Coming out of this movie had me asking a legitimately interesting question that someone has to answer. Who would win in a fight: Bruce Wayne or John Wick? On one hand, you have the world's greatest detective and on the other hand, you have John Wick.
John Wick 2 is the sequel to the 2014 sleeper hit John Wick and, like the first one, stars Keanu Reeves and packs a f***ton of ass-kicking and violence. It's also directed by one of the two guys who did the first one (Chad Stahel... Stalh... Stahelski), so, if for nothing else, we were being promised more of the same.
And that was what we got, and more.
When it comes to action movies these days, announcements of sequels always had me thinking, "well, that's unwarranted and unnecessary", but that wasn't the case here. There really is quite a lot you can do with these characters. And, to this movie's credit, they managed to add more to an already interesting world that feels cohesive and very much in-line with the story of the first one.
Seriously, the crime underworld they built in this movie is so much more fleshed out and interesting than it had any right to be. And, in John Wick 2, they continue to explore the inner workings of that world and give more details as to what makes everything tick. You get to see more of that sacred hotel, you get a better idea as to who bows to whom, and you get a clearer picture of this seedy yet very interesting world.
To add, the fight sequences in this movie are amazing, too. There's a particular sense of tension to some of them that wasn't entirely present in the first movie, and, since the hits and kicks and headshots are all so well-choreographed and organic-looking, that added sense of tension makes the sequences' pay-offs so much more satisfying. And there are moments in this movie that'll make you go, "HOLY SHIT, that was BRUTAL!"
He is, after all, the one you send to kill the f***ing boogeyman.
I also liked the villain in this one more than I did Theon and friends from the first movie. This one was a legitimate step ahead of John and was pretty intimidating, and, personally, I thought it was interesting. He had a sense of authority about him and it just worked for this movie.
The acting, I thought, was really good, and Laurence Fishburne and Ian McShane were standouts. I mean, Keanu carries a lot of this movie but Laurence Fishburne and Ian McShane stole every scene they were in, and I thought that was cool.
John Wick 2, however, isn't perfect, and it does have a couple of flaws that I will address. For one, I felt some of the characters were pretty undercooked and could've been fleshed out more, if not better. Common and Ruby Rose both had interesting characters and I would've liked to see more of them as they clearly have history with John Wick in some way, shape, or form, but unfortunately, we don't get to see enough of that. There also isn't enough Laurence Fishburne in this movie, too.
Just a personal nitpick.
The movie takes a while to get to where you want it to be since it takes a lot of time off to explain how a lot of the things in this grimy crimey underworld work, and the pacing suffers because of it. It's hardly a slow movie, by any means, but getting to the actual point of the movie took a while.
Some of the plot points and old characters they revisited felt a little bit shoe-horned in, and this one action scene in the movie felt like a huge letdown compared to everything else you see before it. That one was just really weird.
Overall, though, despite its flaws, John Wick: Chapter 2 still kicks a lot of ass and is a lot of fun. It's aesthetically pleasing, it's thrilling, and it's really violent, and that was pretty much what we came here to see. And I will say that John Wick: Chapter 2 is deserving of a Jar Jar thumbs-up, in my book.
Not as good as the first one, but it's pretty close.
If you've seen John Wick: Chapter 2, let me know what you thought about it by leaving a comment below. As always, this was Rafa. Stay classy.
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