John Wick:Chapter 2 Review

Baba Yaga is back, even though he really doesn't wanna be. John Wick has probably been one of my most anticipated movies for this year. The original was such a breath of fresh air while also being a total rush of adrenaline. I don't think the original was all that big a hit when it first came out, but has gained an audience since then. *puts on hipster glasses* I'm proud to say that I'm one of those that went to see it in it's theatrical run. Here's a quick review of the first one

John Wick (one) takes your standard revenge story of a retired badass and changes it up enough to make it new and engaging. The world feels lived in, and you just see the character going through the motions without having to go into heavy exposition. Characters know what the deal is and they just get to work. I think what made this movie stand out over other revenge stories is the world building. Which again, it does this by showing and not telling. They don't do much talking, because they save all that up for the action. Some aspects may feel a bit cliche, but it honestly doesn't matter. John Wick knows what it is and it delivers it like Mr. Wick delivers death onto his opponents.

But let's get down to actually analyzing this piece of cinema.

The Review

If I had to have one criticism of this movie, it's that it doesn't have that emotional element of the first one, or at very least not to the same degree. There is also a moment regarding Wick's character that I didn't really like, in the moment when he was offered a job, but then again the dude is a killer so I can't bitch that much.

Emotional core aside, the movie makes up for it with even more world building and more intense action, while leaving the audience wanting more with its ending. We dwelve further into the Continental as well as John's history. We also get to see more variations on the types of assassins (a freakin Sumo and some Homeless assassins) . It continues the trend of being of few words. The movie knows what it is and it doesn't waste time by giving you a complete backstory to each character. I mean... not like it matters honestly. The John Wick series will very much feel like a video game, with each movie ramping up on the difficulty level and becoming bigger in scale. To this series benefit, it has a solid enough structure to where I believe the third one will be even more epic. Whereas something like the Planet of the Apes trilogy, has me worried that it won't finish off with a third great movie to finish of the series.

But what about the action? Well.... all I can say is we finally get to see a pencil scene in this movie (Jesus Christ was it gory). The action in this movie is so diverse and as I said before way more intense. Hats off to the directors for having such interesting sets to have these fights on. The lighting plays a huge part into some of these fight scenes and it has a huge range of them. It's either a fight scene that takes place in front of a colorful light wall or in catacombs with guys with flash lights on their guns. The action also changes up a lot. You got your hand to hand, your gun fu and your knife fights. Keanu even goes the extra mile by doing all his own stunts and having injuries going throughout scenes.

I also gotta say, that this movie is very funny at times. In the first few minutes it had the audience laughing at the reactions of some of the characters.

Final Thoughts

I left this movie wanting to see more and hoping we get the third flick to finish up this trilogy. The first John Wich reminded me a lot of Hell or High Water. Some might find that to be sacrilege, but to me that movie was good because of how simple it was. It wasn't trying to be some huge epic drama. It knew what it wanted to be and it pulled it off excellently. I'd honestly say that 1 and 2 are about the same in terms of quality. I would probably say that that you can't really see this movie without seeing the first (you'd be doing yourself a favor anyway, it's a win win). It's not that the movies are so insanely connected that you won't understand what's going on, it just feels like you need to watch the first one to gain a connection to his character. In the end, I loved this movie and I highly recommend you go watch it. Even if you've already seen the first one, watch it again in preparation for this movie.

Rating- 9.2/10

Great review! (I'm bias and this was a possitive one lol).

Also, dare I say Common was really good. I haven't liked him in anything but he pulls off badass well.

And thanks you've got me wanting to see it again this spending more money!

To quote the smooth as silk Winston "What have you done?" Lol

PS: Fan since the very start also!

I am so glad this will not be the next Matrix 2/Taken 2

@guardiandevil83: Yeah, he was good. I do think he was beaten a bit too easily for my taste. I hope the ones in the third movie give him a harder time.

Me too, I hope it does well enough to get a sequel. I do think it's been confirmed for one

Wish Australia even had so much as a release date for this film in cinemas :'(

@2cool4fun: Hey man, Matrix 2 wasn't that bad.

@saintwildcard: this is your best review so far. Thank you for keeping it spoiler free (the only thing I consider a minor spoiler is the pencil scene, but I already had that spoiled from me away), but thank you for keeping the rest safe.

One thing I really liked about this review is that you avoided hyperbole aka "this is the BEST action movie EVER" although I'm guilty of using hyperbole a lot, heh.

Whereas something like the Planet of the Apes trilogy, has me worried that it won't finish off with a third great movie to finish of the series.

Me too, bud. Rise and Dawn were awesome, but I don't know how they're gonna amp it up with War. Looks like a rehash of the second. I'm still hyped, but I could be more hyped. We'll see I guess.

I suppose it is one, but I didn't think of it as one since they already have talked about it in the previous one. The stuff in the spoiler block are new elements though. The Pencil scene was spoiled for me too, but it doesn't take away from how gruesome that scene is in person.

Not really an action junkie, so I wouldn't be able to say if it's the best or not. I will say that it has the same feeling as the DD Hallway fight, in the sense that the punches feel real and he carries damage for entire fights. I think the genius lies in it's simplicity, it's not really trying to go for huge explosions or over the top action like something like Kingsmen. If the next one is as good or better, then it will probably be the best action trilogy.

Ditto. I hope it has heart and drama, and doesn't just feel like "More is Better"

To be honest, I wasn't a fan of the first John Wick and would rate it a 5.5-6/10. I appreciate the effort that went into the movie and a lot of the moments were admittedly badass, but I thought it was simple to a fault and became a slog by the third half of the movie. I also didn't like the dark colour palette (which Chapter 2 looks to have improved) and thought the movie could've used some more humour.

I heard JeremyJahns say that if you didn't like the first film, you wouldn't like the second? Would you agree?

Nice, man. Loved the DD Hallway fight.

Me too. I think War will be a fun action movie with beautiful CGI and motion capture, but I hope it's great all around.

That's a really specific score, lol.

Wish I could time travel, cause I really need to see the 3rd movie. That ending had my heart pounding.

It's the best movie I've seen in theaters in ages.

Would you say the cinematic experience is better than Deadpool? Because despite my obvious dislike for the film now, I will admit I had a lot of fun at the movies with it.

Damn man, you're getting my hyped. What was the last best movie you saw in theatres before this one?

DP was the most fun I've had in theaters in ever.

Where does the 0.2 come from? LOL.

Keanu's chiselled body?

@theamazingspidey: Most likely :D

Waiting for camrip.

Baba black sheep!

I heard JeremyJahns say that if you didn't like the first film, you wouldn't like the second? Would you agree?

Can't say honestly. The movies are about even (with this one being a bit better). If you love the Continental stuff and wanna see some badass action, then you might like it. It's even got more jokes than the first one..... still though, you didn't like the first one which you know.... is flat out wrong

The score comes from my gut. It was more than a 9 but not enough for a 9.5, so 9.2 it was.

@theamazingspidey: it beats all movies I've seen in the last couple years.

@monsterstomp: it beats the sh!t out of DP.

@the_stegman: Awesome.

As soon as the video is available, I'm gonna make a poll of the Pencil scene from this movie and the Dark Knight

What's this pencil scene everyone is talking about?

Don't you remember in the first one how they talk about John Wick killing three guys with a pencil?

@saintwildcard: Oh.. what and its a flashback?

Can't say, just know it's in the movie.... holy hell is brutal

@saintwildcard: Then compare it to something like Bourne's pen vs. knife fight rather than Joker's magic trick.

Hush Child! Don't ruin it

@saintwildcard: I did not! :)

bump

Get ready for Logan to change that.

@theamazingspidey: hopefully

i love it, its a must buy for me on blu-ray.

John wick 2 makes me wanna watch the second one again.

Good review. Make me want to see the movie more and more.

Best action movie in years.

I still haven't seen this. Looking forward to it though.

Holy shit! That pencil scene was brutal.

No wonder mobs were so scared about John with pencil.

"A F#*$ING PENCIL! Who does that?"

The film only releases on 17 March 2017 over here, sigh. After I take the family to watch Logan, I'll beg my parents to take me to watch JW: Chapter 2 and Ghost In The Shell (if both critic and general audience reviews are good). Seems pretty simple enough.