The John Wick franchise has gone from strength to strength since the first chapter, but its ambitious worldbuilding has created a few plot holes. John Wick is set for some spinoffs, including another foray into TV after The Continental. The first of these spinoffs is Ballerina, with Ana de Armas’ movie coming soon.
With John Wick 5 seemingly on the table too, fans can now get excited about learning more about the strange world that the franchise has crafted. While it’s been a joy to see John’s journey unfolding in a vibrant criminal underworld, the franchise has asked fans to take some logical leaps of faith at times. Fortunately, none of these plot holes are enough to distract from the quality of the movies.
10
John Should Have More Trouble Getting Around In Chapter 4 If He’s Excommunicado
John Travels All Over The World Without A Problem
John Wick: Chapter 4 shows how much the franchise has progressed since its origins, with a bigger budget and more locations than ever. Within the first few minutes, John travels to the Sahara Desert and the Osaka Continental, and this is before he makes his way to Europe.
He’s unable to use his underworld contacts to secure safe pᴀssage.
While the globe-trotting narrative gives Chapter 4 a suitably epic feeling, John Wick shouldn’t be able to move so freely while he’s been declared excommunicado by the High Table. It’s safe to ᴀssume he’s using a fake pᴀssport – or several – but it still seems likely that ᴀssᴀssins would be able to find him when he has such a large bounty on his head. He’s unable to use his underworld contacts to secure safe pᴀssage, so he must be pᴀssing through airports like a regular civilian.
9
The Doctor Shouldn’t Move His Shirt If He Wants John’s GunsH๏τs To Seem Genuine
One Scene In Chapter 3 Has Never Made Sense
Winston gives John an hour before he is officially declared excommunicado in the cliffhanger ending of Chapter 2. Chapter 3 opens with John making the best use of this time, as he visits a doctor to get his wounds patched up. Although the doctor stops ᴀssisting John as soon as the clock strikes six, he knows that people might not believe him. He asks John to shoot him twice so that he can convince people that he had no choice but to help him.
While this seems like a smart plan, it makes no sense that the doctor moves his shirt to prepare for the gunsH๏τs. Any perceptive High Table official would question why his shirt has no bullet holes, and they might be able to figure out that the gunsH๏τs were staged. This could be an oversight from both the doctor and John, but if anyone should understand such details, they should.
8
The Gold Coins Seem To Fluctuate Wildly In Value
One Gold Coin Can Get You A Lot In The World Of John Wick
The gold coins have always been a key part of the world of John Wick, but their value is impossible to pin down. The standard payment for just about all goods and services in the John Wick universe seems to be one shiny gold coin, whether it’s for a stay at the Continental, a bar tab or the disposal of ᴅᴇᴀᴅ bodies.
There are some interesting fan theories about the gold coins, mainly based on the idea that they aren’t like any other currency. The value of something is inherently tied to how much the buyer needs or wants it, as well as the seller’s willingness to part with it. In many cases, one coin is merely symbolic of a transaction, and it identifies someone as part of the underworld. This is only a theory though, and it presupposes that the underworld thrives on a radically different economic system that’s surprisingly equitable. This raises as many questions as it answers.
7
Viggo Could Have Kept Iosef At The Continental Rather Than His Own Safe House
John Wouldn’t Have Been Able To Kill Iosef On Continental Grounds
The rules of the Continental and the entire underworld of John Wick have become more detailed as the franchise has progressed, but this has raised some questions about previous movies. For example, if Viggo wanted to protect Iosef from John, he need only have gotten his son to the Continental.
There are some reasons that could explain away Viggo’s decision to keep his son in his own safe house, but they all come with caveats. Viggo would have known that the Continental wasn’t a permanent solution to his problem, and he might have suspected that John would have broken the H๏τel’s strict code anyway. However, it likely would have bought him some more time to send his ᴀssᴀssins after John.
6
Iosef Would Probably Have Known About John
Even After Their Initial Confrontation, There Was Ample Time For Iosef To Learn About The Baba Yaga
Viggo claims that John Wick was instrumental in building the success of the Tarasov family, but Iosef has no idea who he is until his father spells it out for him. Of course, it makes sense that he wouldn’t show any interest in the family business, since this would clash with his heavy-partying lifestyle, but he still has time to find out who John is.
It’s a forgivable mistake that Iosef doesn’t know John when he first meets him at the gas station, but he later breaks into his home. Clearly, he should have come across some information about who exactly he was tracking down. It doesn’t quite make sense that he could find out where John lives without learning of his reputation.
5
Viggo’s Brother Shouldn’t Have Put Himself In John’s Way By Taking His Car
Abram Knows How Dangerous John Can Be
Peter Stormare’s brief but memorable role in the John Wick franchise partly serves to help build hype for Chapter 2. He plays Viggo Tarasov’s brother, and he gives a speech about John’s remarkable deeds that emphasizes his reputation as one of the world’s most terrifying killers. Despite this, he decides to hold on to John’s car, knowing that this will make him a target.
If Abram could only listen to his own words, he would know that the safest course of action would be to return the car to John or to quietly abandon it. He’s already lost his brother and his nephew to John’s vengeful rage, so there’s no reason for him to stand in John’s way. It’s a decision that feels so foolish that it counts as a plot hole.
4
The Noise Complaint At John’s House Makes No Sense
John’s Stealthy Combat Techniques Shouldn’t Raise Any Suspicion
When Viggo sends some of his men to try and take John out before his problem escalates, the Baba Yaga’s instincts kick in. He dispatches each of the men with the minimum of fuss. Often, the men don’t even know he’s right behind them until it’s too late. Somehow, this stealthy approach is loud enough to register a noise complaint with the police.
The role of law enforcement in the world of John Wick is always a little confusing. They’re either completely absent when they should be flooding the streets, like in the Arc de Triomphe showdown in Chapter 4, or they turn a blind eye to the world of ᴀssᴀssins, like Jimmy does when he responds to the call and knocks on John’s door.
3
Some People, Like Sofia, Weren’t Punished For Helping John
Sofia Is One Of The Franchise’s Best Characters
The rules of an excommunicado are made quite clear from the beginning, but there are one or two events in the following movies which seem to contradict these rules. The High Table’s rules dictate that anyone who helps John will be punished, so it’s strange that Sofia seems to get away with it.
The Osaka Continental is severely punished by the High Table, and even characters without clear affiliations like the Bowery King have to account for their actions. Sofia helps John when he needs her most, but she seems to escape unscathed. This could be because she is duty-bound to honor the marker that John presents her, but this is never clarified.
2
Ares Using A Push Dagger In Her Final Fight With John Is A Terrible Decision
Santino’s ᴀssᴀssin Should Know Better
John Wick: Chapter 2 starts to introduce some more ᴀssᴀssins as the world of the franchise continues to take shape. One of these ᴀssᴀssins is Ares, the mute killer who acts as Santino’s enforcer. While John manages to fight his way through most of Santino’s men without much trouble, Ares always seems to be more skilled and more intelligent. This makes her choice of weapon in her final fight with John hard to believe.
Ares has a moment to steady herself before John approaches, and she also has the element of surprise when the doors open and the two ᴀssᴀssins come face-to-face. She could easily shoot John, but she chooses to get out a small push dagger instead. For a fight against a highly-skilled ᴀssᴀssin who’s both bigger and stronger than her, this is an awful choice. It’s so short-sighted that it defies belief, and it certainly goes down as an example of John’s plot armor.
1
John Really Shouldn’t Have Been Able To Survive Most Of What Happens
John Barely Slows Down When Taking Hits That Would Kill Most People
Speaking of plot armor, there have been several moments throughout the John Wick franchise which the hero should never have walked away from. He always seems stronger and more resilient than anyone else, including the trained ᴀssᴀssins who come after him. This is understandable, but some of John’s death-defying feats are hard to explain.
The most notorious example of this is when John survives falling from the rooftop at the end of Chapter 3.
John probably should have died during his tumble down the steps at Sacre Coeur in Chapter 4, but this is far from the first time that he’s cheated death. The most notorious example of this is when John survives falling from the rooftop at the end of Chapter 3. There’s no room for ambiguity in the way this is filmed. Any mortal man would have died, but this is John Wick.
John Wick
- Created by
-
Derek Kolstad
- First Film
-
John Wick
- Latest Film
-
John Wick: Chapter 4
- Upcoming Films
-
Ballerina
- First TV Show
-
The Continental
Summary
“John Wick” is a neo-noir action-thriller franchise centered around a retired hitman who returns to the criminal underworld to seek vengeance. Known for its intense and stylistic action sequences, the franchise has redefined modern action cinema with its choreographed gunfights, hand-to-hand combat, and intricate world-building. The series explores themes of loyalty, honor, and survival in a secret society of ᴀssᴀssins.
