After executing a member of the High Table on the grounds of the Continental Hotel, super-assassin John Wick is declared "Excommunicado" with a $14 million global bounty on his head. With his privileges revoked and the world's most ruthless killers on his trail, John must fight his way out of New York City to seek help from the few allies he has left, embarking on a desperate journey to survive the consequences of his actions.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
May 17, 2019 |
Running time |
131 minutes |
Genre |
Action Thriller Crime |
Budget |
$75,000,000 |
Box Office |
$327,281,779 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Chad Stahelski |
Produced by |
Basil Iwanyk Erica Lee |
Written by |
Derek Kolstad Shay Hatten Chris Collins Marc Abrams |
Music by |
Tyler Bates Joel J. Richard |
Cinematography |
Dan Laustsen |
Edited by |
Evan Schiff |
Production Co. |
Summit Entertainment Thunder Road Pictures 87Eleven |
Distributed by |
Lionsgate |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #03 in John Wick Collection
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The Plot
Excommunicado in Manhattan
The hour of judgment strikes for John Wick, who finds himself isolated and exposed on the rain-slicked streets of Manhattan. Following his unauthorized killing of High Table member Santino D'Antonio within the sanctuary of the Continental, Wick is declared "excommunicado." The High Table places a staggering $14 million contract bounty on his head, turning every assassin in the city into a potential executioner. With the clock ticking down the final minutes of his grace period, Wick rushes to the New York Public Library. Amidst the stacks, he retrieves a hollowed-out book containing two vital concealed items: a "marker"—a medallion symbolizing an oath—and a crucifix necklace.
Wick attempts to flee the city but is immediately pursued by a team of assassins. The chase drives him into an antique warehouse, where the silence is shattered by a brutal melee. Surrounded and unarmed, Wick engages the gang in a bloody, close-quarters fight, utilizing the warehouse’s vast collection of antique weaponry—knives, axes, and revolvers—to dismantle his pursuers one by one before escaping into the night.
The Adjudicator's Decree
While Wick fights for survival, the administrative machinery of the underworld begins to turn. The Adjudicator, a ruthless representative of the High Table, arrives in New York to enforce order. She visits Winston Scott, the manager of the New York Continental, and subsequently the Bowery King in his underground hideout. Because both men previously provided assistance to Wick—Winston by giving him a head start and the Bowery King by providing him with a weapon—the Adjudicator issues a chilling ultimatum: they must relinquish their positions of authority within seven days or face severe consequences for their complicity.
Meanwhile, having survived the onslaught at the warehouse, Wick seeks out The Director, a matriarchal figure from his past who operates the Ruska Roma syndicate. Invoking the old laws of his upbringing, Wick presents the crucifix necklace he retrieved from the library. He hands it over to her as a form of currency, effectively burning his ticket home to purchase safe passage out of the United States. Reluctantly, The Director accepts the trade, branding Wick to signify his departure, and grants him transport to Casablanca.
Casablanca and the Marker
Upon arriving in Casablanca, Wick enters the local branch of the Continental, despite his excommunicated status, to find Sofia Al-Azwar. Sofia, a woman from John's past who is now the manager of the Moroccan sanctuary, meets him with hostility. However, Wick presents the "marker" he retrieved from the library. The medallion represents an unbreakable promise, a blood oath that compels Sofia to fulfill a task requested by the bearer because she owes him a debt. Wick asks Sofia to honor the marker not by fighting for him, but by helping him locate The Elder—the mysterious and most prominent member of the High Table who stands above all others.
Bound by the marker, Sofia reluctantly agrees and escorts Wick to a local power broker named Berrada. In his foundry, Berrada agrees to provide the location of the Elder within the desert but demands a tribute in return: one of Sofia's beloved Belgian Malinois dogs. When Sofia refuses, the situation turns volatile. Berrada becomes confrontational and shoots the dog, though the bullet strikes the animal's bulletproof vest. Enraged, Sofia draws her weapon and shoots Berrada in the leg. Chaos erupts as Wick and Sofia, aided by her two highly trained dogs, fight their way out of the compound in a synchronized display of lethal force against Berrada's guards. Having driven them to the edge of the desert and fulfilled her marker, Sofia leaves John to face the dunes alone.
The Elder's Ultimatum
John Wick walks into the vast emptiness of the desert, following the stars until his strength fails him. Collapsing from exhaustion and dehydration, he is eventually discovered by a passing traveler who transports him to the Elder's secluded encampment. When Wick awakens, he is brought before the Elder, who offers him a stark choice: die there in the desert, or accept a mission to kill Winston Scott on behalf of the High Table. In exchange for this act of fealty, the Elder promises to remove the bounty on Wick's head, allowing him to live, albeit under the Table's thumb.
Desperate to stay alive to keep the memory of his wife Helen alive, John accepts the mission. As a show of absolute commitment and subservience to the High Table, Wick performs a sacrificial ritual: he severs his own ring finger and presents his wedding ring to the Elder, cementing his new servitude.
Zero's Pursuit and the Return to New York
Back in New York, the Adjudicator escalates her purge. She recruits an assassin named Zero and his formidable students to act as enforcers for the High Table. To demonstrate the price of disobedience, Zero and his men visit both the Bowery King and the Director. They slaughter many of the Bowery King's associates and the Ruska Roma members before inflicting brutal physical punishment on the leaders themselves—scarring the Bowery King and piercing the Director's hands—as penance for helping Wick.
Wick arrives back in New York City, intent on his mission, but is immediately intercepted by Zero's ninjas. A high-speed chase ensues, with Wick fighting off sword-wielding attackers from the seat of a motorcycle. He manages to eliminate his pursuers and reaches the steps of the Continental. However, Zero is close behind. Wick throws himself into the hotel just as his hand touches the stairs, taking sanctuary. Inside, Wick confronts Winston. Although he was sent to kill the manager, Wick hesitates. Winston, fully aware of Wick's mission, refuses to beg for his life. When the Adjudicator arrives to oversee the execution, Wick refuses to carry out the kill order. Simultaneously, Winston refuses to surrender his position at the hotel.
Deconsecration
Viewing their defiance as an act of war, the Adjudicator declares the New York Continental "deconsecrated." This revocation of the hotel's neutral status permits killing on the premises once again. She calls in a heavily armed High Table tactical unit to storm the building and kill both Winston and Wick. Winston opens the hotel's armory to John, and with the help of the hotel's loyal concierge, Charon, John prepares for the siege.
The High Table forces infiltrate the lobby, their armor rendering them nearly impervious to standard gunfire. Wick and Charon adapt their tactics, utilizing armor-piercing rounds and close-quarters combat to systematically dismantle the assault team. After defeating the initial wave, Wick is confronted once again by Zero and his top students. In a glass-walled hall, Wick engages the ninjas, overcoming them through sheer will and skill before facing Zero in a final duel. The fight is intense, but Wick eventually gains the upper hand, killing Zero with a sword.
The Betrayal
With the High Table's enforcers defeated, the Adjudicator contacts Winston to negotiate a parley. She meets him on the hotel's rooftop terrace. Recognizing Winston's show of force, she agrees to allow him to remain at the helm of the Continental and reconsecrate the ground, but she insists that John Wick remains a problem that must be solved. In a shocking turn of events, Winston turns to John, who has just joined them. To prove his loyalty to the High Table and secure his position, Winston shoots Wick repeatedly. The force of the bullets blasts John backward, sending him plummeting from the roof of the hotel to the alleyway below.
Wrath of the Bowery King
Satisfied with the outcome, the Adjudicator exits the Continental but pauses to check the alleyway. She discovers that Wick's body is gone. Visibly disturbed, she returns to inform Winston, threatening him that their arrangement is precarious if John remains at large. Both tacitly agree that Wick continues to be a looming threat to their survival.
Unbeknownst to them, a severely injured John Wick has been collected by the Tick Tock Man, an associate of the Bowery King. He is carted through the sewers to the Bowery King's new underground bunker. The Bowery King, now heavily scarred from the Adjudicator's punishment, stands over the battered assassin. He tells John that he is "pissed off" with the High Table and asks Wick if he feels the same way. Struggling to lift his head, Wick locks eyes with him and replies with seething rage, "Yeah."
