Movie Review: John Wick Chapter 2

The sequel to the superb 2015 neo-noir action movie, I was initially doubtful about the idea of a movie as excellent as John Wick having a worthy sequel. To me, the original movie did so much right in establishing its story of Keanu Reeves' retired master hitman, the world of assassins that he had been a part of, and the story of his rampage of revenge on the mobsters who had wronged him.

A friend assured me that the sequel was a worthy follow-up to the original, and well worth watching.

And after seeing John Wick: Chapter 2 this week...

I'm happy to say that I full agree. XD

Opening only a few days after the conclusion of the original film's story, John Wick Chapter 2 begins with the titular character busy hunting down his stolen car. Said car is currently in the hands of Russian mobster Abram Tarasov (played by Peter Stormare), brother to the first movie's mobster antagonist Viggo.

So, clearly this guy is gonna be our sequel's main villain. His brother and nephew were murdered, their holdings ruined by one man, all over a car and a dog. Abram's not going to take that, after all--

Oh wait, never mind. Turns out that he's all aware of John's abilities and is absolutely terrified of him. When Wick arrives at his office after killing his way through Abram's mooks, and says he wants his car back and that's it, Abram is all too happy to capitulate.

(This entire sequence is both a masterpiece of action movie cinematography, and also really hilarious too. In between the hair-rising vehicular combat and close-quarters slaughter, there is plenty of hysterical shots of Abram looking terrified as he hears every sound of the mayhem outside his warehouse office. XD Peter Stormare only has a few minutes' screentime but he sells every second of it.)

After claiming his vintage Mustang (which is almost completely totaled thanks to the fight for it - whoops XD) John returns to his house, and to the new dog he picked up at the end of the previous movie: an adorable pit bull puppy

Wick meets with chop-shop owner Aurelio (played by John Leguizamo, returning from the first movie) about fixing his beloved car. Aside from that, John seems all set to go back into his retirement. He reburies his guns in the basement of his house, and settles in with his dog to enjoy a life of peace away from the world of assassins and killing...

But that peace lasts less than a night, as John is approached by a face from his past: Italian mobster Santino D'Antonio (played by Riccardo Scamarcio). You see, it turns out years ago that John called on Santino's help to carry out the "impossible task" that allowed him to retire from the assassin game. That help was sworn in a blood oath known amongst the hitmen as a Marker, and now Santino wants to call in his half of the Marker.

John declines the offer, saying that he is retired. He got out of the game, and absolutely does not want back in again.

Santino regretfully accepts John's response...

At least until he leaves. Then, Santino destroys John's house with a grenade launcher.

Miraculously, John (and his dog!) manage to survive the fire, but John's home is consumed by flames... and, in a poignant shot, is the photo of John's deceased wife Helen. Full of rage, John is ready to kill Santino (with his bare hands, in fact) but is stopped by a timely reminder from his old friend Winston (Ian McShane), owner of the Continental Hotel frequented by the assassins of New York: the Marker is an unbreakable commitment, and rejecting it is a death sentence for an assassin. John Wick must carry out the contract that Santino wants him to fulfill.

And what is it that Santino wants John to do?

Why, kill his sister, of course.

You see, Santino's sister Gianna was the one picked by their father to become head of the family "business," and she has gained a seat on the "High Table," a council of the world's high-level crime lords. Santino wants his sister's place in the mob world, and he wants John Wick to be his means of getting Gianna's power and seat.

With apologies to Michael Corleone... just when John thought he was out of the game, they pull him back in again.

(This leads to one of the movie's best displays from Reeves, where his sheer anger at the situation he's in boils over. It's both jarring to see the normally-stoic Wick flip out, and yet quite effective because of it.)

John prepares himself to carry out the mission, and sets off to Rome, where Gianna is having her coronation party. The scenes in Rome, with its own equivalent of the Continental and various services offered, provide some great world-building and lots of fun characters too, from the manager Julius (played by Franco Nero), weapons expert "The Sommelier" (played delightfully by Peter Serafinowicz) and a tailor who sews John a suit lined with bulletproof armor.

There is a lot of humor to be had in this sequence, from John talking to the Sommelier about guns as if they're discussing courses for a meal, to the tailor asking John if he wants the suit for "day" or "night" occasions. XD

The film becomes more serious, though, when John sets out on his unwanted assassination mission. He infiltrates the party where Gianna is, and confronts her in private...

I don't want to provide too many spoilers here, as this was one of my favorite scenes in the entire picture. It's beautifully staged, using symbolism to magnificent effect, and provides one of the film's most memorable, dignified and just plain awesome characters in the movie. Her interaction with John - and her death - is mesmerizing, a thing of dark cinematic beauty.

John's escape from the scene gives us one of the film's many, many delightful action sequences. Between Gianna's men trying to avenge her, led by master hitman Cassian (played by actor/rapper Common), and a kill squad sent by Santino to clean up the "loose end" that John presents to his ascendancy, we have one of the movie's most brilliant shootouts, as John battles his way through the catacombs beneath Rome. There are lots of kills in this sequence that had me gasping out loud at the sheer badassery on display - my personal favorite being one that involves John, a shotgun, and a hapless mook… Whew!

I'd like to take a moment and drop some praise of the two major assassin characters introduced in this sequence. I briefly mentioned Common's character of Cassian, and I want to really say, that I was just very impressed by the actor's performance. Cassian is a man of honor, dedicated to avenge the death of his employer, and displays a sense of professionalism and inner calm that combined with his efficiency as a fighter, make him a powerful opponent to John Wick. In many ways Cassian is a mirror image to John - a man of great determination, loyalty and focus, driven to carry out his revenge, but deadly focused about it as well. The two of them have some of the movie's best fight scenes, including a real show-stopper of a close-up brawl inside a subway car later in the film

The other major assassin introduced in this part of the movie, is a mute woman (named in the credits as "Ares," played by Ruby Rose) who communicates through sign language. She also works as a counterpart to Cassian, as while the latter is composed, polite and professional, Ares likes to snark at John and tease him through hand gestures; a fun, mean character, one of those that you like to dislike.

Anyway, in the aftermath of Santino's attempt on his life, John is out for blood. But unfortunately for him, it's never simple. Santino has set out to cover his ass, by putting out a seven million dollar contract on John, and much of the latter half of the movie involves John facing a variety of killers after him. (This is one of the film's most darkly inventive pieces, as John is attacked - in short order - by an assassin violinist, a guy disguised as a janitor, two killers waiting in an airport, and a fucking sumo wrestler assassin. )

Btw, thanks to this parade of killers, we also get to see one of the film's most gloriously, shockingly brutal kills, involving John Wick and... a fucking pencil. The Joker from The Dark Knight has got nothing on Mister Wick, is all I will say.

However, even a badass of John Wick's caliber has his limits, and John soon must find sanctuary. And he gets it, courtesy of one of the movie's most memorably flamboyant characters, The Bowery King (played by Laurence Fishburne). A former assassin himself, who has set up a network of killers among the homeless in New York, the Bowery King is both bombastic and absurd, and also quite badass too; being completely unintimidated by John, and commanding vast power thanks to his informants and network of messenger pigeons. XD Fishburne plays the character with a grandeur that makes the Bowery King memorable in all the best ways, and I loved it.

After a brief bout of recuperation, John is off to settle things with Santino once and for all, and this leads to one of the movie's most visually spectacular scenes, as John hunts his quarry through an art museum, and into a new exhibit full of mirrors and experimental reflection. It's both a delight in cinematography and also provides quite a fitting thematic element to the movie as well... in this sequence, a lot of allusions are made to self-reflection, that do, upon thinking about, give some interesting thought about the nature of John Wick's character and what he has left in life.

It's not much, sadly.

To say much of anything about the film's ending would be an unforgivable spoiler, but it is both amazing, a fascinating development of John's situation, and also, genuinely unsettling too. I was immensely struck by the implications of it...

Let's see, what else would I like to add?

John Wick Chapter 2 is, as I said before, a film that has some fantastic cinematography. Besides the outstanding, breathtaking stunt work in the various action scenes, you also have plenty of gorgeous camera work, with much of the scenery containing lots of lovely symbolism that would adds a lot to repeat viewings.

Keanu Reeves turns in another outstanding performance as the master assassin with a hidden heart. Again, the scene between John and Gianna is a real highlight of the character - as well as the earlier scene where John angrily meets with Santino to accept the contract. You can feel the seething rage in John's voice when he says that he'd kill Santino with his bare hands if he were able to...

And speaking of Santino, his actor turns in a good performance as an enjoyably nasty, smug and greedy mobster. In his very first scene he does come off as respectful and honorable... then immediately later you realize his true nature and eagerly wait for the moment John finally gets to cap that snide son of a bitch. (In many ways, Santino is almost more hateable than Iosef from the first movie. At least Iosef was just a spoiled brat who didn't know who he was messing with. Santino KNEW John Wick, and still thought he could get away with pissing him off and forcing him back into the game!)

As said before, I loved Common as Cassian. He was a great character, and I can only hope that he may return, should there be a third movie.

And finally, I also want to give praise to Ian McShane as Winston. Once again, the actor brilliantly conveys the sense of authority and power that the old manager of the Continental possesses, and makes for a very intriguing figure. One of my favorite parts of McShane's performance is when Winston informs Santino just how badly he's fucked up by making an enemy of John Wick:

"You stabbed the Devil in the back," Winston tells him. "Now that he's free of the Marker... what do you think he'll do?"

The answer?

John Wick will do what he does best.

And that, my friends, is definitely well worth watching. ^_^