Review: John Wick Chapter 2 Proves Lightning Can Strike Twice
- May 9, 2017
- 2 min read
With the first John Wick being an immense success, a sequel was inevitable. But many sequels fail where their predecessors succeeded. They focus on the wrong things, change the formula or are such blatant cash grabs that the amount of work put into them is blatantly minimal. That is not always the case.
Beginning within an hour of the first films ending, John Wick (Keanu Reaves) reclaims his car and returns home with his new pit bull, currently unnamed. When old colleague, Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), an Italian crime boss to whom John owes a life debt, turns up at his front door seeking payment John refuses, he got out once before and he intends to do so again. But if there's one thing I've learnt from these movies it's that John Wick will always lose something. Santino burns his house to the ground and waits fro John to find him. The job is simple, Santino wants his sister dead, thus making him the sole heir to his fathers empire. With bullets, gold coins and more than a little bloodshed, John will get the job done, business first, vengeance later.
John Wick Chapter 2 isn't perfect. Its plot is a little convoluted and often incredibly convenient, there's some stupid jokes that feel blatantly out of place and there isn't a real ending. But if you came for the writing you came to the wrong place. You're here for action and in that regard, it delivers. With a body count passing 100, almost continuous action sequences and the best pencil trick since The Dark Knight, John Wick Chapter 2 is easily the best action movie of 2017 thus far, maybe even this decade.
Bullets, knives and fists are all well and good but they don't make the movie (they certainly don't hurt it either). What really puts John Wick ahead of the previous entry is the characters, both new and returning. While the main villain is nothing much he is slimy enough that his death is more than welcome and his offsider is equally detestable. Winston (Ian McShane) and Charon (Lance Reddick) return in slightly larger roles with a little more to do than last time around, and they definetly make the most of it. Laurence Fishburne's Bowery King, the leader of an army of homeless assassins, while having a relatively short time on screen, leaves a lasting impact, as does Common's ruthless bodyguard, a man near Wick's equal. My personal favourite was the Italian Continental's owner Julius, played by Franco Nero of Django fame. They're all well acted and are thoroughly entertaining to watch.
It's got a colourful cast of interesting characters, the best onscreen violence since the last one and what might be the best action scenes to date, John Wick 2 hits Australian cinemas May 18 and there's no reason not to watch it.
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