Summary

• Movies like John Wick push boundaries and exceed expectations in action thrillers, garnering a massive fan base.
• The franchise's influences include films like A Company Man, The Man From Nowhere, and Street Kings.
• Prepare for high-octane thrills with other action movies like Nobody, Deliver Us From Evil, and Payback.

Movies like John Wick achieve their level of cultural impact by suring audience expectations from action thrillers. Each John Wick sequel has upped the ante from its predecessor, and the franchise has developed a huge fan base over the years, leading to John Wick: Chapter 4 being one of 2023's biggest releases and the highest-grossing entry into the franchise yet. As the franchise expands into various spinoffs, it makes it all the more impressive that it all began with the simple and underestimated 2014 action movie starring Keanu Reeves as a one-man army out to avenge his murdered puppy.

With John Wick: Chapter 4 feeling like a definitive conclusion to the story (at least for now), fans are left looking for other stylized and thrilling action movies to enjoy. Luckily, they can still stream many great action movies that have either influenced–or been influenced by–the John Wick franchise. These movies often include a stoic hero with a deadly set of skills they unleash on unlucky enemies, vibrant action set pieces, and a relentlessly fast pace that delivers one thrill after another. Movies like John Wick include some classic action movies as well as some of the great modern offerings.

30 A Company Man (2012)

A Dedicated Professional Attempts To Leave His Hitman Job

2012's A Company Man is a South Korean action movie that hits many similar notes to John Wick, and is especially similar when it comes to interweaving the world of professional assassins with various public fronts that aren't unlike John Wick's Continental Hotel. Director Lim Sang-yoon continued a long tradition of action movies with this story about a hitman who falls for a woman at the wrong moment, which tests his resolve and causes him to become a target of his own employers.

John Wick franchise infuses a lot of intricate workplace mundanity into its subterranean world of assassins and, as the title, implies, A Company Man takes a similar approach

The format is a staple of action movies and, while it certainly doesn’t break any molds, A Company Man plays all the hits through a variety of fan-favorite action sequences. Most interestingly, the John Wick franchise infuses a lot of intricate workplace mundanity into its subterranean world of assassins and, as the title, implies, A Company Man takes a similar approach to the corporation of cold-hearted killers in its story.

29 The Man From Nowhere (2010)

A Mysterious Loner Tries To Save His Only Friend From Criminals

Many of the best movies like John Wick come from South Korea, and 2010's The Man From Nowhere is, much like A Company Man, another film that shows just how much action thrillers from the country inspired the hit Keanu Reeves franchise. Director Lee Jeong-beom's breakout action thriller was a huge hit in its native South Korea and has steadily become a word-of-mouth action movie favorite across the world.

As is the case with many of the best movies like John Wick, the plot of The Man From Nowhere isn’t particularly unique. It follows the typical mysterious loner as he brushes up against a group of criminals, only for him to reveal himself as an unstoppable killing machine with a troubled past. However, the movie’s gleeful construction — and lead actor Won Bin’s unflinching delivery — of an iconic action hero makes The Man from Nowhere a must-see for fans of the towering John Wick persona.

The Man From Nowhere is available to stream on Netflix and Peacock.

28 Street Kings (2008)

A Corrupt Cop Confronts A Deeper Conspiracy

2008's Street Kings comes from director David Ayer — the filmmaker behind The Fast and the Furious — and stars John Wick's Keanu Reeves alongside the likes of Forest Whitaker, Chris Evans, and Hugh Laurie. Keanu Reeves has been in a number of action thriller movies beyond the John Wick franchise, including ones that put an equally high emphasis on martial arts. One of the most similar characters to John Wick that Reeves has played is corrupt cop Tom Ludlow in Street Kings.

Both Ludlow and Wick are seasoned killers with a preference for muscle cars who are haunted by their many misdeeds and work through their grief over their wives' deaths through unflinching acts of violence. However, Ludlow somewhat clings to the idea of doing the right thing, which makes his discovery of a far-reaching conspiracy in the LAPD an engrossing mystery.

Street Kings is available to stream on Hulu.

27 Nobody (2021)

A Mild-Mannered Family Man Reveals His Violent Past

It is always fun when action thrillers take a lead actor who doesn't fit the stereotypical build for an unrelenting assassin and convincingly transform them into one – such as with Bob Odenkirk in Nobody. When the film was released, Odenkirk was heavily associated with action-packed shows Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, but had always been known as a comedic actor, so seeing him become a John Wick-like killer with impressive hand-to-hand skills and a fearsome reputation was worthy of comparison to Keanu Reeves' turn as "Baba Yaga."

The film's story has a number of similarities to John Wick and follows an unassuming man who goes to war with a powerful Russian mob boss after an altercation with one of the mob boss's young and unruly relatives. Odenkirk still brings a more lighthearted edge to the story than a movie like John Wick would allow for, but that never detracts from the harshness of the violence or the creativity behind it. Considering that the film is also directed by the producer and uncredited co-director of the original John Wick movie David Leitch, it's no wonder why movie fans question if Nobody is set in the John Wick universe.

26 Deliver Us From Evil (2020)

A Skilled Killer Avenges His Estranged Family

Not to be confused with the 2014 horror movie of the same name, Deliver Us from Evil is an action thriller from South Korea starring Hwang Jung-min as Kim In-Nam — a stony assassin who is dragged back into his former life when he learns that his old flame was murdered by human traffickers, and the daughter he never knew he had has been kidnapped by them too.

Kim In-Nam and John Wick have a surprising amount in common when it comes to how they're portrayed.

This is one of several South Korean movies like John Wick that have many slick and stylish action sequences. However, another similarity also comes from the fact that Kim In-Nam and John Wick have a surprising amount in common when it comes to how they're portrayed. The main character is also relentlessly pursued every step of the way by a notoriously vicious yakuza killer played by Squid Game's Lee Jung-jae, so John Wick fans will never be left wanting for stakes in the action as the tension is always nail-biting.

Deliver Us From Evil is available to stream on Peacock.

25 Payback (1999)

A Criminal Goes To War To Retrieve His Stolen Money

Based on the novel The Hunter by Donald E. Westlake, which had already been adapted into the 1967 cult crime film Point Blank, Payback was the directorial debut of Oscar-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland and is a neo-noir action thriller that hits many of the same thematic notes as the John Wick movies. Fans of the odd but strictly observed principles that motivate John Wick and his associates will find Payback's main character equally fascinating.

The similarities between John Wick and Payback's Porter (played by Mel Gibson) are particularly notable in the much grittier director's cut of the movie, as he goes to war with a powerful criminal organization over a relatively measly $70,000 stolen by a traitorous former partner. Payback and the John Wick franchise also depict New York in similar ways, mixing elegant architecture and grimy decay with a distinct neo-noir flair.

Payback is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

24 Wrath Of Man (2021)

A Mysterious Armored Truck Guard Seeks Out A Group Of Criminals

Though Jason Statham first rose to fame through the prominent roles he took in director Guy Ritchie's early films, Statham hadn't appeared in one of Ritchie's movies for over 15 years before leading Wrath of Man. A remake of the French thriller Cash Truck​​​​​​, the film certainly displays Ritchie's penchant for dialogue-driven scenes, but it's also conscious that Statham became a global action star in those intervening years.

Jason Statham plays a man known only as H in Wrath of Man, and it's in him that the similarities between the movie and John Wick are apparent. Like John Wick, the story of Wrath of Man hinges on steadily revealing the main character's deadly skills and vengeful motivations as he takes on a dangerous job as an armored truck guard, and Statham maintains the mysterious aura of a highly capable John Wick-like character throughout.

Wrath of Man is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

23 The Villainess (2017)

A Female Assassin Goes On A Bloody Mission Of Revenge

The Villainess not only creates a comprehensive world of professional killers, but also a series of sequences so wild that the John Wick franchise did their own version of one of them a few years later. However, while the 2017 South Korean film starruing Kim Ok-vin is similar to John Wick in its deeply impressive dedication to the assembly of an action scene, The Villainess' story is anything but simple.

The Villainess follows the training and many missions of an expertly-trained assassin, Kim Ok-vin's Sook-hee (who later takes the name Chae Yeon-soo after she fakes her own death), with the movie containing many flashback sequences to flesh out her story. That same level of thought and care that's put into its action sequences is also used to stitch together a complicated saga spanning the main character's multiple identities across several decades.

The Villainess is available to stream on Peacock.

22 The Equalizer (2014)

A Former Operative Protects The Vulnerable Against Dangerous Villains

John Wick is one of the most successful action franchises of the last few decades, and there are many movies like it that are equally considered standout properties in their own right, such as 2014's The Equalizer. An action thriller adapted from the popular 80s TV series of the same name, The Equalizer stars Denzel Washington as Robert McCall, a quiet man living a lonely life in Boston before trying to help a young girl in the grip of the local Russian mafia.

Washington improves on action tropes with a more emotionally resonant performance that is just as engaging as Keanu Reeves in the John Wick movies.

The ensuing conflict creates a war between him and a villainous enforcer but, similarly to John Wick, McCall is revealed to be a highly-trained killer who has a creative edge and isn't shy about bearing a grudge. Liam Neeson defined unexpected action movie turns from older dramatic actors in movies like Taken, but Washington improves on action tropes with a more emotionally resonant performance that is just as engaging as Keanu Reeves in the John Wick movies. It launched a franchise that recently The Equalizer 3.

The Equalizer is available to stream on Netflix.

21 The ant (2016)

An ant For Criminal Organizations Reveals His Killer Side

2016's The ant became something of a cult hit, and it shares many similarities with John Wick thanks to how memorable its main character is, with Ben Stiller's Christian Wolff feeling just as unique in the genre as the Baba Yaga himself. In this thriller, Ben Affleck plays a reclusive ant who is revealed to be a highly-trained killer who deals with the finances of some of the most dangerous criminal organizations on the planet.

Movies like John Wick are founded on the almost cold and calculated way in which their main characters dispatch hordes of opponents and Affleck's ant is a brutally effective hand-to-hand fighter as well as a crack shot. The film has a slightly more dramatic edge to its events than a straight action movie like John Wick, exploring the history of Affleck's character and how he's treated due to his high-functioning autism, but the action is meticulously executed.

The ant is available to stream on Netflix.