John Wick Chapter 2

An Action Film Fans Long Lost Love Letter                      3/5

Action Packed
     Give it some time to build, Once Wick starts going theres no stop

Sound Design
     Guns in this Movie sound like guns, and its beautiful

Gravatas
     There is an element of scale and awe in John Wick thats absent from other action blockbusters

Certified Fresh
    90% on rotten tomatoes puts Mr. Wick in a very exclusive club

Rotten Tomatoes 90%                                 Cinemascore: A-

John Wick: Chapter 2 proves its predecessor was no fluke. Honestly its a shame I haven't gotten this review out sooner considering its cycling out of theaters in the coming weeks, this is a film that deserves to be seen in theaters considering home video just wont do it justice. Wick is loud, the action awe-inspiring, moving ninety miles between one of its signature gun-fu sequences to a nail biting car chase, to a knife fight and so on. If you have any love for the highest quality stunt work, or even just a well shot fight scene, put John Wick Chapter 2 on your radar right now and find a theater near you thats still playing it, you won't regret it.

Chapter 2 finds its title character shortly after the events of the first movie as Mr. Wick (Reeves) finally tracks down the car stollen from him by Iosef Tarasov. John returns home with his new Dog, but one does not simply come back to the type of work Wick excels in only to leave it again. A former associate of Wick's, Santino D'Antonio, arrives on his doorstep to demand a favor. Reluctantly Wick has no choice but to heed his demands forcing him back into the game for one more hit. What follows is a spectacle of stunt work seemingly only director Chad Stahelski.

When all is said and done, John Wick Chapter 2 meets the same standard of the original, trading in a faster first act for more payoff in the third. Chapter 2 is more thematic than the original, exploring themes of damnation and consequence while still maintaining the since of fun and self awareness that makes its creative world so unique. Keanu Reeves is a national treasure, an action directors ideal student, and his face is in nearly every frames as he lays down a shit ton of ass. The action takes a step up in the sequel, while there isn't any standout sequence such as the club scene in the first, every gunshot and every bone break make the chest pound with excitement. If the stunt work is the heart of the John Wick franchise then its sound design would be the muscle that thrust the weight of each action beat with pulsating bang.

I don't understand people who demand you turn off your brain in order to enjoy a movie, I don't want to turn off my brain, talking and analyzing movies is why I write this blog. John Wick doesn't want to turn off your brain. It does't try to be a thinking mans movie with long plot strings and character depth, but it does execute its action with the utmost care. Each sequence, no mater how many bodies are dropping, is filmed like art. When the guns are out its the stunt work, effort and cinematography that stays with you and thats why John Wick deserves all the attention it gets.