Related to timing, part of why John Wick hit so hard the year it first came out was because it was so obviously and interestingly the only practical stunt effects movie that year or just about any year to either side of it. It’s a practical stunts showcase from a director who is a stunt professional and in this “we’ll underpay large teams of CG artists to do everything in post” era.

I find it particularly easy to compare John Wick to Deathproof, the Tarantino half of Grindhouse and ode to low budget practical stunt films, which I also love. John Wick is a low budget grindhouse-style practical effects movie in every practical way (not just an ode to one). It is amazing it has become so much “a franchise” from such humble beginnings.

John Wick 2 I started making sure to catch them all in theaters. JW2 is probably one of the most interesting uses of “Chekov’s Armory” in its “gun fu” I’ve ever seen, but part of what made it particularly stand out was I was fortunate enough to catch it sitting next to some drunk “semi-pro” Halo players that were able to ammo count the guns accurate enough to call reloads. I’m not a gun person, but that was neat attention to detail by both the filmmakers and the weird theater audience I was in and I respect that.

John Wick 3 has some of the coolest animal stunts in any movie. Part of what sells it so well is that Halle Berry trained for a couple years to be the only on set animal trainer, so the dogs really are following nothing but her commands and looking at no one but her. It’s an incredible dedication to stunt work and yet Halle Berry is humble about it and liked to remind interviewers it was barely a fraction of the work Keanu has been putting in for John Wick stunts.

Anyway, yeah, I love a lot of little things about John Wick both the first movie for what it was and so far what the other movies have delivered. (I still have not watched the Peacock show thought, because it was a Peacock exclusive and because no one I asked said it was worth paying for Peacock to watch.)