John Wick: Chapter 2 - Movie Review!

Who's In It?

Riccardo Scamarcio, Ruby Rose, Common, Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves


What's It About?

The minute John Wick retrieves his beloved car and quits again, an old acquaintance returns with a marker - a job he can't refuse. 

Any Good?

John Wick seems like a very recent film, so going into this I was a bit worried it'd go all Matrix Reloaded - what unfolded was a sequel that surpassed its original. No mean feat. This movie is absolutely manly-man virtues overload, and it's great. It opens with him saving his old-school Mustang and battering Russians aplenty. Quickly leads to having a custom Assassin's suit fitted, choosing a bespoke arsenal & travelling to Rome. That's just the lead up. It's BEAUTIFUL.

It's also even more over the top, with him stashing different types of guns all along Roman catacombs and using ALL, including shoving a shotgun in someone's chest, reloading and then blowing him away - ALL on screen. The action scenes were fast, furious & hilariously funny, with the best gunfight I've seen since the Matrix, with the entire cinema laughing heartily for the duration. Sadists.

Keanu was great as John Wick (a given really), but the real stars for me were Common and Laurence Fishburne. Common was fantastic spinning dead pan one-liners, giving John a run for his money throughout; and Laurence Fishburne was extremely over the top and charismatic - the chemistry between him and Keanu certainly isn't gone. 

#SquadGoals

The only changes I'd have made would be someone else other than Ruby Rose, she just feels like a gimmick and was flat the entire time - now, granted for a mute, that wasn't a challenge but she could have brought so much more to the role. I quite liked Riccardo Scamarcio, but felt like he was ultimately a discount Benicio del Toro.

I honestly think this is better than the first - ONLY because the mirror museum sequence is even better than THE club one in the original(if you haven't seen it, DO). The fact that his muscle bound pit bull is by his side. The world-building, the head shots, the cracking characters and huge implications alluded to in the ending.

Do go see it, and enable the third to be made. 

Rating: