John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) ****/5: There are obvious deficiencies but the film makes up for it with non-stop action

John Wick: Chapter 2 is a very good action film and a worthy sequel to the original film released in 2014. Chapter 2 is pretty accurate here because the story in this current release merely expands on that of the original. John’s return in the first film had some consequences. There is a very important historical lesson: if you can’t resolve what’s in the past then forever will it haunt you. John Wick learns that the hard way not that we, the audience, mind since the action is so great. The world of John Wick has indeed expanded and now Chapter 3 should be a real treat because we should be getting an international perspective of the world of killers.

The film is basically about John (Keanu Reeves) being drawn back into the world of killers or assassins because of a blood oath he took with a former accomplice Santino (Riccardo Scamarcio).  His comeback opens the floodgates and then he becomes the target with a price on his head.

Positives

The main positive is obviously the action but the story is also pretty good. Even though it’s all about John Wick we get more detail about the international scope of the world of assassins and some insight into the major players that call the shots. You know of the major players when a bounty is placed on John Wick. Only the major players, who are primarily mob bosses, can afford to place such high bounties on someone’s head.  The first film was clearly very personal and very small scale but now the scale has expanded considerably and there is an interesting variety of killers/assassins. For instance we get to meet Cassian (Common) and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) who give the film an added dimension and not just because they’re black. There are some parallels between the 2 especially now that John has given them both a choice. I just hope the filmmakers can keep a lid on it for Chapter 3 which should be explosive. This definitely feels like a Chapter 2 because the story merely continues from the first film and the past has come back to bite John in a not so good way. This always happens when you don’t properly resolve issues in the past.

The structure of the world is very important in this film. Even though this world is one inhabited by killers there are rules to the game. They are not savages. The important thing to note in this film is that John Wick comes up against a roadblock because of these rules. It’s the rules that say he must honour the blood oath. He also ends up breaking a very important rule which will make his life on the run in chapter 3 more interesting because he will be ever more isolated. John has paid the true price of freedom. It will be interesting to see how he resolves these issues in chapter 3.

The film does have a lot of tension especially when the floodgates are opened.

Keanu Reeves has truly made this character his own and there are moments when he is does show humanity, particularly with the dog.

John Wick should have his own videogame.

I am having a feeling that we should be hearing more about the impossible task in chapter 3.

Negatives

The primary negative of this film is that the film is dominated primarily by the action. This series lives and dies by the action. When you have phrases like ‘You can either start a war or give me a gun’ you get the gist of the story. Apart from the action itself it’s all about John setting up or getting prepared for action. In a world of killers John is simply the best and you have to accept it although there are challengers like Cassian. Without the action or links to it the film is probably a bit empty and makes up for it with various eccentricities. Yes there is never a dull moment but some moments that we consider exciting are merely empty and just pass the time. You can use the time to check your messages on whatsapp. Without any links to the action the film is pretty weak.   It’s also a world of characters and how they interact with each other like a superhero film and so the context is still a bit threadbare. The interaction between John and the Bowery King makes up for some of the deficiencies here. From an international perspective it should be interesting if there is a famous killer from Russia who will challenge John sooner or later.  Maybe in chapter 3 they can say a little bit more about the world of killers and the mob bosses in control of the crime world locally, in America, and internationally. They made some references to the Camorra so maybe they will play an important role in the 3^rd film. This would truly make John’s world bigger. It’s good when you can be surrounded by all these killers who make the action interesting, because they do the killing, but the Camorra are one of the big dogs that control a significant part of the underworld. So by dealing with them you’ll really have something interesting to say about the underworld and if it can really be dismantled completely. Can John truly escape an organization as embedded as this one? It won’t be about just killing one man. So hopefully in chapter 3 we can hear more about the underworld apart from John dueling with killers. I mean hopefully the film will be more than just the action.

Keanu Reeves has the character John Wick down when it comes to style but he needs to be more effective in terms of delivery. He needs to make the character more gritty even when he’s not killing everyone or when he gets upset.