John Wick: Chapter 2 continues where he left off. Just a few days after the bloody campaign, John returns his stolen vehicle and makes peace. He buries his axes of war, but at the same moment the awakened demons of his past knock on his door. The old oath came to be paid. John refuses, begging the owners of the blood-signed oath not to call him back. However, what follows will not give him a choice and he will have to respect what he has committed to. Those who summoned it will get the perfect weapon for their plan, but summoning that weapon is also the biggest mistake they have ever made…
The first film was a success, and with the second, creators Chad Stachelski (director) and Derek Kolstad (screenwriter) went a step further and brought us the R rated, bloody odyssey. In the first part, we had a certain elaboration of John’s character, who he was, who he became, as well as the reasons for returning to the bloody path and what led and moved him on that path. In the second part, John tries to pick up the parts of himself as a normal man, which he has left. However, they are quickly dispersed and remain a dream, just like his wish or hope that the world, of which he himself is a large part, remained behind him.
She is pushed back into it again, but this time there is no going back. Love pulled him out for the first time, and it led him on the last bloody path. Now all that is left is emptiness, anger and pathological focus to charge all those who harmed him and stood in the way of that charge. In this part, Witch is summoned and cannot be revoked. She will destroy everything in her path, corpses will pile up, and all attempts by her opponents to stop her will only bring larger crowds to be destroyed by her rage.
The film itself can be described with the previously stated, because this second chapter, apart from a small slower introduction, represents a real bloody odyssey of our hero. The action sequences are just connected to each other and you have the feeling that the action does not stop despite the frequent changes of the stages on which they take place. That’s why he reminded me of The Raid, where also, after a short introduction, the action starts non-stop and you enjoy incredible and brutal choreographies painted in strong colors, on striking comic book sets. This is exactly the second chapter of John Vic. The action scenes are phenomenal, realistically brutal, with all the advantages that the R Rated label brings. This means that everything is shown without hiding. Blood rushes in all directions and with loud sounds of cracking necks and limbs brings brutality in full force.
The colors are strong and striking, and together with the scenography and costumes, they show an unrealistically beautiful world of assassins, and that world is dangerous, brutal, framed by strict rules, but just as sophisticated, elegant and refined. The Continental Hotel Service provides a variety of services needed by every paid killer who keeps to himself. By this we mean exclusive accommodation and security, but also the best collections of attractive and deadly weapons, various information as well as armor services – in this case designer suits resistant to bullets.
It is in these details, phenomenal costume design and scenography that the director’s dedication to his role models and previous work on hits such as Matrix, The Eighth Passenger, Hitman, Escape from LA, 300, etc., in which he participated as a stuntman, actor, assistant director. Dedicated to fashion and the elegant look of his killers, the director actually pays tribute to the legendary action films made in Hong Kong, because in all these films the killers are always in designer suits and as cool as possible while doing what they do. In addition to the many excellences of Chapter 2, I have to mention the great soundtrack and some totally ripping things off.
All the characters are, just as I mentioned, maximally well-groomed, trained and dangerously cool in their performance. In addition to Reeves, who has proven himself many times as Mr. charismatic kick ass, as support in playing colorful characters has in excellent Ian McShane, Ruby Rose, Common, Lance Reddick, Laurence Fishburne, etc. With smaller or bigger roles, they are all great, but I would always single out the legendary Cocksucker McShane, but also Ruby Rose, as the main Reeves nemesis. We have the opportunity to watch it in the last part of Resident Evil and in XXX – Return of Xander Cage.
When we put it all together and crumple it into a pile, we get a phenomenal action film for the new age. Action sequences, lots of blood, great locations, superb elegance imbued with dizzying choreographies wrapped in powerful music, as if merged from a comic strip and together with its colorful and cool characters, colored the movie screen, bringing every real action movie fan top pleasure and fun.
