Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski struck gold in 2014 with the original John Wick. The pair crafted a tight, brutal action revenge film and created an iconic action character in the titular assassin. The story seemingly ended in that film, as John had found a new furry companion and walked away having settled his debt and avenged his previous canine companion. The unexpected financial success of the film, however, prompted a sequel to be put together, and while John Wick: Chapter 2 falls prey to some typical action sequel clichés, it still manages to be an engaging, even more brutal adventure into the assassin underworld.
Chapter 2 kicks off with a bang as we follow Wick tying up some loose ends with the Russian mob from the first film. This acts as an epilogue of sorts for the previous film but also as a chance to showcase the bigger budget and the fights that will come as a result. Once John returns from this mission and attempts to settle back into his retirement, he is greeted by Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), head of an Italian mob family and an old acquaintance. Santino is the holder of a “marker” against John, a blood oath Wick struck years earlier that allowed him to escape from his criminal life and live with his wife – but now D’Antonio has come to collect. A globe trotting tour of assassinations and criminal syndicates follow as John is sent on a mission to take out Santino’s sister and heir to the council of assassins who essentially run the global underworld.
If all this sounds a bit confusing and ridiculous it’s because it is. The film makes it clear that it is foregoing a cohesive plot in favour of more complex fights and bigger stunts to go with that increased sequel budget. While the plot for the first film wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, it had a solid pace and moved with purpose as we followed John on his singular path for revenge. Here we fall into action clichés as John moves from room to room full of goons on his way to completing his mission. Once things develop further later in the run, the plot gets even murkier and I was unsure where John even was until we got a handy pan of the New York skyline as a reminder. While you are never bored watching, it is a shame that the story doesn’t do more to propel John on his way, instead opting in favour of abrupt shifts in location as we watch Wick adapt to each new situation he finds himself in. While not everything is a home run, writer Derek Kolstad is clearly taking risks in his screenplay, adding huge chunks of mythos to the assassin world and expounding on the first movie’s lore tenfold. The Italian settings make for a shift in environment that sets the action set pieces apart from the American counterparts of the first film, giving them their own distinct visual flair.
Where the increased budget has been put to use is the action. John Wick: Chapter 2 ups the ante significantly from the first film, delivering larger, more intense action scenes which expand from purely hand-to-hand fights through to vehicle combat and some magnificently shot chase scenes. The hand-to-hand scenes feature plenty more goons for Wick to cut through with his signature brand of Gun-fu, with Reeves one again performing majority of the stunts himself – allowing for long, uninterrupted shots of the action to be shown. These are beautiful to watch as Wick manoeuvres himself across a room cutting down everyone in his path, and they’re made even more stunning when they’re set in locations like a museum’s hall of mirrors or a brightly lit, futuristic train station. The chase scene in the train station is worth mentioning, and was easily the highlight of the film for me, as John attempts to outrun several rival assassins all intent on bringing him down. The scene moves back and forth between an all out chase as John sprints away from his enemies, taking down any in his path, and a stealthy escape as he tries to hide in plain sight, blending with the public. This stealth scene is particularly innovative because it also acts as a silent shootout of sorts, with Wick and his enemies taking shots at each other with silenced weapons. It all culminates in a thrilling train showdown with another assassin, a truly tense scene where each fighter vies for supremacy in the tight space of the carriage. It is quality action like this that make me overlook the fact that the public has no concern whatsoever about bodies piling up in their midst.
I mentioned before that Chapter 2 expands the assassin world, and this is evident in the introduction of several new characters. The character played by Ruby Rose, a deaf & mute assassin, could have been something more if it was portrayed by a more talented actor. It’s certainly an interesting concept, however Rose does nothing with the role and it boils down to her serving Wick with looks that say “I don’t like you very much” as she proceeds to try to kick him in the face. A better portrayed, if still not amazing, killer is Cassian, played by rapper Common, a bodyguard for Wick’s target who has a murky history with John. He definitely has more to work with in his role than Ruby Rose, and his past experiences with John makes for some great dialogue exchanges and fights. By far the best of the newcomers is Lawrence Fishburne, who plays the Bowery King, leader of an underground syndicate of assassins who pose as homeless around New York. Reeves and his The Matrix co-star obviously have great chemistry and their dialogue together pops. Fishburne excels at playing the unhinged leader, going for the same kind of over-the-top reactions and hyperbole in his dialogue that made Michael Nyqvist’s villain from the first movie so much fun to watch.
Whilst John Wick: Chapter 2 doubles down on the action and world building that made the first film so great, its nonsensical story detracts and leaves viewers confused about the significance of the fight they are watching. It’s hard to care about the outcome of a fight when we’re not exactly sure why John is in this particular mess. What does keep us invested, however, is another stellar performance from Keanu Reeves, who continues to give it his all, both in his acting and his stunt-work. We’re now so emotionally invested in the character that we will follow him anywhere and I can’t wait to see what awaits him in the next instalment of the franchise.
John Wick: Chapter 2 stars Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburne, Ian McShane, Ruby Rose, Common & Riccardo Scarmarcio – Available to view on streaming and home entertainment now.