michinine

When I saw the first movie, I thought: this is something new. Someone took the real hardcore action movies from the past, where people use handguns like extension of their hands, kill and keep dropping bodies like nothing. Usually, those movies end up to be campy, unbelievable and quite bad, especially on the story and sfx side.

John Wick was the exception in a long time. A tortured soul, who has to do what he has to do, because other force him. And he does it with style and determination.

The second chapter takes the setting from the first one and adds more on everything. Brilliant shot, gorgeously lighted, nice locations. And intense and insane action, where the bullets fly and the main actor performs a ballet of (gun) raw fight sequences you simply have to see. And there is, by all means, even humorous moments where you would least expect it.

In the seemingly endless barrel that is replaceable, cutout superhero action, John Wick is a class of its own. I saw many groups of women without male dates in my packed cinema. Which means that this series delivers more than just action. It delivers an fresh experience, and the second film fixes probably all problems the first had. This is not ordinary.

For quite some time, action fans had troubles to agree "whats a good action movie?" if asked. Look at the reviews. This one is easy. Its relentless, its beautiful in its own way - and has an Keanu Reeves, who simply owns the role of an legendary assassin and never lets it go. 9/10. Must see for action fans.

Oh my. Seagal had his share of duds, but this movie is just too much.

Seagal plays this cop that sees things that other don't, behaves like a professional even over focused on his job (and with a mumbled accent) - and on the other side he is the worst in action sequences ever seen (and he has an obvious unlimited supply of handgun clips).

He not only hunts down one serial killer, but suddenly there is a side plot with a second one, which sometimes becomes the first one. Plus there is a female FBI agent that probes his "over aggressive" cases. And his "wife" that feels unattained. Did I mention the same flashback about something in youth that is probably played 10 times? The plot goes in so many places that you wonder what is really going on.

Then the action scenes: they drag on, as if (just for example) someone falls down five stairs hard one after the next - and still has the power to fight for minutes. I also wonder where this city/place is where this movie is located: it looks and feels like a grim place without hope and every second guy is a sick madman; with a police force thats is clearly clueless and useless.

Seagal gives his usual wooden performance and the others just drag by. Isaac Hayes is a nice touch, but wasted. The most embarrassing thing about this movie is: Seagal wrote it himself.

3 of 10. If you really need to watch a direct-to-video movie from Seagal, grab one of the newer Keoni Waxman. They make - at least - sense and are way less confusing.

As a fan of wacky action scifi, this movie supposedly has it all: strange storyline, offbeat main character, a campy setting. The fx is well made, it looks expensive and well shot. Guy and Maggie, the main cast, do their job well. But then things happen - and you wonder why they happen. And you can't shake off the feeling they sold themselves and everything short.

Much is there to make an exceptional scifi movie, including believable looking sets and grounded characters; in a well designed mix of fun, action and seriousness (not to forget good twists!). But they never reach 'that' perfect point, because they make unnecessary shortcuts - or they never believed that they really can pull "it off". So they went the other route: the wacky, the campy, sometimes even the trashy.

At the end, its a well made fun ride for scifi aficionados, for people who need an 'easy en-tree' for their "scifi evening", before they put in a quality scifi with more than 7.0/10 on IMDb.