John Wick - Capitolo 2

"John Wick: Chapter 2" (2017 release; 122 min.) continues the 'adventures' of former (?) hit man John Wick. As the movie opens, we are immediately thrown in the middle of a car vs. bike chase, and next thing we know, we find our man retrieving his beloved Mustang from a chop shop in NYC, but not without cars flying about, and dozens of dead or wounded bodies. And that's all in the pre-opening credits! As the story unfolds, Wick, who wants "out, is nevertheless forced back "in" when an Italian baddie calls in a favor and Wick has no choice but to accept. To tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: director (and former stunt man) Chad Stahelski returns at the helm following the surprise success of the first John Wick movie, and once again delivers a highly stylish and ultra- violent action movie. When you watch the opening car chases (yes, in plural), it's like watching a synchronized ballet performance. I would not go as far to say that the story line doesn't matter, it does to a degree, but let's be honest: the reason we are there is to watch the car chases and the shoot-outs and the almost cartoonish level of violence that is so over the top, you can't help but laugh at it. Stahelski's thinking must have been: "when in doubt, (i) throw more bodies at it, and (ii) keep the focus on Keanu Reeves". Reeves is cold as ice in the best possible way, and it suits him perfectly in the film. Laurence Fishburn plays a small role (as another baddie) and the scenes where Reeves and Fishburn appear together are their first joint scenes ever since the Matrix Trilogy, if you can believe it. I couldn't believe how quickly these 2 hours flew by and I'm not spoiling anything when I tell you that the movie's ending sets it up nicely for a Chapter 3 in a couple of years. Count me in!

The movie opened wide this past weekend, and the Sunday matinée screening where I saw this at was absolutely jam-packed, somewhat to my surprise. Did I mention this movie is ultra-violent? And that it's rated R for good reason? I was outright dismayed to see how many small kids were in the theater. In the very row in front of me, there was a couple with three small girls, I'm guessing ages 5 to 7. What are these people thinking?!? Meanwhile, for us grown-ups, if you liked the first John Wick, you are more than going to like this sequel, you are going to LOVE it, be it at the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu- ray. "John Wick: Chapter 2" is a WINNER.

I mean. This literally is what is says on the tin. It's jam packed with action and I love it.

The plot is easy to understand and the action shots are brilliant. So much bloodshed, guns, fighting, killing and more guns. Did I mention guns? It's just a nice, easy and fun watch. I recommend watching the first if you haven't already, but yeah I'm impressed by the sequel.

Usually with action sequels it can be a bit dull and repetitive, but this ramps up the action from the first film.

But yeah, 8/10 from me today. Enjoyed my time watching this, I'm going to jump into the third one now.

The first John Wick film took me by surprise; it was a cartoonish action film that was surprisingly brutal in its content, cruel in its delivery, and had a real punch to it. All of it existed inside a world that convinced in its own logic, even if it was clearly fantasy. John Wick 2 doesn't have the ability to sneak up on me unannounced, which does work against it, but this is not what hurts it the most.

The second chapter of what at least looks like being a trilogy, is slick and very well put together. The locations are brilliant (whether a roof garden or a larger location), the fight scenes have great choreography, and after a slow first 20 minutes it does have a great pace. But yet I found myself watching it much more passively than I had with the first film. This sense of being detached came from a couple of places. The first was that the plot did not seem as organic as the first – the violence that draws Wick deeper seems to occur just for the sake of making the film happen (which is of course true, but it doesn't try to hide it). This reduces the investment and stakes, so rather than being drawn in, I just sort of accepted it because I know where it was going.

The second thing that kept me out of it was related to this lack of investment – which is that the film's lack of realism is all the stark. I do not mean that the film needed to be a kitchen-sink drama, but rather that the film cannot sell this world to the viewer. In the first I could go with this shadowy world on the edges of ours, with the idea that it developed its own rules and norms; here though it seems everyone is a hired killer, and those in charge have total power and huge organizational skills. The use of this doesn't seem worth the cost of doing such things – for instance suggesting everyone in a massive crowd is in the employment of one person and can act with the slightest nod just seemed silly and not to add value. This excess infects the action – it is overblown but could have been strong enough to engage had it not been that the majority of the film is so silly in how it works. I read Theo Robertson's user comment on this one and I think he nailed it when he said that the film could easily be in the Matrix universe – at least this would make the nonsense here ring true.

This limits the film, but doesn't stop it being enjoyable. The action is slick and consistent, the style and gloss of all the moments are enjoyable, and the starry cast are mostly pretty good. Reeves is good value and does great physical work, and the supporting cast has plenty of famous faces – although some of them are distracted by their volume, or by virtue of not being well used (Fishburne is probably the one that we could have done without). So JW2 is a slick action flick, but not as good as the first film, nor as good as everyone tells you it is. The ending suggests the third film will be on an even bigger scale, with Wick literally taking on the whole world, which will probably only serve to remind me how good the first one was when it was one man seeking revenge on another for the death of his dog.

Iosef's uncle still has John Wick's car. Wick comes after it and the uncle accepts his offer of peace. He hopes to return to his peaceful retirement but crime lord Santino D'Antonio calls in his Marker. He faces deadly assassins, numerous killers, and countless thugs as Santino uses him to gain power even offering a $7 million contract.

Gun Fu is loads of fun and the addition of Pencil Fu is glorious. What makes the original great is the simple, powerful, and poetic motivation of John Wick. The sequel could not possibly repeat that. They can't kill off another dog. This one delivers what it could. Keanu Reeves remains the same and there is more fighting. The plot is almost meaningless. It is all action and all Wick.

This review of John Wick: Chapter 2 is spoiler free

**** (4/5)

THERE HAVE BEEN a lot of roles that Keanu Reeves has played since hanging up his sunglasses, long leather coat and his boots after 2003s The Matrix: Revolutions. Many of which were promisingly good, some were quite bad and others in-between were mediocre to say the least. But out of all these characters he's been in none that have fit him more like a glove than the title character in 2014s John Wick, the hirsute assassin who was enjoying life in retirement with his new puppy, until he had to get revenge etc. The film spawned a whole new genre of action: the geriaction thriller (cheekily, Reeves was just about to turn 50 at the time he couldn't be considered as a geriatric) because at the time there were a few other films with older protagonists sharing the multiplex, such as Denzel Washington in The Equalizer, Kevin Costner in 3 Days to Kill and the granddaddy of them all Liam Neeson in Taken 3.

Even though he was a lot older than he was in the first Matrix he did a bloody (emphasis high on bloody) good job at ass-kicking, or sharp shooting criminals out of his home. He ended up killing a lot of people, there was a lot of action to enjoy. At this point you may be asking yourself what's on offer the second time-round? From the start of John Wick: Chapter 2 there is a lot to take in we are immediately transferred into a car chase it's indeed the main improvement over its predecessor which didn't have much of a story, there was just a lot of action a huge body count and a lot of blood a simple dog revenge thriller. For a while through this it riffs the same thing, there is a lot of action, a lot of blood and a huge body count – there are, however, two differences, an entirely new plot which riffs on an entirely new revenge story this time it's Wick's life on the line after he entered in a wager with a ruthless killer (Riccardo Scamarcio) and the dog (a Staffie with no name).

The title Chapter 2, also indicates there will be a larger series to behold here seemingly perhaps he may come back for the third movie (if it happens) we'll see. Director Chad Stahelski's material here is - in one word spectacular there is plenty here to enjoy, it's one of those movies that if it's done well then you'll enjoy it, now on the second-time-round the message is certainly correct. The action throughout is cool, the car chases are ruthlessly fun, and finally it's completely on edge from start to finish and with Reeves on top form what's not to like for this second time? Kicking off just a few hours after the ending of John Wick our protagonist (Reeves) is bruised, bloodied and quite frankly fatigued after fighting for hours on end.

He's tied in with another plot for revenge with a killer and his duo of assassins (Common, Ruby Rose); he receives info from his trusted hotel manager (McShane) that he is under attack. He must end a wager, to do this he has to fight for his life in a bullet ballet rampage; he must kill someone to somewhat end it, Wick here uses his skills and his wits through this barrage of bullets in the catacombs. Here there is an entertaining montage when he gears up for – perhaps his biggest battle, containing a brilliant cameo from Peter Serafinowicz who helps gear up Wick with an arsenal of weapons, along with his bullet-proof suit. There is also a knife fight on train slightly hinting at The Raid 2. Perhaps this is the message Stahelski is sending to us that he can make a bloody action thriller with a lot of enjoyable moments.

Wick then joins forces with the homeless network run by Laurence Fishburne's Bowery King, though instead of showing down to a Matrix-fu brawl, Bowery gives him a favour for saving his life many years before there is even a chance to his maniacal laugh, and for him to prove he's smarter again by riffing famous lines. This is when the film becomes slightly rubbery it loses its footing slightly, as it drags out a bit more. But when the action unfolds again it's immediately back to its home.

Stahelski's style isn't limited or indeed of short-supply because there is plenty here to enjoy it's completely ruthless from the opening moments to the stunning Hall of Mirrors set-piece there is a lot of action for any action movie buff to enjoy. Reeves may not be the greatest actor of our generation, nor, indeed is he the worst but he hits every mark with clarity throughout he's brilliant when it comes to the action. Despite the elasticised third act, as the story takes a while to step in. John Wick: Chapter 2 is slightly better than its predecessor it's an adrenaline-fuelled, action-packed ride with a lot of bodies, blood, plenty of material and is downright good fun from start to finish, it's an absolute blast.

VERDICT: A bruisingly, brilliant action-packed bullet ballet of a sequel. This is an absolute bloody blast and with Reeves on top form, what's not to love?