John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), R, ★★★

John Wick and his new dog.

John Wick was a sleeper hit in 2014, surprising many action fans and myself. It was a emotional but action-packed, fun ride that kept on going with the pace and became probably one of the best action movies in recent years because it flashed back to the action movies of the 1990s that we have missed. Also, it maybe marked the comeback for Keanu Reeves because he did not play the character but he was the character. He was so committed in his performance and also he did 90% of the stuntwork which was fascinating. And, while researching the movie, I did not know he had the flu with a high fever during the club shootout scene. Dang! So, after watching the sequel, this is the rare action sequel that is equal to its predecessor: a solid action flick that kicks a lot of butt because it explores more of his world.

The movie picks up where the first movie left off. John Wick (Keanu Reeves) heads to a warehouse that is owned by Abram Tarasov (Peter Stormare) to get his stolen car back. Obviously, John beats up and kills all of Abram's goons before making his way to Abram's office. He spares Abram to offer him peace but Abram questions whether or not he could find peace. He comes back to his home to his new dog and reburies his weapons beneath cement to make him feel that he is done with his assassin life. 

Later that night, John is visited by another assassin named Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio). He presents John with a marker that represents a blood oath to get out of the assassin life to be with his late wife. Santino wants to hire John to kill his sister, Gianna (Claudia Gerini), who ascends to the High Table that is a group of powerful assassins. John initially refuses, however, Santino uses an RPG launcher and destroys his house. Don't worry, the dog is alive this time. John goes to the Continental to meet with Winston (Ian McShane) to discuss the marker. Winston replies that John took the oath so he cannot do anything and if he still refuses, the contract will still be intact. John places his dog under the care of Charon (Lance Riddick), the hotel concierge, and he travels to Rome to perform his mission. 

When did this movie turn into a Western?

Again, I had a blast with this movie watching more assassins trying to take down John Wick. The action sequences are incredible, the set designs are fantastic and even though they had a bigger budget, they used most of their action and set pieces wisely to accommodate the story. I did have one main flaw amongst a few small flaws with the movie. So, John performed his mission in Rome "successfully". After a great first fight with Cassian (Common), they have a great scene that is reminiscent of Heat with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino simply talking about their lives. So, after the conversation between Common and Keanu Reeves, Santino puts another contract for assassins to kill him. I did not understand the urgency to put another contract. Was it a set up or was it to drive the movie forward with more incredible action? I'm guessing the latter more than the former.

Keanu Reeves, again, is entitled to the task of becoming the character and does a fantastic job delivering a few cheesy one-liners that works within this universe. Common is pretty good as his counterpart. Riccardo Scamarcio is solid as the person who sets the contract on him and to take him back. Ian McShane, who portrayed one of my favorite characters from the first movie, is back as the owner of the Continental in New York City is terrific along with small roles from Lance Reddick and John Leguizamo. Ruby Rose was ok in her mute role but she did not feel as threatening, I thought. However, it is great to see a reunion between former Matrix co-stars, Reeves and Laurence Fishburne in this movie.

Director Chad Stahelski is solo on this movie as he was a co-director in the first movie. He combines taut action and suspense with threatening characters and some stakes in the story. What is lacking this time around is that there is not much emotional drive as there was in the first movie and also there were a few silly moments towards the end that was more unbelievable than awesome. But, you suspend your disbelief a little bit and go with the flow because you are having so much fun with this action-packed sequel and there is more action this time around. And, not to give anything away, but the ending sort of is reminiscent to The Dark Knight if you think about it. John Wick: Chapter 2 is a great action movie but it is solely a solid movie as a whole to incorporate style, interesting characters,  action and some plot.

***