John Wick is the most kick-ass killer on the planet. The assassin’s assassin. The one they call ‘Baba Yaga’, aka the Boogeyman. He’s also pretty terrible at retiring, as having apparently hung up his weapons at the start of the first flick, he’s since killed a lot of people. In a variety of weird and wonderful ways. So the following are 10 of the best John Wick kills from Chapters 1 and 2. Just BEWARE OF SPOILERS AHEAD…
10. Knife Punch – Chapter 1
This is where it all begins. Numerous masked assailants break into John’s house and endeavor to kill him. Not a good idea. He takes them out one-by-one, the highlight being Wick placing the point of a knife on one dude’s chest, then punching the other end of it. Three times.
9. Sumo Savagery – Chapter 2
There’s a point in Chapter 2 where it feels like all of New York is trying to kill John. Especially when a giant sumo wrestler takes him on. Wick tries everything to bring the man-mountain down, and gets thrown through a plate-glass window for his troubles. His response? John shoots sumo in the stomach. Then shoots another bullet through his brain via the top of his head. Job done.
8. Revenge Part 1 – Chapter 1
Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen) is the fool who sparked John’s wrath by killing his puppy at the start of Chapter 1. As that film draws to a close, he’s chased through a warehouse, where Wick shoots him once. “It was just a f**k’n…” he exclaims, but before Tarasov can say “dog” John shoots him a second time, in the head. Because of course, it wasn’t.
7. Spin Cycle – Chapter 2
A motorbike tails Wick, the bloke on its back shooting at him. With precision timing, John opens his car door, and said bloke slams into it, spinning 360-degrees through the air, directly into the camera.
6. Red Dead – Chapter 1
A huge, bald henchman with a big red beard attacks John in the nightclub sequence. In return, John shoots him in the leg, smashes a glass jug in his face, pulls him by that big red beard, slams him into a table, and delivers a double-tap to the side of his head.
5. Murder by Suicide – Chapter 2
John Wick doesn’t want to carry out this kill, but due to a ‘Marker’ he has no choice. Gianna D’Antonio (Claudia Gerini) makes it easy for him, however, disrobing, slitting her wrists, and walking into a giant bath. “Why?” he asks. “Because I lived my life my way, and I’ll die my way,” comes her response. He holds Gianna’s hand as she slips under, then shoots her in the head to make sure. Because he’s John Wick.
4. Car-nage – Chapter 2
John drives straight at a dude, then at the last second turns, the back of his car slamming that dude into a wall. Simple. Painful. Effective.
3. Balls Deep – Chapter 2
A guy comes for John on a train platform. John dives low, and drives a knife up into his crotch. Then pulls it out and plunges the blade into his chest. The station’s PA asks anyone seeing anything suspicious to please report it. Though they make no mention of testicle trauma.
2. The Pencil is Mightier Than the Sword – Chapter 2
This is a good example of what movie people call ‘set-up and pay-off’. At the start of Chapter 2, mention is made of John Wick killing three guys with a pencil. It’s kind of a joke at that point. But later in the film, we watch him do just that. Three guys are waiting for John by a café. He clocks them, grabs a pencil, and proceeds to slam it into various body parts. He finishes his final assailant off by holding the pencil against a wall, and slamming his head into it.
1. Revenge Part 2 – Chapter 2
Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) is Chapter 2’s villain. The most cowardly movie villain since Iosef Tarasov in Chapter 1. In the hall of mirrors he baits John Wick, mocking his lack of a wife, a life, and a home. He then makes a run for it, hiding on the sacred ground of the Continental, where he knows John can’t spill blood. But he hasn’t banked on our hero not giving a sh*t. With Wick standing over him, the Italian laughs and suggests he walk away. But before he can finish that sentence, John murders him in cold blood, shooting D’Antonio in the head. It’s the ultimate kill, making John ‘Excommunicado’ – his ties to the Continental operation severed. It also means he has pretty much signed his own death warrant, in the process setting up John Wick 3. “What have you done?” asks Winston in the moments after the bullet is fired. And so it begins. Again.
John Wick: Chapter 2 is in cinemas now.