John Wick: Chapter 2 – SPOILER-FREE Review
Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Common, Riccardo Scamarcio, Laurence Fishburne, Ruby Rose, Bridget Moynahan, Lance Roddick, Franco Nero, John Leguizamo, Ian McShane
Runtime: 122 min
This sequel to John Wick shows us even more brutal action as Keanu Reeves‘s character is forced to come out of retirement in order to honor a blood oath that he previously needed for help.
He travels to Rome and has to deal with some of the most dangerous and deadliest hitmen from the same international assassin’s “institution” that he belongs to.
When someone spells the word “sequel” my body starts shaking. I have so many problems with this type of movies that only exist to make money and not to actually be a good movie. Even if John Wick: Chapter 2 started as one of these films, it’s able to break the curse and become a fairly good sequel.
There’s twice the action of the first one and it’s twice as good. The hand-to-hand combat is amazing and if you’ve seen the behind-the-scenes videos that went viral, then you know how happy I was watching those one-take masterpieces. Keanu Reeves might be the best actor alive to actually do his own stunts. Even the cheesy script works for him because … Well, he’s f*cking Keanu Reeves!
I also loved the exploration of the assassin’s institution. Throughout the second act, it’s shown several “safe houses” and rules by which the killers live by. The pacing drops down, which is a problem, but it’s mostly fine since the story is interesting enough for us to be captivated. Just not enough for a whole second act about it.
However, the first film is far better than this one. John Wick was a big surprise in 2014, no one thought it would be any good, so a lot of the scenes were great because we’re not expecting them. John Wick: Chapter 2 has those same scenes and it doesn’t have the same impact (it made me yawn at some points).
The motivation for John Wick to go back to business is forced and not emotional (as it was in the first film), which I can accept … Until the end. The ending doesn’t make any sense to me, it’s only done this way in order to have a trilogy. Keanu Reeves‘ character changes his personality and his whole attachment to emotions because … Well, because the studio wants three movies.
The script is super cheesy and it could have ruined the movie if not for Keanu Reeves‘ brilliant acting. The work that he puts into this character shows up on the screen and I felt it. He carried this whole thing. The rest of the cast did their job pretty well, with major praise to Laurence Fishburne, he’s just great.
Overall, John Wick: Chapter 2 is a good movie. It has those brutal, man-to-man one-take action scenes that blow my mind every single time. The story around the institution is interesting to some point, but the slow pacing throughout it took me off a little. The script is cheesy, but Keanu Reeves‘ makes it work. I don’t buy the ending, it’s only that way in order to have a trilogy and John Wick‘s motivations to come back are too forced and not as emotional as the first time, which contradicts the character’s personality.
Rating: B-
