of the Continental.
If the bullets hadn’t killed John, the fall definitely should have. He hits several awnings and a fire escape on the way down and probably should have broken his neck. At least in this instance, the movie doesn’t pretend that John is capable of walking away on his own after this and one of the Bowery King’s (Laurence Fishburne) people picks him up.
4Fight With Killa Harkan
John Wick: Chapter 4
Katia says that she will consider allowing John to rejoin the Ruska Roma if he kills Killa Harkan (Scott Adkins), the man responsible for her father’s death. John goes to Killa’s nightclub in Berlin and a fight ensues, during which John is again thrown over a decorative waterfall and endures another bone-breaking landing before getting up and continuing to fight. Killa frustratedly shouts, “Why don’t you just die?” He is not the first nor the last person to ask that.
3Marcus Saves Him From Being Suffocated
John Wick
In the first John Wick movie, Marcus (Willem Dafoe) is revealed to have been a steadfast ally all along when Viggo’s men are smothering John. Marcus saves John by shooting one of the men, giving John the chance to fight back. John recovers from being suffocated very quickly and is able to fight off and kill both men, despite being restrained. He then continues to the men outside, defeats them, and corners Viggo. John’s unnatural physical resistance comes into play in this scene, as does the loyalty others have towards him. He would have died if Marcus had not come to his rescue.
2Winston Gives Him An Hour To Run
John Wick: Chapter 2
In addition to physical endurance, John has an unnatural ability to sway other characters through sheer gravitas. At the end of John Wick: Chapter 2, when Winston chooses to give John an hour to run before declaring him Excommunicado. In contrast, Winston has Perkins quickly and mercilessly killed for the same crime of “conducting business” on Continental grounds in the first movie’s ending. When John asks, “Why am I not dead?” Winston merely says, “Because I deemed it not to be.” John survives here because he has impressed Winston with his skill and noble intentions, earning some kind of loyalty.
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John Wick: Chapter 5 seems to be happening, and here are 10 ways that the upcoming sequel could work if Keanu Reeves’ John Wick doesn’t return.
1Fight On The Stairs Of Sacré-Cœur
John Wick: Chapter 4
Leading up to John Wick: Chapter 4’s ending, John is trying to get to the Sacré-Cœur in Paris by sunrise for his High Table duel. In one night, he has already defied death several times in multiple car crashes around the Arc de Triomphe. Mr. Nobody (Shamier Anderson) also spares John when John saves his dog. After all this, John finally reaches the stairs leading up to Sacré-Cœur. John looks exhausted at just the thought of walking up all the stairs – before a bunch of people show up to fight him all the way up.
John has almost reached the top when he is kicked hard and is sent brutally rolling down all the stairs. His fall is paused midway when a man throws him into a lamp post – which should have broken his back – and he continues falling. Caine (Donnie Yen) then arrives and encourages John to rise again, and they impossibly fight their way back up in time for the duel. This now-famous scene is just one time in the John Wick franchise when John survives when it seems impossible.
