10 Movies That Nail The ‘John Wick’ Formula
10. Kick-Ass (2010)
This one swaps the slick suits for a green scuba suit, but the dna matches up perfectly. It handles the transition from quirky teen comedy to absolute slaughterhouse flawlessly. Hit-Girl completely steals the show here, clearing out rooms of bad guys with the exact same momentum and rhythm that makes the Baba Yaga so fun to watch.
9. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
The tailored suits, the hidden underground society, and the ridiculous gadgetry all scream the same language. The church sequence alone gives off chaotic energy, utilizing hyper-accelerated choreography that feels like a cousin to the Red Circle club scene. It takes spy movie tropes and dials up the violence to a stylized extreme.
8. The Villainess (2017)
The opening sequence of this South Korean gem actually inspired the motorcycle sword fights in later chapters of the hotel-assassin franchise. The camera moves like a ghost through tight hallways, capturing brutal, first-person perspective combat that rarely pauses for air. It is relentless, bloody, and puts the physical toll of the violence front and center.
7. The Man from Nowhere (2010)
A quiet pawnbroker with a dark past goes on a rampage to rescue a kidnapped kid, which is about as pure as the motivation gets. The knife fight at the end is an absolute marvel of staging, trading flashy gun tricks for tight, close-quarters combat that feels incredibly dangerous. The emotional weight gives every puncture and slash real meaning.
6. Wanted (2008)
If the assassin underworld used secret looms of fate and bent bullets around corners, you would get this wild ride. The training sequences mirror that exhausting, break-your-body mentality, and the final office raid is pure gun-fu spectacle. It trades the grounded tactical reloading for pure comic book logic, but the sheer velocity of the action tracks perfectly.
5. Underworld (2003)
Long black leather trench coats, dual-wielding pistols, and a hidden subculture operating right beneath the noses of normal society. Swapping out Russian gangsters for werewolves doesn't change the fact that this movie thrives on gothic atmosphere and heavy firepower. The tactical reloads and clean environmental destruction set a massive blueprint for modern gunplay.
4. Dredd (2012)
Trapped in a massive high-rise apartment block with an army of criminals, a stoic enforcer simply works his way up floor by floor. The pacing is airtight, keeping the narrative simple so the tactical gunplay can breathe. The slow-motion drug visual effects add a unique flavor to the carnage, making every single bullet impact look like a painting.
3. Atomic Blonde (2017)
Directed by one of the minds behind the continental universe, this Cold War spy thriller brings the same heavy-hitting stunt design to 1989 Berlin. The stairwell sequence is a long, continuous shot of raw survival where the characters actually get exhausted and bruise. The soundtrack choices and neon lighting give the gritty brawling a massive boost of style.
2. Sisu (2022)
A retired Finnish soldier digs up gold, encounters a N--- death squad, and refuses to die until he gets his property back. This is the formula stripped down to its absolute skeleton, one quiet man using sheer willpower and whatever tools are at hand to dismantle an army. The violence is cartoonish but grounded by a completely stone-faced performance.
1. Equilibrium (2002)
Before the term gun-fu went mainstream, this sci-fi flick invented "Gun Kata," a martial art built entirely around firearm geometry. The combat sequences are crisp, geometric, and look like a rhythmic dance of close-range headshots and disarms. Christian Bale plays the ultimate detached, precise dealer of death, making it the perfect ancestor to the modern framework.
