Keanu Reeves’ $86 million action thriller offers a very accurate depiction of the Russian mafia, except for one myth. Reeves stars as the titular assassin, who has managed to build a life outside the mob world. However, his peace is disturbed when he runs into someone from his old life, which forces him back to the criminal underworld. The premise was rejected by six studios, and Reeves also helped to fund the project with his own salary.

Independently-made with a budget around $20 to $30 million, the film tripled its budget at the box office. Its success then led to three more movies and a growing franchise. With immersive world-building, relentless action sequences and a star-studded cast, the action thriller co-directed by Chad Stahelski and David Leitch is regarded as a cult classic in the crime thriller genre. The franchise also became what Reeves is most famous for, aside from his lead role as Neo in The Matrix movie series.

John Wick Is Almost Right About The Russian Mafia, Except One Myth

John Wick Is Rated 7/10 For Accuracy

The first John Wick movie sees Reeves’ titular assassin go on a man-hunt mission to track down the person responsible for killing his dog, during which he kills 77 men on-screen, many with headshots. The original movie introduces the Baba Yaga and the mob underworld, setting the tone for three more films. A Ballerina spinoff set in the same universe starring Ana de Armas is scheduled for release in 2025. At the same time, a Caine spinoff and John Wick 5 are also in various stages of development.

Joe Serio, a former CIA agent and Russian mafia investigator, gives John Wick a 7 out of 10 rating for realism, breaking down the role of a hitman in the Russian mafia underworld for Insider. Serio reveals that John Wick‘s depiction of the role of an assassin is accurate. While the real-life body count is usually not as high as John Wick’s, “shootouts in nightclubs” and “bathhouses” were a normality in the 1990s and 2000s. However, the biggest myth is “shoot first and ask questions later,” which is inaccurate. Check out what he said below:

This idea of a Russian hitman, a Russian assassin [is] totally realistic. Maybe not quite as many bodies dropped in a five-minute period as John Wick, but there were so many assassinations in hundreds done by hitmen in the 1990s and the 2000s. If you look at someone like Alexander Solonik. Alexander Solonik was the biggest name in the Russian underworld as an assassin. This idea of there being a Russian hitman they had their role to play, and they played it really well.

Casinos and nightclubs were some of the central hubs for the Russian mafia. In the 1990s, when the Russian mafia on the street was really big, you would have shootouts all the time. You’d have shootouts in nightclubs, shootouts on the street. I could hear gunshots on a regular basis. There was one situation where we found a trunk full of weapons in one car in the parking lot of a nightclub.

The biggest myth that TV and movies show about the Russian mafia is that they shoot first and ask questions later, and none of that is true. They would start with negotiation, but if it got to the point where they couldn’t reach agreement, they would have shootouts. If you look at Hitman , Revenge Motive. Shootouts in nightclubs or bathrooms or anything like that, that’s accurate. I give it about 7 out of 10.

What John Wick’s Accuracy Means For The Movie’s Reputation

How The First Film Compares To The Three Sequels

During the first John Wick‘s development, in which funding was in question and studios expressed concern at the killing of a puppy, few would have guessed that it would spawn one of the biggest and most successful action franchises of the past two decades. The first movie ended up faring well with critics, however, and currently sports an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the audience score also respectable at 81%. Though undoubtedly well-received, it’s now actually the lowest-rated and lowest-grossing movie of the franchise, as seen in the chart below.

John Wick Franchise Key Scores

Title
Rotten Tomatoes Critics’ Score
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
Est. Budget
Worldwide Box Office

John Wick (2014)

John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
89%
85%
$40M
$174M

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)
89%
86%
$75M
$328M

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
94%
93%
$100M

John Wick may have some surprising elements of realism, but it’s likely that the sequels wouldn’t fare as well in terms of their real-life accuracy. Wick’s body count in each sequel is higher than the 77 men he kills in the first film, with the acclaimed John Wick: Chapter 4 featuring a franchise-high of 140 kills for Wick alone. The injuries that Wick survives across the four films, which includes gunshot wounds and getting hit by cars, also stretches credulity, with his fall off a tall building at the end of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum looking particularly lethal.
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The critical and commercial response to the franchise suggests that leaving realism behind is ultimately more than fine with audiences, but the first film still remains a fun entry to return to for its somewhat more grounded approach and its introduction of a character who is now one of the most iconic movie assassins of all time.

Across all four movies, John Wick’s kill count sits at about 429 people.

Our Take On John Wick’s Accuracy

Most Ideas Come From the Real World

John Wick‘s success comes, in part, from weaving realism with fiction. With Wick’s extremely high body count and the franchise’s reputation for relentless action sequences, it’s hard to believe there’s any truth in it at all. However, Serio’s comment suggests that Stahelski, Leitch, and writer Derek Kolstad may have taken more real-life inspirations than audiences realize.

There are many interesting details in John Wick, and many of them have real-life ties. For example, the gold coins John Wick uses to pay for his stay at the Continental are based partially in reality. Some in the criminal underworld choose to use diamonds and their own currency to avoid leaving a paper trail. The Ruska Roma also refers to the real Russian clan that consisted of more than 200,000 people, while the Continental, with its rules of non-violence, is inspired by Switzerland.