The story begins with John Wick (Keanu Reeves), a legendary hitman who chose to abandon his violent profession after finding love with a woman named Helen. Dedicating himself to being a devoted husband, John discovered genuine happiness in their life together. Tragically, their bliss was cut short when Helen succumbed to malignant cancer, leaving John’s heart shattered beyond measure.
Following Helen’s funeral, John received a visit from Marcus (Willem Dafoe), his former colleague and a skilled sniper assassin, who came to offer his condolences. Upon returning home, John discovered a final gift from Helen – a package from a pet shop. Helen had chosen a puppy named Daisy, knowing the companion would help John through his grief.
As days passed, John and Daisy became inseparable companions. However, their peaceful routine was disrupted at a gas station when a group of gangsters, led by a man named Iosef (Alfie Allen), attempted to purchase John’s prized 1969 Ford Mustang. When John refused their offer, Iosef responded with thinly veiled threats. Following this encounter, John sought solace at an airport where his status granted him easy access, using the time to practice his driving techniques and attempt to process his grief.
That night, while John slept, Daisy’s persistent barking alerted him to danger. In the living room, John was ambushed by Iosef and two henchmen. Despite John’s fighting prowess, they managed to overpower him. In an act of cruel brutality, they killed Daisy and stole John’s Mustang. The thieves took the vehicle to Aurelio’s specialist repair shop to have the plates changed, but Aurelio, recognizing the car’s owner, refused their business and physically confronted Iosef for his reckless actions against a notoriously skilled hitman.
Blood-covered and grief-stricken, John buried Daisy beside his house. As he cleaned the bloodstained floor, memories of Helen and Daisy flooded his mind, reawakening his dormant identity as an assassin. When John visited Aurelio’s workshop, the mechanic nervously revealed that Iosef was the son of Viggo Tarasov, New York’s most powerful Russian crime boss.
Upon learning of the confrontation, Viggo called Aurelio, initially angry about his son’s beating. However, when Aurelio explained that Iosef had stolen John’s car and killed his dog, Viggo’s demeanor changed dramatically. He summoned Iosef to his office and berated him for antagonizing John Wick. Confused by his father’s fear, Iosef learned the truth about John’s identity.
Viggo revealed that John Wick, known in the criminal underworld as “Baba Yaga,” was the most feared and dangerous assassin in history. Before retiring to marry Helen, John had made a blood pact with the criminal syndicate. His final assignment from Viggo – an impossible task that no one else could accomplish – involved eliminating all of Viggo’s sworn enemies. John’s success in this mission had laid the foundation for Viggo’s criminal empire in New York City.
In a desperate attempt to prevent bloodshed, Viggo reached out to John, pleading with him not to seek revenge against Iosef. When John, consumed by rage and grief, refused to stand down, Viggo was forced to deploy his right-hand man, Avi (Dean Winters), to mobilize their forces and protect Iosef from the inevitable storm that was John Wick’s vengeance.
John retrieved his arsenal of weapons from their hidden compartments, along with the special gold coins used for transactions in the criminal underworld. When dozens of Avi’s men ambushed his house, John dispatched them with lethal efficiency. A police officer, responding to the disturbance, took one look at the aftermath and promptly departed.
John then contacted Charlie (David Patrick Kelly), his usual cleaning service to handle the carnage. Meanwhile, Viggo, anticipating John’s rampage, announced a two-million-dollar bounty on his head. To draw John out, Viggo deliberately sent Iosef to a nightclub called the Red Circle. He also reached out to Marcus, offering him the contract. Though hesitant, Marcus accepted.
John brought his weapons to the Continental Hotel, a prestigious establishment serving the criminal world while maintaining strict rules against “business” on its premises. There, he reunited with an old friend, a fellow assassin named Ms. Perkins (Adrianne Palicki), and checked in with the hotel manager, Charon (Lance Reddick). When Viggo learned of John’s presence at the Continental, he doubled the bounty, acknowledging the increased difficulty of targeting someone within the hotel’s protected walls.
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That evening, John met with Winston (Ian McShane), the Continental’s owner, seeking information about Iosef’s whereabouts. Winston first questioned whether John had fully considered the implications of returning to his dark past and breaking his promise – a matter that would become significant in the sequel. John admitted uncertainty, claiming he only wanted to teach Iosef a lesson.
Armed with intelligence about Iosef’s location, John infiltrated the Red Circle Night Club. He first eliminated Victor (Toby Leonard Moore), Iosef’s close associate, before methodically dispatching the bodyguards in the pool area. The commotion attracted Kirill (Daniel Bernhardt), one of Viggo’s lieutenants, who mobilized his forces against John. Though John located and shot at Iosef, his target managed to escape. In the ensuing fight with Kirill, John suffered a brutal assault, including being stabbed with a broken bottle and thrown from an upper floor, but managed to survive and escape.
At the Continental, while John rested, Marcus took up a sniper position nearby. As he aimed, Ms. Perkins closed in to kill John. Marcus intentionally missed, warning John of the danger. Despite being in just his boxers, John subdued Perkins and learned about “Little Russia,” a church holding Viggo’s money and key documents. When Harry, another guest, complained, John calmed him with a gold coin and asked him to guard Perkins. However, she escaped and killed Harry.
At Little Russia, John shot the priest in the leg and eliminated Viggo’s guards. After forcing the priest to reveal the vault’s location, John struck at Viggo’s empire by burning his entire fortune and documentation. Enraged by this news, Viggo executed the priest for his failure to protect the facility.
When John ambushed Viggo’s group in retaliation, Kirill struck him with a car during the firefight. Viggo’s men captured John and took him to an abandoned building, where Viggo berated him for destroying his empire. Viggo taunted John about his inability to escape his violent past, suggesting Helen’s loss was karmic retribution for John’s history of violence. These words ignited John’s fury, and he embraced his return to the assassin’s life.
As Kirill prepared to finish John with plastic wrap, Marcus intervened with a well-placed shot, saving his friend’s life. After his rescue by Marcus, John engaged in a brutal hand-to-hand battle with Kirill, ultimately defeating him. Emerging from the building, John opened fire on Viggo’s car, forcing it to crash. With his gun trained on Viggo, John demanded the withdrawal of the contract on his life and information about Iosef’s location. Fearing for his life, Viggo revealed that his son was hiding in an abandoned sugar factory.
John stormed the factory, which was heavily guarded by Viggo’s men protecting Iosef and his associates. Demonstrating his legendary skills, John swiftly neutralized a sniper and commandeered an M2 heavy weapon, systematically eliminating the guards and Iosef’s companions. After destroying all vehicles to prevent escape, John finally confronted and executed Iosef, completing his revenge.
Following the mission, John returned to the Continental Hotel to check out. As a gesture of appreciation, Winston presented him with a new Mustang. Later, John met Marcus under a bridge to thank him for his assistance. Unknown to them, Ms. Perkins observed their meeting and reported it to Viggo. Viggo, enraged by Marcus’s betrayal of their contract, visited Marcus’s home with his men. A fierce fight ensued, but Ms. Perkins prevented Marcus from gaining the upper hand.
Viggo executed Marcus and immediately called John to boast about the killing. Upon discovering Marcus’s blood-stained body at his home, John’s fury reached new heights. Meanwhile, Winston summoned Ms. Perkins to answer for killing Harry on Continental grounds – a grievous violation of the hotel’s sacred rules. She paid for her transgression with her life. Winston then contacted John, who rushed to confront Viggo at an airfield.
The final confrontation began with John ramming his car into one of Viggo’s henchmen. In the ensuing chaos, Avi attempted to attack John but was shot in the leg and struck by a vehicle. Viggo then crashed into John’s car, nearly pushing it off the edge. John barely escaped before the vehicle plummeted.
The two men engaged in a brutal hand-to-hand combat. As John gained the upper hand, Viggo resorted to treachery, catching John off guard with a knife to the stomach. However, John, demonstrating his indomitable will, turned Viggo’s own blade against him, delivering a fatal strike to the neck.
Severely wounded and losing blood, John drove Viggo’s car to an animal clinic. As he stumbled inside to treat his wounds, his resolve was strengthened by memories of Helen. In the clinic, among many caged dogs, a pitbull puppy caught his attention. John liberated the dog, and together they walked along the same path where he and Helen had once strolled, suggesting both an end and a new beginning to John’s journey.