If you bemoan violence in movies, then John Wick: Chapter 2 is not for you, but for the rest of us, get some popcorn because the sequel is not only better than the original, it resolves every single issue that I had with the first installment. Keanu Reeves is hotter than ever as the vengeful hitman who just wants to retire, but can’t. I am here for the day when someone does not return a borrowed pencil to him, and he hunts that person down. He just can’t let things go or let someone else feel that they got the best of him.
In John Wick: Chapter 2, I really felt the balance between how iconic sad Keanu could transform into the Boogeyman. The opening sequence is terrific because a shaken Peter Stormare freaks out as the titular character draws closer and tells us a legend that the film later delivers on. Maybe John Wick should stop visiting the tailor and just go to Staples for his weapons. This installment reveals more about the rules of this underworld with an explicit shout out to The Matrix, broadens the scope of the world to include an international perspective and delivers on all of its promises to raise the stakes to staggering level.
John Wick: Chapter 2 is also a more beautiful film than its predecessor. The fights may be more frenetic, but the camera is less chaotic cinema and follows the trajectory of the bodies. The direction is not afraid to follow the Fred Astaire rule of filmmaking and often takes the time to capture the entire fight or at least the logic of it through editing. A lot of the action takes place in beautiful locations such as Italy, museum exhibits and sleek, modern and clean train stations, which only adds to the film’s appeal. Is the David Geffen building location an inside joke? The lighting is perfect. There is definitely a subtle Michael Mann’s Manhunter homage.
I know that the following statement may sound weird, but I’m glad that John Wick started killing women. If you are a deadly assassin, and other assassins are coming for you, you are not much of a terror if you pull back when it’s a woman. It was a glaring misstep in the first film, and it is rectified in John Wick: Chapter 2. His only reluctance to kill one woman was because he did not have a personal grudge against her, but throughout the film, he casually dispatches them if they come for him. Finally!
If I had to criticize John Wick: Chapter 2, I would ask why Bridget Regan did not come back for the second installment and demand that the titular character stop adopting dogs. Don’t worry. The dog does not die this time, but considering how the film ends, the dog should ditch him because it is only a matter of time unless he is some legendary pooch. Is it a requirement that a hitman has to have a dog? I watched the dreadful The Assignment before John Wick: Chapter 2, and there was a canine tangent in that film too. I get that a dog is a man’s best friend, and an assassin can’t have many friends so it seems like a natural pairing, but for real? You need to pass so many hurdles to adopt an animal that you would think underworld legends would be eliminated immediately.
John Wick: Chapter 2 is delightful. I would watch it again. I regret that I let my tepid reception of its predecessor stop me from taking my friends’ advice to see it in the theaters. I can’t wait for the inevitable sequel.