John Wick: Chapter 2

is a faster, louder, more flamboyant, more violent version of its predecessor.  Some of those descriptions may be hard to believe, but they are all true.  This one turns up the volume in almost every area.

Some of that increase is quite successful.  The film provides a great deal more world-building than the first movie, and most of that material is both interesting and entertaining, even humorous at times.  Many of the action sequences work very well.

Some of those sequences, though, like some of the other bigger, bolder bits run on a bit too long and use somewhat repetitive fight choreography.  Where the first movie was a very tight 1:41, this one runs 2:02, and though I had a good time watching it all, the movie could have used a tighter edit.

All that said, if you enjoyed the first John Wick, and I very much did, you're going to like this one.  Some in our group enjoyed it more than the first, though most of us found it the weaker sibling.

This one begins right after the previous film and ends with a scene that will undoubtedly move straight into the sequel.  I'm not at all sure how the sequel can work, given where this one ends, but I'll be in the theater to find out.

If you liked John Wick or are just in the mood for big, dumb action, check out John Wick:  Chapter 2.

Why I'm so hopeful about John Wick 2

 To borrow from Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry, a movie franchise has to know its limitations.  If it does, and if it works within those limitations, a franchise can last for many successful iterations.

If this second trailer for the upcoming second John Wick film is any indication, the folks behind this sequel understand and are working within the limitations of the first film.



The result certainly looks promising, because it appears to focus on what made the first movie so much fun:  non-stop action with quirky characters and a violent Keanu Reeves who never has to change his expression much.

I am so there!

Oh, yes, I'm ready to see this movie

After the first John Wick flick, I decided I could happily watch a new one every year.  That schedule was a bit too aggressive, but now a second in the series is on the way.



I'm definitely there.

John Wick

Let's take a short movie quiz.  Which item in this group does not belong with the others:

A) Keanu Reeves
B) a film about an retired assassin coming out of retirement
C) tons of cheesy Russian mobsters
D) a Rottentomatoes critics rating of 86%

The answer to anyone who's been watching movies in the last 20 years is clearly D.  No Keanu Reeves action flick ever earns that high a critics rating.

Yet John Wick is all of the above.  Stylish and built to work well with Reeves' almost total inability to display subtle emotions, the film is a velocity exercise that uses a hook-and-backfill structure to engage us early and then wastes little time in moving its main story forward.  The supporting cast members, notably Michael Nyqvist as the Russian mob boss, have fun with their roles and deliver generally good performances.  Though every bit as unrealistic as you'd expect, the fighting and gun-play scenes manage to feel more authentic than most, largely through Wick's habit of making sure to shoot each bad guy in the head before moving on to the next one.

The trailer gives you the setup for the story, but in this film the ride through the plot is all the fun, so I won't tell you any more about it.  If you're in the mood for a good action film with great pacing, I heartily recommend John Wick.  It won't teach you any important life lessons or challenge you in any way, but it will deliver a good time.