Keanu Reeves portraying John Wick is a match made in heaven. When the star originated the role, back in 2014, the film took audiences and critics by surprise and became a blockbuster. The underworld assassin is back in John Wick: Chapter 2, and would you believe that filmmakers and all involved have upped the ante in every possible way?
Writer Derek Kolstad created the character and with the first film, the world that Wick does his business in was one that drew us collectively underground. It is a landscape where assassins do their bidding in the most high-class and professional of manners. Wick had decided to retire, as he had found love and gotten married. When his wife died from health issues, Wick was only left with a dog to remind him of the love of his life. Then, the wrong people came and messed with Wick, killed his dog and the rest (of them) was history.
John Wick: Chapter 2 picks up soon after the events of the first film and director Chad Stahelski could not have done a better job of grabbing his audience by the lapels and demanding they pay attention. The first action sequence is stunning, but then again, so is everything that has to do with the John Wick world. The way it is shot, the production design, the colors that permeate throughout the screen, its cinematography and how it is even lit is unique in every way. Think you have seen it all when it comes to fight and action scenes? Think again, John Wick: Chapter 2 has raised the bar.
Reeves’ Wick just wants to go back to his quiet life. But, the world of assassins has other ideas. It seems he owes a debt and he cannot go quietly into the night until that debt is repaid. Unfortunately, all is not what it seems and as he flies off to Rome to make good on his “tab,” he learns quickly that it was all a set-up by someone with a chip on his shoulder, seeking to put him six feet under.
By having the action effortlessly move from the streets of Manhattan to Rome and then back again to New York, the creative team behind John Wick has successfully expanded this world. There are assassins who belong to this “club” in every city and just like The Continental Hotel in NYC, there too is one in Rome. It also seems like those gold coins that bought Wick weapons and whatever he needed in the first film, do much more than provide means to achieve your professional goals. There are tailors (bullet proof suits!) and much more to this underground world than we were led to believe in the first film.
Reeves again is fantastic. Like his roles in Point Break and The Matrix, this is a part he was born to play. He gets to do more fighting in this film and he utilizes everything from his hands to guns to knives to cars and motorcycles as weapons in the second chapter. The superstar is up for the challenge and even though he has been doing this work for decades, he still comes off as a fresh-faced talent demanding the audience never take their eyes off of him while he is extolling his brand of justice.
Returning characters are as delightful as they were in the first one, especially Ian McShane’s hotel manager Winston. The purview of his character also is expanded this time around and should there be a third chapter (which there clearly will be), we look forward to seeing his role grow further.
Joining the series is Common as a fellow assassin named Cassian and Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King. The latter provides our hero weapons as needed plus some sage advice, and it is a gift to see The Matrix stars reunite in something so outrageously fun and fantastic. Common is also one who raises his game to join the John Wick world. The rapper/actor seriously prepared for his role as he and Reeves do a deadly dance through the film on several occasions that is simply beautiful, bombastic and brilliant.
Fresh off her scene-stealing turn in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, Ruby Rose also brings the heat in her role as an enforcer of this assassin world who seeks to bring her own unique brand of justice to Wick, believing that he has broken some serious rules that he needs to pay for.
See, top to bottom, all involved have given us a sequel that works on so many levels. Second chapters in film series are supposed to up the ante. They are supposed to widen the scope. They must elevate the action, the cost and the price our heroes and villains pay for doing what they do. John Wick: Chapter 2 does all of that, but also in a cinematic way the filmmakers have brought the series up a few notches as well.
It is gorgeous. It is humorous. It goes deep. But most of all, John Wick: Chapter 2 is a world that keeps growing in the most wonderful of ways. So, when can we see Chapter 3?
Grade: A