“Consider this a professional courtesy.”
There are two things we know about John Wick: he has nine lives and he loves his dog.
Beginning with a high octane car chase that pits our hero against a crooked bad guy that wants him dead, John Wick: Chapter 2 wastes no time setting the tone and offering up some reassurance that unlike other action sequels, little has changed in the word of The Continental Hotel.
Keanu Reeves reprises his role as our good guy assassin who wants nothing more than to get out of the business. But the past is something you can never outrun, no matter how many underground mazes you navigate. And Wick is about to learn first hand that it is him against the world in a fight that will likely never end.
The film, for what its worth, is fun. Not overly amazing, but an interesting trip down memory land.
Unlike its predecessor, Chapter 2 doesn’t have the luxury of surprise. The ultra violent fight sequences are expected (and thoroughly appreciated) as fans embrace the irony that lies within the gun slinging interactions between friends as they find themselves on opposite sides of a seven figure check.
A highly entertaining tunnel sequence gives us a unique third person vantage point of an extended course of events as Wick fights off a slew of bad guys, all who dare raise a gun barrel to sweet and innocent John. Little do they know, our hero is proficient in about a dozen different arts of defense and literally wipes the floor with their games in a drawn out scene that excels thanks to Chad Stahelski’s creative direction.
John’s confrontation with Common’s Cassian is one of the most enjoyable moment in the movie, even if their ultimate fight scene is a bit lackluster. The public backdrop is easy to read into, a unique stance that John Wick offers up as it combines a fluid merger between reality and fantasy.
As the film wages on and Wick discovers that someone has taken out a rather generous seven million bounty on his head, we quickly begin to see just how vast his “other” world is. The violin player in the subway, the domino player in the local barbershop and the guy you just started dating could all be part of the hidden world…all it takes is a huge check and a convenient run-in for them to play their cards.
One of the film’s final scenes, involving an art display that conveniently includes a million different mirrors and the tagline “Reflection of the Soul”, proves to be an annoying sidestep as it takes the story down a cliché path. Underwhelming and a bit out of focus, the story appears to stall as Stahelski forgoes the creativity that makes John Wick what it is - opting to play it safe as he uses mirror angles to thwart your attention. The gimmick is amateurish and ineffective, making you question the franchise’s strength, long term.
But you can’t harp on the details. Unlike the original, you don’t find yourself taken aback by the violence or sheer badassery of Reeves. But there is enough adrenaline to keep you engaged, ultimately proving that much like the original, Chapter 2 leaves us begging for more.
