JOHN WICK: Top Three Fight Scene Faves From The Franchise So Far
Years and years ago I used to be obsessed with what my favorite fight scenes were in movies, and I would gauge this topic on my own time based on the performers, choreography, choreographers, style, and tone of the action, and even sometimes the length of the fight scene. One metric I also factored in was whether or not the fight scene would cut itself in between cuts from other climatic scenes in that film. Nowadays, it’s hard to even draw up a top ten as I’ve seen so many fight scenes, and so whenever I see a random post on social media asking followers what their favorite fight scene is from a film, I instantly pass.
All fight scenes – and I mean really good, signature action sequences in a film or a television series – put in some intense effort to tap into the memory cells of their target audiences. It’s why Stallone fans can remember Rocky getting pumped with so much adrenaline that he can be seen goading his opponents into hitting him again and again before turning the tables on them. It’s why the scene with John Matrix running Bennett into a steampipe in Mark Lester’s Commando is still so fresh to this day. It’s why Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd have become so relevant in discussions pertinent to Jackie Chan’s evocative action direction and the post-90s wave of Hong Kong action cinema in the West.
It’s also fandom like this, topped off with classic spaghetti Western flicks and modern crime thrillers, that’s helped bolster the success of the John Wick franchise since the first film’s inaugural premiere at Fantastic Fest in 2014 and subsequent release by Summit Entertainment the following month. Rejoining lead actor Keanu Reeves along with director Chad Stahelski since their heyday together on the Wachowskis’ The Matrix Trilogy, the action in the John Wick saga brings a wide blend of fighting styles to the table, anywhere from Judo and Kung Fu to Kali and Sambo. Screenrant’s Brad Curran delineates these styles in an analysis he wrote at the site back in 2021 which I think action and martial arts fans will find more than interesting.
The film’s action scenes, a team effort tirelessly rehearsed and coordinated by the folks at 87Eleven, are a treat to watch as they pertain to the constant wear and tear our titular protagonist suffers in his quest to clear himself of the curse he faces after years of being a fearsome and reputable assassin for the hidden criminal underworld and its overseers at The High Table. With at least one spin-off series and a spin-off film featuring Ana De Armas in toe, the fourth movie, otherwise known as John Wick: Chapter 4, is due on March 24, 2023 in the U.S., and so I thought I would dive in a little bit on the film’s fight scenes in what I think my favorite moments are from each film. I choose one in particular from all three films in the gallery below, and I invite everyone to weigh in on the conversation over at my Instagram and Post pages. Be sure to tap each image to enlarge them, then tap the “i” icon at the bottom-right and pull the screen down for the readouts.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!