10 Movie Franchises With No Bad Sequels
1. John Wick
John Wick might be the most consistently brilliant film series going, with each entry laying just claim to being the best of the bunch. The first John Wick serves as a solid revenge flick, but with the added ace up its sleeve of a gripping, emotional narrative, the hints of a fascinating underworld, and direction from veteran Hollywood stunt coordinator Chad Stahelski.
Like Bourne before it, John Wick put the action genre on a new course, emphasising efficient, tacti-cool choreography, bisexual lighting, and a loud, relentless pace punctuated by fitting needle-drops and the grindy, electronic notes of Tyler Bates.
Every John Wick enjoyer will have their own preferred entry - I think two is my fave personally, but John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum and John Wick: Chapter 4 are both exceptional action cinema. That said, this is also a series that continues to go from strength to strength. There's a pattern of escalation that has seen Stahelski and lead star Keanu Reeves test their limits when it comes to action set-pieces, whether that's through elaborately choreographed duels with dragon's breath shotguns, chases via horseback, or passive-aggressive exchanges of silenced gunfire.
The John Wick series reads like a love-letter to action cinema, and while it remains to be seen if it is indeed the end, it's hard to think of a better signature than Chapter 4.