The franchise seems to take place in a heightened reality, but the absurd excesses of the movies are part of what makes it so special. John Wick has changed a lot over the years, morphing from a relatively grounded revenge thriller into a globe-trotting action franchise with a rich and complex lore. This has created one or two plot holes in the John Wick franchise, but the main effect has been to replace the gritty feel of the original movie with a more zany atmosphere. As each chapter reveals more about the world of assassins, the franchise takes another big step away from reality.

With the first John Wick spinoff, Ballerina, the franchise is doubling down on its esoteric worldbuilding. The world of John Wick has been built piece-by-piece with each new movie, but there hasn't been an overarching master plan from the beginning. This means that each sequel comes with plenty of genuine surprises that add some more details to the portrait of a violent but strictly ordered world, teeming with assassins and arcane bureaucracy. Other franchises have lost their spark when they ventured off the beaten path, but John Wick's absurd setting is one of its great strengths.

Each new movie in the John Wick franchise seems to introduce more and more assassins. By now, it seems that the world has a bizarrely high concentration of hired killers, which suggests that there's enough business to keep them all employed. The end of Jonn Wick: Chapter 2 starts to zoom out and show just how many killers there are living in civilized society, as John runs through New York City and finds hundreds of eyes trained on him.

The idea of a freelance hitman is largely an invention of the media. True-crime fans may know that big organized crime syndicates will have their own assassins, but bounty-hunting hired guns only exist in Hollywood movies. In John Wick's reality, not only do they exist, but they are everywhere that John looks. This raises plenty of questions about the levels of organized crime, how much the police know about these assassins, and whether politicians and high-profile business people are at an increased risk. , since John's battle with the High Table is always the focus.

Even in a world of extreme violence, John Wick rises above most other assassins. His fame as the Baba Yaga gives him an aure of invincibility, but this doesn't explain how he survives so much punishment over the course of four movies. , and probably long before then. The John Wick franchise timeline is so condensed that the bulk of the action takes place within a matter of weeks. Since John has barely any time to recover, it's a miracle that he even makes it to his fateful duel at the end of Chapter 4.

The John Wick franchise displays some of the best practical effects in the industry, as should be expected from a director with a background in stunt work like Chad Stahelski. However, there are also plenty of moments which simply couldn't happen in real life, since John would, at the very least, be incapacitated for quite some time. He's become akin to a mythological hero over the years, which suits his reputation as the Baba Yaga.

One of the great mysteries of the John Wick franchise is how this complex and densely populated world of assassins can hide in the shadows for so long. There are several big action scenes that take place out in the open, but nothing seems to threaten the anonymity of the High Table, the Continental or other underworld institutions. and there are no repercussions later on.

It's possible that law enforcement and the media are being paid off to keep the assassins out of the news. As long as these warring criminal syndicates don't harm innocent civilians, they might be allowed to exist in their own bubble. However, this theory would entail an immense global conspiracy. to leak the details of what's really happening to the public. John Wick never spends any time with civilians who exist outside this world of assassins, so it's still unknown what day-to-day life is like for most people living alongside so many violent killers.

Despite the many absurdities of the John Wick franchise, it's still one of the most exciting and interesting new franchises of recent years. In fact, the parts of it which don't make sense only add to the fun. of its complicated criminal world so that everything makes logical sense. It's more entertaining to simply take the franchise as it is, complete with its plot holes, overblown action and disregard for logic.

Other franchises might not be able to get away with such a loose approach to their worldbuilding, but this suits John Wick perfectly. . It's fitting for an epic action drama to take place in a world that seems unfamiliar at times. John Wick has enough confidence to gloss over its logical inconsistencies, because it delivers pulse-raising action, and a compelling story of good versus evil that uses broad brushstrokes.

In an era when movies are scrutinized for their logical fidelity more than ever before, John Wick's bold absurdity is a breath of fresh air. There's a growing contingent of people, especially in online spaces, who appraise a movie based on how much sense it makes, gleefully tearing apart any inconsistencies or revealing mistakes. This is an effective way to make fun of bad movies, but it's no way to approach entertaining and valuable art. John Wick is so relentlessly engaging that it makes any attempt to dissect its quirks seem pointless.