John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

John Wick: Chapter 2

Dir: Chad Stahelski

Better than the original?

I feel it is only right to profess my huge love for the first John Wick instalment. It was a feature that captured the essence of the classic Hong Kong gangster films, possessing characters with sharp sits and dogged gun fights, all the while containing a beating heart throughout. Interestingly, John Wick presented clear influences from Gareth Evan’s The Raid, with its relentlessness and the exhaustive qualities that follow such perpetual action.

The initial piece, John Wick (2014), revolves around a retired hitman dealing with the recent death of his wife. After declining to sell his car to a mobster’s son, complications arise which force John Wick back into the arena he hoped to leave behind him. Within this path of revenge, we discover a subculture of assassins and hitmen with their own particular set of rules and conventions. This facet of the narrative was something which many, including myself, found fascinating about John Wick. 

Considering the plethora of world building franchises being created every day it seems, for director Ched Stahleski and writer Derek Kolstad to find a formula that offers a freshness and simplicity for its audience was a factor for the film to receive the accolades it deserved.

The question was however, how would John Wick Chapter 2 maintain its relentless nature whilst avoiding the formulaic traps it hoped to avoid in its opening feature? The answer: retain that emotional core, expand on the mythology, but within all of this – turn the action up to eleven. And to say the action is raucous, constant and ear-bursting is an understatement. Raid 2: Berandal and Mad Max: Fury Road come to mind in order to clearly communicate the narrative flow John Wick 2 embraces.

If there were any doubts for this sequel, after the opening ten minute sequence, you will definitely know your preconceptions are out the window as it grabs its audience by the chest and thrust you into its roller-coasting narrative. A gruelling opening whereby John – performed by the brilliant Keanu Reeves – applies his mastery of martial arts and close armour combat to overcome a warehouse full of gang members in order to reclaim something that is rightfully his. After such an incredible opening, John returns home to finally put such a world behind him. However a shadowy former associate – Santino - confronts John to fulfil his ‘Marker’- an oath bound by blood. John is under the thumb of Santino to honour this marker and leave him at peace. But the task demanded by Santino is ‘impossible’ according to John.

As the plot unravels at its relentless pace, twists and turns occur - deviating John on to a path of revenge full of blood and headshots. And whilst on this scarlet filled path, our alignment with John is never broken, we feel every punch, every gun-shot that pierces his pristine suits and stabbings in the back. The physicality of such a performance could only have been achieved by Keanu Reeves. He may not be Daniel Day Lewis, but his kinetic energy is something that is never questioned on his journey of both features. Performing each and every stunt, proves the commitment of Keanu to this character and his capabilities as a physical performer.

John Wick Chapter 2 expands on the world set by its predecessor, turns the action up to eleven but never abandons that emotional core Keanu captures in his kinetic performance. Perfectly following such a fresh original, John Wick Chapter 2 can be seen as a quintessential ‘Bridge’ film, setting up brilliantly for another instalment on this thrilling and exhausting journey.