John Wick’s most memorable fights ranked

Keanu Reeves' brooding assassin never runs out of fresh ways to take out bad guys. Here are the best punch-ups and shoot-outs from all four John Wick films

By Phil Pirrello | March 31, 2023 | 12:00pm

Film Features John Wick

John Wick’s most memorable fights ranked

John Wick (Lionsgate) Graphic: The A.V. Club

Keanu Reeves’ John Wick isn’t a superhero, but he sure fights like one. Clothed in designer Kevlar suits and armed to the teeth with an arsenal that would make an ’80s action movie blush, Wick is a one-man war party, fueled by a dogged determination that is surpassed only by his endless supply of ammo.

For nearly a decade, this once-retired, near-mythic assassin-turned-avenging, ballistic angel (RIP, his dog) has helped redefine action movies with an emphasis on inventive practical stunts. With John Wick: Chapter 4 seemingly marking an end to John’s action-hero tenure, The A.V. Club is ranking his best, most memorable fights, from shootouts to fisticuffs.

Note: the following countdown includes spoilers for for anybody who hasn’t seen John Wick: Chapter 4 yet.

12. The library fight, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

John Wick vs Earnest / Library Fight Scene | 60 FPS | John Wick Chapter 3- Parabellum 2019

picks up a few minutes after leaves off, with John on the run as the clock ticks down to him being “excommunicado” in his world of assassins. After arriving at the New York Public Library, John ventures deep into the stacks where a ridiculously tall assassin named Ernest quotes Dante to our anti-hero before trying to kill him. (Ernest is played by NBA star Boban Marjanovic.) A blur of well-choreographed punches ends with Ernest taking a book to the jaw and throat before getting practically curb-stomped on the tome. The sequence is brief, but memorable—especially for its bursts of levity, like when Ernest brings a finger to his lips to shush John before he tries to end him. (They are fighting in a library, after all.)

29 Comments