Review – John Wick: Chapter 2

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” – Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III (1990)

John Wick: Chapter 2 picks up exactly where John Wick (2014) last ended.  Our titular assassin (Keanu Reeves) is finishing the final touches on destroying the Russian family who killed his dog and stole his car.  Wick got revenge on the men who killed his dog, and now, he needs his car, and boy does he get it.  Dozens of henchmen die in a barrage of bullets, hand-to-hand combat, and car hits, and Wick gets his car back, though it may not be in the most ideal shape.  Then, the credits roll, setting up what you think would be a movie of all out mayhem and violence.

But, what John Wick: Chapter 2 isn’t that.  It is smarter than that.  It is a movie that focuses on its story and its plot and mixes the action and violence within that.  This allows John Wick: Chapter 2 to feel more like a movie than a gimmick, making it one of the finest action sequels in recent years.

Mr. Wick seems to think he is retired.  He got the revenge he needed, and now wants to get out of the game for good.  That is until Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), a fellow hitman, comes to John Wick’s home with a “marker”, a blood oath Wick took with D’Antonio to get himself out of jam in the past, and now, D’Antonio is cashing it in.  This requires Wick to kill D’Antonio’s sister, though not without a few hitmen along the way and some backstabbing, placing Wick firmly into the life he wanted to leave.

In John Wick, Wick seemed almost invincible.  Nobody every touched him and nobody came close to killing him.  Here, in Chapter 2, he actually feels human.  Maybe it is because he is going up against adversaries who are his equivalent, as seen in the hand-to-hand fight with Cassian (an ever-so badass Common).  This is an awesome, realistic fight.  It’s messy and hard hitting, and puts Wick at a level we’ve never seen him.

The movie also grounds Wick as a person.  There is a time in the film, after Wick has killed hundreds of people, where the idea that Wick loves killing all of these people and that he doesn’t want out of this life is brought up and, from what we have seen, this makes sense.  But there is a really nice scene that solidifies the fact that this is only a job to him and that when he met his wife, it was the turning point for him to get out of the life and he wants to stay there.

Of course, majority of the reason we loved the original John Wick was the hyper-stylized violence and Chapter 2 has no shortage of that.  After the first scene, it takes a bit to get there, as we see Wick get into assassin mode by checking into assassin-run hotels, getting black market guns and tailored suits custom built with kevlar and gun holsters.  But when the bullets start flying, they never stop.  The Catacombs shootout is an adrenalin rush and the climactic fights are awesome.  We even get some funnier showdowns, like the final showdown between Wick and Cassian, where they walk through a public train station and try to low-key shoot each other without anyone seeing or hearing it.  It’s funny and tension fueled.

Ranking right next to The Raid: Redemption (2014), John Wick: Chapter 2 is one of the best action sequels this decade.  It is a sequel that is equivalent, if not better, than its predecessor.  From the compelling story, to the exciting violence, to the soon-to-be iconic character, John Wick: Chapter 2 is a blast right from the very first frame.

MY RATING – 3.5/4

Did you see John Wick: Chapter 2?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.