Keanu Reeves, as John Wick, is a known face for the movie franchise with the same name. Its fourth installment, John Wick: Chapter 4, is in post-production and is set to release on March 24, 2023. Derek Kolstad’s John Wick, owned by Lionsgate, began its journey as a franchise with its release of John Wick in 2014. It was followed by two more sequels, John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019). But in this article, we will talk about who John Wick is, how many people John Wick kills in his first movie, and the reason behind them.
John Wick, along with its two sequels, was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful action-thrillers that collectively grossed more than $587 million worldwide. And looking at such a massive success, the franchise decided to release two more films in the coming years, back-to-back.
Hence, in this article, we will talk about John Wick and his movies and calm down the curiosity about the number of kills John Wick achieved in his first and subsequent movies. So let us begin.
John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is an orphan who was born in Belarus as Jardani Jovonovich. He was later adopted by the Tarasov Russian Mafia, who raised him as an assassin. But he grew extremely ruthless, so much that even Viggo Tarasov, his boss, respected him but feared him.
The movie John Wick (2014)
John Wick (2014) is an American neo-noir action thriller film released on October 24, 2014. Chad Stahelski directed it with the writer Derek Kolstad, and the producers included Eva Longoria, Basil Iwanyk, David Leitch, and Michael Witherill. It was tagged as one of Reeves’ best performances and one of the best action films of 2014 by critics. However, it grossed $86 million worldwide against a production budget of $20–30 million.
The first installment stars Keanu Reeves (as John Wick), Michael Nyqvist (as his boss, Viggo Tarasov), Alfie Allen (boss’s real son, Iosef Tarasov), Adrianne Palicki (as a female assassin Ms. Perkins), Bridget Moynahan (as John’s wife Helen), Dean Winters (as Viggo’s right hand, Avi), Ian McShane (as Winston), John Leguizamo (a garage owner, Aurelio), and Willem Dafoe (as Marcus).
The Plot of The movie John Wick (2014)
Wick is a retired hitman for five years. In these years, he marries Helen, who dies of a terminal illness. But she left a beagle puppy named Daisy as her last gift to his husband before dying. Hence, despite John’s stuff personality, he bonds with the puppy and spends his days driving around in his vintage 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1.
At a gas station, Wick meets Iosef (the leader of a trio of Russian gangsters), who offers to buy his car. However, enraged with Wick’s refusal to sell the car, Iosef and his gangsters breaks into John’s home, knock him unconscious, kill Daisy, and steal his car. They reach Aurelio’s shop to change the vehicle identification number (VIN) of the stolen car. But Aurelio identifies the car, punches Iosef, and evacuates them from his shop. When John visits the shop, he identifies Iosef as the son of the Russian Mafia head, Viggo Tarasov.
Knowing the incident, Viggo tries to reconnect with John, who again refuses and kills the assassins sent by Viggo to his place. Viggo places price money of $2 million for killing John. John seeks the New York Continental Hotel’s assistance which permits no assassinations on its premises. But Viggo doubles the bounty to break this rule. And here begins the run and chase between John and Viggo and his henchmen.
In the end, after assassinating Viggo’s supporters, John and Viggo have a faceoff. And finally, Viggo is killed by John.
How Many People Did John Wick Kills In His First Movie?
John Wick is known for its brutal, gritty fight scenes, stylized lighting, and excellent music. And hence, the death tolls will certainly be something beyond the thinking of a common man. In his first movie, Keanu Reaves as John Wick avenges his dog’s murder, his wife’s final gift he owned. He is seen killing mostly the henchmen of Viggo and his fellow assassins. His weapons included both firearms and anything that could be used as a weapon including knives, cars, and even his bare hands.
Thus, the total number of kills John Wick achieves in his first movie counts to 77. These shot up to 128 fatalities in John Wick: Chapter Two and 94 in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. This accounts for 299 kills in the whole franchise so far. These numbers are nothing in the world of assassinators, while for an ordinary public, it sounds like something huge and heinous at the same time. But still, it does bring chills that these killings are performed by only one person, single-handedly. And with the upcoming movies, these killings will only rise.
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