The John Wick franchise has seen strong reviews so far, but with sequels and a series on the way, how do their scores compare to each other?
The John Wick franchise has seen great critical praise, but how do the Rotten Tomatoes scores of each movie compare to each other? The first John Wick may have only just arrived in 2014, but it quickly became one of the most popular action franchises, earning multiple sequels. John Wick: Chapter 4 was recently delayed until 2023, but a spin-off series, The Continental is on the way later this year.
The franchise started as a lower-budget neon-noir showcase of Keanu Reeves’ stunt abilities as he re-teamed with his Matrix trilogy stunt double and stunt coordinator, Chad Stahelski, who brought a new level of high-octane action directing to the genre. Introducing a world of secret assassins and other shadowy organizations, the John Wick movies incorporate flashy “gun-fu” action resulting in a massive kill-count for Reeves’ formerly retired assassin, John Wick.
All three John Wick movies have very similar Rotten Tomatoes scores, with John Wick coming in at 86 percent, John Wick: Chapter 2 at 89 percent, and John Wick: Capter 3 – Parabellum also at 89 percent, with a franchise average of 88 percent. While the Tomatometer score goes up for the second two movies, which are tied at 89 percent, each movie’s average rating is higher than the last, starting at 6.9 out of 10 for John Wick, rising to 7.4 for John Wick: Chapter 2, and 7.5 for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
It’s rare for a franchise to see so much consistency in reviews, but even the Top Critics score seeing a similar pattern to the scores for all critics. Even the audience score, frequently out of step with critics, is in near lock-step with the critic scores for each John Wick movie, coming in at 81 percent, 85 percent, and 86 percent respectively. Altogether, the franchise has an 88 percent average score from all critics, 82 percent average from Top Critics, and an 84 percent audience score. Needless to say, all three movies also have Rotten Tomatoes “Certified Fresh” seal.
With John Wick: Chapter 4 on its way in 2023, it’ll be curious to see if it bears the same level of consistency or if it will once again raise the bar with another franchise high. After John Wick: Chapter 4, John Wick: Chapter 5 is expected to conclude the series. The odds of all five movies outperforming the previous installment is low, simply because of how fickle Rotten Tomatoes can be, and John Wick: Chapter 4 is only one review away from having a lower score than John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
- John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)Release date: Mar 24, 2023
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