‘John Wick: Chapter 2’ Improves on the Original

Patrick Regan

The first “John Wick” asked a question. What does it take to get out of violent, criminal lifestyle and what will it take to pull a man back in again? For Wick (Keanu Reeves) the answer was losing the last connection to the love of his life, the woman who drove him to complete an impossible task set to him by his masters with the Russian mob. A legendary assassin known to many as “The Boogeyman,” the loss of the dog his dead wife gave him to keep him company in his loneliness lead Wick on a roaring rampage of revenge. The first film ended with his vengeance finished, limping home with a new dog to keep him company.

“John Wick: Chapter 2” finds John trying to go home, only to be pulled right back in to the criminal underworld again. Rumor of his return to work has spread and an old friend is coming to collect on a debt. Santonio D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) once helped John complete his impossible task and has the blood-soaked marker to prove it. He wants John to do one last job. John initially refuses and D’Antonio blows up his house. Licking his wounds, John seeks wisdom from Winston (Ian McShane), the owner and manager of the New York branch of the Continental Hotel and a major kingpin in the strange underground world of organized crime John inhabits. Winston reminds him that in this world there are two rules that must be followed lest the whole system fall apart. No business on the grounds of the Continental. All markers must be paid.

John Wick is pulled back into a world he desperately wants to leave, bound to a man he knows is unstable and dangerous, even by the standards of the people he works with. However, at this point, with nothing left but his adopted dog, does he even care?

If the first film asked what it takes to get out, the second film asks if that was even possible in the first place and if that’s what he even wants. John is a man who doesn’t know what he has to live for, but isn’t yet willing to die. This makes him uniquely dangerous, but it also makes him vulnerable. The film ends in a way that sets up the franchise for a third chapter. Hopefully the trilogy will end with Wick finding some peace.

Of course, story aside, the main joy of the “John Wick” series is its action and incredible sense of style, and “John Wick: Chapter 2” doesn’t disappoint in this regard. Reuniting writer Derek Kolstad and director Chad Stahelski, the action sequences are thrilling, never over-cluttered or too frenetic to follow.  The film also introduces audiences to the wider criminal world beyond New York. There is a spectacular scene between John and the Continental of Rome’s sommelier aka arms master (played with delight by Peter Serafinowicz), as well as a mind-bending finale in an impossible rotating hall of mirrors.

“John Wick: Chapter 2” is that rare sequel that captures the wry humor, the painful heart and the stylish action of the first film, while quietly opening us up to a bigger world. It makes waiting for Chapter 3 all the more painful.

“John Wick: Chapter 2” opens in theaters Feb. 10.