John Wick Chapter Two Movie Review

Article by Gabe Zia

Lazy Film Critic Movie Reviews

John Wick: Chapter Two

So way back in 2014, a movie came out called John Wick. It starred Keanu Reeves in an action-revenge film about an retired hitman who comes out of retirement seeking vengeance after his dog is killed in a home invasion. Nobody expected much, but the turnout was not only an extremely well executed action movie, but also a surprisingly well written one featuring fantastic world building and character writing. And with it's success both critically and commercially, a sequel was bound to happen, and it's finally here. The big question is: does it (or can is possibly) live up to the first one?

First off, if you liked the action in the first film and wanted to see more of it, John Wick 2 has exactly what you're looking for there. Exactly like the first film, this movie has the same blend of gunplay and martial arts working together with slick visuals and great stunt choreography. As far as how much it's improved, there's definitely some really creative action sequences here, which I won't spoil for the sake of letting you experience them for yourself.

Another thing the first film did really well I found was world building, it was subtle but extremely detailed and thought out how the writers put together this whole fictional world. And that's the same here but to a whole new extreme, now it's on an international scale with this underground worldwide network, and much like the first one the way it's developed and detailed throughout is definitely entertaining to watch in its own way. What the first film never did and this film still doesn't do is needless blatant exposition, it's always implied that every character involved already knows the ins and outs of this underground network, so all the explaining is done in subtle reference during a conversation, or just contextual clues to let the audience figure out for themselves, which makes the world building all the more interesting to watch as the story plays out.

Speaking of the story, unfortunately that's kind of where the movie fell short. Something the first movie I felt did really well was keep it simple, we were introduced to this world and the character of John Wick in a surprisingly simple and engaging story of a guy who's out for revenge for his dog. It's such a relatable premise, I know basically any pet owner feels the same kind of protection of their pets so pretty much anyone could buy into the premise right away. And then that easy premise allows the writers to ease the audience into this whole new lore to accompany this story they're heavily invested in, and by the end of it they already want more. And you can chalk it up to it just being the unfortunate side effect of being a sequel, but John Wick 2 doesn't really capture that as much. And while it's still a lot of fun to watch, and definitely something I think is worthwhile, it doesn't really hit all the right notes the same way the first did.

Final Rating
Just to clarify, I'm not saying John Wick 2 is bad, it's far from it. It's still got the same great action, and great world building as the first film. It just doesn't really stack up to the first film, that's all. It's still a good time, it's still a lot of fun, and it's more than definitely getting my seal of approval.