John Wick is put to shame, as VFX artists are left more impressed by the visual effects in a critically acclaimed action movie that received 13 Academy Award nominations.
Led by Keanu Reeves as the titular assassin, the John Wick movies are widely regarded as among the best when it comes to the action genre. This success paved the way for four movies focused on Reeves’ character, the Ballerina spinoff film starring Ana de Armas, and a fifth mainline John Wick movie now in development. In this instance, though, the franchise’s positive reputation is no match for One Battle After Another.
In a Corridor Crew video, VFX artists Sam Gorski, Jordan Allen, and Niko Pueringer watch a scene from the Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar-nominated movie where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Bob Ferguson, fails to successfully jump onto a roof and instead plummets to the ground. “That was way better than John Wick,” says Gorski, comparing it to see a scene where the assassin falls from a roof in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
After the fall, Bob is subsequently tasered. They discuss how DiCaprio would not be allowed to solely do the roof or taser stunt himself, which means that the movie has to cleverly blend his acting alongside the stunt performers all within one shot. Check out their comments below:
Jordan Allen: Now the creative problem is you need a way to blend into your stunt performers during the roof fall, blend into Leonardo DiCaprio, and then blend back into your stunt performers for the second fall, all inside of one shot.
Sam Gorski: We’re already seeing a blend in this shot of possibly a real jump off the roof that’s supported by a wire, but then we’re transitioning into a secondary stunt of the other half, which is probably supported by a different wire setup. And then we obviously have our ground impact. Anytime there’s that violent motion, obviously, there’s a great opportunity to hide a cut there too. There’s a possibility we’re seeing one, two, three performances here that are being blended before going any further.
Jordan Allen: It’s all deeply rooted, as you said, in the silhouette, which below a certain level of light, there is no detail. There’s nothing other than the outline. So, in that, you can blend from one performer to another. So much easier to hide it.
Niko Pueringer: Now, ideally, you do the stunt first, and then Leo goes in and kind of sits where the stunt person landed. But the thing that they’re doing that’s really great is they’re doing the right amount of impact speed and bounce. It’s still a little slow, but this is the kind of thing where you could have a stunt person on a descender that’s limiting their speed, maybe 20-25 miles per hour, and they’re actually hitting a pad. You can paint out the pad, maybe go in and manually accelerate those frames like a good talented comp artist that has some animation shots, and you land it right where Leo is. Transition to Leo shot. Notice the camera doesn’t move in space. It just tilts down until Leo gets up. Then we start our 3D move and, of course, you get out, and finally you run the taser.
Despite how impressed the VFX artists are by this scene, One Battle After Another was not nominated in the category for Best Visual Effects. This year’s nominees are Avatar: Fire and Ash, F1, Jurassic World Rebirth, The Lost Bus, and Sinners. The Oscars are introducing an Achievement in Stunt Design category, but it will not be eligible until the 2028 ceremony for films released in 2027.
One Battle After Another’s 13 Oscar nominations include Best Picture, Best Director (Anderson), Best Actor (DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actor (Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn), Best Supporting Actress (Teyana Taylor), Best Adapted Screenplay (Anderson), Best Casting (Cassandra Kulukundis), Best Cinematography (Michael Bauman), Best Film Editing (Andy Jurgensen), Best Original Score (Johnny Greenwood), Best Production Design (Florencia Martin and Anthony Carlino), and Best Sound (José Antonio GarcÃa, Christopher Scarabosio and Tony Villaflor).
After One Battle After Another’s stellar reviews, many of which hailed it as the best of 2025, it has dominated the awards season so far, and this is expected to continue at the Oscars. Now, the movie has yet another achievement, which is an action scene celebrated by VFX artists as being superior to John Wick.
Created by
Derek Kolstad
First Film
John Wick
Latest Film
John Wick: Chapter 4
Upcoming Films
Ballerina
First TV Show
The Continental
Latest TV Show
The Continental
“John Wick” is a neo-noir action-thriller franchise centered around a retired hitman who returns to the criminal underworld to seek vengeance. Known for its intense and stylistic action sequences, the franchise has redefined modern action cinema with its choreographed gunfights, hand-to-hand combat, and intricate world-building. The series explores themes of loyalty, honor, and survival in a secret society of assassins.