John Wick: Chapter 2

“John Wick! The man, the myth, the legend.” Such are the words that Laurence Fishburne so wonderfully spouts in a sequel that doesn’t really need to be in existence if I’m honest. But it is and here we are. I never saw the first movie, but I have been informed that the central plotline is that some dudes break into another dude’s house, kill his dog, and steal his car, unaware that the dude is one skilled in the art of badassery, which sparks a one-man war long enough to be considered a feature film. And now, because the film obviously made money and people liked the John Wick character, the man is back, but this time it’s him against the world. 

John Wick: Chapter 2 takes place still during the story of the first movie, with John finally wrapping things up for good. His respite is very brief as he’s quickly roped into paying a debt he does not want to pay and then being backstabbed during the reluctant process. Soon, assassins all over the city are after his head and it’s going to take everything he’s got to make it out alive. 

The badass mother’s one-man war has been a big thing since high-end thieves crashed an office Christmas party that John McLane happened to be at. Since then, Liam Neeson has taken up the mantle and must be very sick of having to constantly rescue his family. I honestly don’t know the appeal of John Wick aside from his being totally badass in gunplay and fighting for questionable reasons, but the character managed to spawn a sequel so he must be doing something right. However, there is nothing at all special about Chapter 2. You’re hit with the action from the opening scene and from there it’s just scenes and scenes of action, violence, and really clumsy dialogue. Granted the action scenes are very impressive. Reeves with his martial arts skills makes for captivating fight sequences and these sequences are choreographed to near perfection, building up to a classic showdown in a hall of mirrors (a setting that has been succeeding in tension-building since The Lady From Shanghai). 

However, great fight sequences do not make a great film. The dialogue, indeed the script in its entirety is pretty horrible: clumsy and clichéd with Reeves attempting to deliver these empty lines as Batman and just not hitting the right note. At all. And then we have these characters that don’t inspire any sort of emotion (either from us or anyone else in their world) towards themselves, thus making everyone in this movie merely there to throw punches and shoot guns. 

I cannot speak for everyone, but a film should not be entirely about its action. Stories and characters should work on their own and have awesome action elements that elevate it rather than have it the other way around with a plot being spliced together to suit the character and action he inspires. For me, that’s the real weakness of this movie. 

If you’ve seen and enjoyed the first movie, I don’t dissuade you from this one. I only voice the opinion that it’s a mediocre action movie that leaves a lot to be desired. 

Starring Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ian McShane, Ruby Rose, Common, Claudia Gerini, Lance Reddick, Tobias Segal, John Leguizamo, and Laurence Fishburne 

Year: 2017 

Rating: MA