John Wick: Chapter 2
Director: Chad Stahelski
Writer: Derek Kolstad
Sequel to: John Wick
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ian McShane, Ruby Rose, Common, Claudia Gerini, Lance Reddick, Laurence Fishburne, Tobias Segal, John Leguizamo, Bridget Moynahan, Thomas Sadoski, Erik Frandsen, David Patrick Kelly, Perry Yung, Peter Serafinowicz, Peter Stormare
Seen on: 22.2.2017

Plot:
After John Wick (Keanu Reeves) finished his quest of vengeance and made sure that there will be no continuation of a blood feud, all he wants is to get back to his life of peace and quiet. But his reappearance in the world of assassins hasn’t gone unnoticed and there is still a debt John owes to Santino (Riccardo Scarmarcio) – and Santino has come to collect. John wants to refuse, but if he does, he goes against one of the central principles of this world – and his life will be up for grabs.

John Wick: Chapter 2 may not have blown me away quite as much as the first film (which may be due mostly to my higher expectations now), but it is definitely a more than worthy sequel.

Chapter 2 expands on the strengths of the first film: one, they focus even more on the hand-to-hand combat, delivering absolutely beautifully choreographed and shot fighting scenes. Two, they expand the world-building that was already strong in the first film and becomes even more detailed here. The scene with the Sommelier (Peter Serafinowicz) alone was worth the price of admission. And three, they kept the slightly ironic way of dealing with action movie clichés and the often stupid dialogues in said films.

But a couple of things didn’t work that well for me. Sometimes the film seemed a little unfocused, especially when it came to the gunfights and their choreographies. They simply weren’t as tight as the fights in the first film. And the ending wasn’t that well-constructed as they had to break their own rules to get Wick out of the corner they put him in and that shouldn’t happen.

But other than that, I have really no complaints – except maybe that the film could have done with more dog time. But then again, pretty much every film can do with more dog time. And those complaints did little to hamper my enjoyment of the story and the film. It’s once more a beautifully crafted and told film where everything just works perfectly – from the lighting design to the soundtrack to the cast to the sense of humor.

Chapter 2 is gorier than the first part, which took me by surprise. Personally, I didn’t mind, but it wouldn’t have been necessary either. Despite that, it’s very much in tune with the first part and leaves me nothing but excited for Chapter 3.

Summarizing: Fantastic.