User reviews

I mean. This literally is what is says on the tin. It's jam packed with action and I love it.

The plot is easy to understand and the action shots are brilliant. So much bloodshed, guns, fighting, killing and more guns. Did I mention guns? It's just a nice, easy and fun watch. I recommend watching the first if you haven't already, but yeah I'm impressed by the sequel.

Usually with action sequels it can be a bit dull and repetitive, but this ramps up the action from the first film.

But yeah, 8/10 from me today. Enjoyed my time watching this, I'm going to jump into the third one now.

Iosef's uncle still has John Wick's car. Wick comes after it and the uncle accepts his offer of peace. He hopes to return to his peaceful retirement but crime lord Santino D'Antonio calls in his Marker. He faces deadly assassins, numerous killers, and countless thugs as Santino uses him to gain power even offering a $7 million contract.

Gun Fu is loads of fun and the addition of Pencil Fu is glorious. What makes the original great is the simple, powerful, and poetic motivation of John Wick. The sequel could not possibly repeat that. They can't kill off another dog. This one delivers what it could. Keanu Reeves remains the same and there is more fighting. The plot is almost meaningless. It is all action and all Wick.

A film with more head-shots than words spoken, John Wick: Chapter 2 is just about the most violent film I've seen in quite some time. But it knows exactly what it wants to do, and succeeds immensely.

Keanu Reeves isn't one of the best actors working today, and I don't think he would disagree with that statement. But he's no doubt one of the most committed actors out there. There's no more than a few pages of total spoken dialogue throughout 'Chapter 2', and Reeves has probably a maximum of 30 lines, all of which aren't necessarily delivered as well as they should be. But it doesn't ultimately matter. Sure, John Wick could be a better franchise if the scripts were of the same caliber as say a Bond or a Bourne movie, but that's not really why you go see one of these movies. You go to see Keanu Reeves kick some butt amidst some of the best choreographed action in cinema.

Chapter 2 picks up not too long after the first film ends as Wick is somewhat enjoying his life as a "retired" assassin. If the first film was about him coming back to seek revenge, this film is Wick reluctantly coming back because he owes a debt to another assassin. I don't think the filmmakers truly could have imagined this would be a franchise off the bat, but it's sure shaping up to be quite the intriguing universe. The one thing that has always struck me as appealing in this series is the way they portray the world Wick lives in. Yes, it's present day, but the world that surrounds Wick is heightened to make for more exciting action (it's essentially a world full of super assassins). But at the same time, the films are incredibly grounded with reality. It's that balance that so few films can accomplish to this particular level.

Taking the famous Liam Neeson line "I will kill you" to a whole new level, Wick claims "I will kill them all". And that's pretty much your movie. Wick doesn't want to come back, he owes a debt and is forced to return for one more kill, and then the bounty on his head reaches just about everyone linked to The Continental's database. The rest of the movie is Wick delivering killing blows to just about anyone who stands in his way in the most creative ways possible. Isn't it about time people leave this guy alone? Overall, John Wick: Chapter 2 promised visceral action (all impressively in camera- yeah, I'm looking at you Resident Evil) and we got just that. Even if the dialogue can be clunky and the performances are over the top, it doesn't really matter. What matters is this series continues to be a pleasant surprise in an age where great action movies are too few and far between.

+Insanely well-done action

+Tops the first film's scope

+The universe Derek Kolstad has built

-Some dialogue is bland and even lazy

8.6/10

"John Wick: Chapter 2" (2017 release; 122 min.) continues the 'adventures' of former (?) hit man John Wick. As the movie opens, we are immediately thrown in the middle of a car vs. bike chase, and next thing we know, we find our man retrieving his beloved Mustang from a chop shop in NYC, but not without cars flying about, and dozens of dead or wounded bodies. And that's all in the pre-opening credits! As the story unfolds, Wick, who wants "out, is nevertheless forced back "in" when an Italian baddie calls in a favor and Wick has no choice but to accept. To tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: director (and former stunt man) Chad Stahelski returns at the helm following the surprise success of the first John Wick movie, and once again delivers a highly stylish and ultra- violent action movie. When you watch the opening car chases (yes, in plural), it's like watching a synchronized ballet performance. I would not go as far to say that the story line doesn't matter, it does to a degree, but let's be honest: the reason we are there is to watch the car chases and the shoot-outs and the almost cartoonish level of violence that is so over the top, you can't help but laugh at it. Stahelski's thinking must have been: "when in doubt, (i) throw more bodies at it, and (ii) keep the focus on Keanu Reeves". Reeves is cold as ice in the best possible way, and it suits him perfectly in the film. Laurence Fishburn plays a small role (as another baddie) and the scenes where Reeves and Fishburn appear together are their first joint scenes ever since the Matrix Trilogy, if you can believe it. I couldn't believe how quickly these 2 hours flew by and I'm not spoiling anything when I tell you that the movie's ending sets it up nicely for a Chapter 3 in a couple of years. Count me in!

The movie opened wide this past weekend, and the Sunday matinée screening where I saw this at was absolutely jam-packed, somewhat to my surprise. Did I mention this movie is ultra-violent? And that it's rated R for good reason? I was outright dismayed to see how many small kids were in the theater. In the very row in front of me, there was a couple with three small girls, I'm guessing ages 5 to 7. What are these people thinking?!? Meanwhile, for us grown-ups, if you liked the first John Wick, you are more than going to like this sequel, you are going to LOVE it, be it at the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu- ray. "John Wick: Chapter 2" is a WINNER.

The first John Wick film took me by surprise; it was a cartoonish action film that was surprisingly brutal in its content, cruel in its delivery, and had a real punch to it. All of it existed inside a world that convinced in its own logic, even if it was clearly fantasy. John Wick 2 doesn't have the ability to sneak up on me unannounced, which does work against it, but this is not what hurts it the most.

The second chapter of what at least looks like being a trilogy, is slick and very well put together. The locations are brilliant (whether a roof garden or a larger location), the fight scenes have great choreography, and after a slow first 20 minutes it does have a great pace. But yet I found myself watching it much more passively than I had with the first film. This sense of being detached came from a couple of places. The first was that the plot did not seem as organic as the first – the violence that draws Wick deeper seems to occur just for the sake of making the film happen (which is of course true, but it doesn't try to hide it). This reduces the investment and stakes, so rather than being drawn in, I just sort of accepted it because I know where it was going.

The second thing that kept me out of it was related to this lack of investment – which is that the film's lack of realism is all the stark. I do not mean that the film needed to be a kitchen-sink drama, but rather that the film cannot sell this world to the viewer. In the first I could go with this shadowy world on the edges of ours, with the idea that it developed its own rules and norms; here though it seems everyone is a hired killer, and those in charge have total power and huge organizational skills. The use of this doesn't seem worth the cost of doing such things – for instance suggesting everyone in a massive crowd is in the employment of one person and can act with the slightest nod just seemed silly and not to add value. This excess infects the action – it is overblown but could have been strong enough to engage had it not been that the majority of the film is so silly in how it works. I read Theo Robertson's user comment on this one and I think he nailed it when he said that the film could easily be in the Matrix universe – at least this would make the nonsense here ring true.

This limits the film, but doesn't stop it being enjoyable. The action is slick and consistent, the style and gloss of all the moments are enjoyable, and the starry cast are mostly pretty good. Reeves is good value and does great physical work, and the supporting cast has plenty of famous faces – although some of them are distracted by their volume, or by virtue of not being well used (Fishburne is probably the one that we could have done without). So JW2 is a slick action flick, but not as good as the first film, nor as good as everyone tells you it is. The ending suggests the third film will be on an even bigger scale, with Wick literally taking on the whole world, which will probably only serve to remind me how good the first one was when it was one man seeking revenge on another for the death of his dog.

More stylists and more colourful, also more feels like a real Hollywood action film compare to the first one which still have that B-movie vibe in it and guess what, the first one is still the better one, yes, John Wick: Chapter 2 got lot's of upgrade in terms of a look, all the performance was great, but story wise is my problem, i feel like the story of John Wick: Chapter 2 doesn't have the heart like the first one do, the villain and the characters are not as convincing as before except of course John Wick, though again the performance are good, Laurence Fishburne make an appearance in this film and he is horrible, lot's more action in here but it is not as exciting as the previous one, i'm still fine with it, though there is still one whole sequence where John Wick is chase by literally everybody because of an open 7 Million contract to whoever can kill him and it is the best scene in the movie because it's incredible and probably the only exciting action in the entire film, it's 20 minutes longer but i must say that i did feel more faster than the first one, the first 30 minutes of the film was boring, and yeah that's about it, overall John Wick: Chapter 2 was a super flawed sequel for me, i think the performance are mostly great, it is more colourful and stylists, but story wise and action wise not so great and not so exciting, it's not horrible, it's not like the plot are stupid and bad it just not an interesting and an convincing one, it feels like a build up for something even bigger, it is basically a build up, a decent build up, overall John Wick: Chapter 2 is a decent flawed forgettable sequel.

This review of John Wick: Chapter 2 is spoiler free

**** (4/5)

THERE HAVE BEEN a lot of roles that Keanu Reeves has played since hanging up his sunglasses, long leather coat and his boots after 2003s The Matrix: Revolutions. Many of which were promisingly good, some were quite bad and others in-between were mediocre to say the least. But out of all these characters he's been in none that have fit him more like a glove than the title character in 2014s John Wick, the hirsute assassin who was enjoying life in retirement with his new puppy, until he had to get revenge etc. The film spawned a whole new genre of action: the geriaction thriller (cheekily, Reeves was just about to turn 50 at the time he couldn't be considered as a geriatric) because at the time there were a few other films with older protagonists sharing the multiplex, such as Denzel Washington in The Equalizer, Kevin Costner in 3 Days to Kill and the granddaddy of them all Liam Neeson in Taken 3.

Even though he was a lot older than he was in the first Matrix he did a bloody (emphasis high on bloody) good job at ass-kicking, or sharp shooting criminals out of his home. He ended up killing a lot of people, there was a lot of action to enjoy. At this point you may be asking yourself what's on offer the second time-round? From the start of John Wick: Chapter 2 there is a lot to take in we are immediately transferred into a car chase it's indeed the main improvement over its predecessor which didn't have much of a story, there was just a lot of action a huge body count and a lot of blood a simple dog revenge thriller. For a while through this it riffs the same thing, there is a lot of action, a lot of blood and a huge body count – there are, however, two differences, an entirely new plot which riffs on an entirely new revenge story this time it's Wick's life on the line after he entered in a wager with a ruthless killer (Riccardo Scamarcio) and the dog (a Staffie with no name).

The title Chapter 2, also indicates there will be a larger series to behold here seemingly perhaps he may come back for the third movie (if it happens) we'll see. Director Chad Stahelski's material here is - in one word spectacular there is plenty here to enjoy, it's one of those movies that if it's done well then you'll enjoy it, now on the second-time-round the message is certainly correct. The action throughout is cool, the car chases are ruthlessly fun, and finally it's completely on edge from start to finish and with Reeves on top form what's not to like for this second time? Kicking off just a few hours after the ending of John Wick our protagonist (Reeves) is bruised, bloodied and quite frankly fatigued after fighting for hours on end.

He's tied in with another plot for revenge with a killer and his duo of assassins (Common, Ruby Rose); he receives info from his trusted hotel manager (McShane) that he is under attack. He must end a wager, to do this he has to fight for his life in a bullet ballet rampage; he must kill someone to somewhat end it, Wick here uses his skills and his wits through this barrage of bullets in the catacombs. Here there is an entertaining montage when he gears up for – perhaps his biggest battle, containing a brilliant cameo from Peter Serafinowicz who helps gear up Wick with an arsenal of weapons, along with his bullet-proof suit. There is also a knife fight on train slightly hinting at The Raid 2. Perhaps this is the message Stahelski is sending to us that he can make a bloody action thriller with a lot of enjoyable moments.

Wick then joins forces with the homeless network run by Laurence Fishburne's Bowery King, though instead of showing down to a Matrix-fu brawl, Bowery gives him a favour for saving his life many years before there is even a chance to his maniacal laugh, and for him to prove he's smarter again by riffing famous lines. This is when the film becomes slightly rubbery it loses its footing slightly, as it drags out a bit more. But when the action unfolds again it's immediately back to its home.

Stahelski's style isn't limited or indeed of short-supply because there is plenty here to enjoy it's completely ruthless from the opening moments to the stunning Hall of Mirrors set-piece there is a lot of action for any action movie buff to enjoy. Reeves may not be the greatest actor of our generation, nor, indeed is he the worst but he hits every mark with clarity throughout he's brilliant when it comes to the action. Despite the elasticised third act, as the story takes a while to step in. John Wick: Chapter 2 is slightly better than its predecessor it's an adrenaline-fuelled, action-packed ride with a lot of bodies, blood, plenty of material and is downright good fun from start to finish, it's an absolute blast.

VERDICT: A bruisingly, brilliant action-packed bullet ballet of a sequel. This is an absolute bloody blast and with Reeves on top form, what's not to love?

I feel like the pacing of this Superhero (mythos) meets Gangster (generic noir) setting is way better than John Wick 1.

The cinematography, the combat, everything, except the casting (although the performances are great) works for me.

They shot this in some of the most notable, scenic places in western culture, and I feel like the world they create, and expand upon from the first, is the best part. It takes a lot of what works about cyberpunk and contemporizes it.

In 2014, a Keanu Reeves revenge thriller John Wick became a surprise hit. I originally skipped out on the film as I felt that the trailers only showed an assassin story that I felt I've seen before. As far as I'm concerned, I made a big mistake. Before seeing the sequel, I felt it was important to watch the first one. I rented it on Amazon Prime and I was shock by what I saw; a dark, stylish, and fun action movie that is doing it's own thing. Though I've seen plenty stories about revenge (The Count of Monte Cristo and Moby Dick being the prime examples), I can't recall one over someone's pet being murdered.

I've always liked Keanu Reeves as an actor whether he's a metelhead from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, a SWAT officer in Speed, or "a chosen one" from The Matrix franchise. He has a more reserved, yet intriguing way of adapting that to his characters. Under a good direction, this can create a strong character. This has worked for John Wick, which reminds me of an older James Bond-type if the movie was more of a noir. I was happy to sit and watch John Wick: Chapter 2.

After a great opening where he finishes his mission from the first movie to collect his stolen car, John Wick (played by Keanu Reeves) returns home with his new dog to try and find peace with his retirement and death of his wife from before. Like a lot of typical spy movies, John gets visited by Italian crime lord Santino D'Antonio (played by Riccardo Scamarcio)who asks him to come out of retirement. Santino asks to have his sister assassinated so that her brother can have her seat at a table of mafia heads. When John refuses despite making a blood oath years ago, Santino has the assassins home destroyed.

John accepts the job knowing that saying no would only put his life in danger. In Rome, he finds the sister Gianna at a party, but she commits suicide rather then allowing an assassin to get her. On his way out, John finds himself double-crossed by Santino who has sent some of his weaponed goons lead by the mute Ares (played by Ruby Rose). Though John escapes and makes it back to New York, Santino has put out a seven million dollar contract on our hero to cover all the tracks.

John Wick: Chapter 2 manages to pull off a really good sequel. Not only does it expand the John Wick universe more, but the stakes feel bigger and the villains seem more threatening. Now that I have seen the first movie, I can see how tough it would be to follow up on a pretty good action movie. Unlike the Taken sequels which simply repeated the formula over and over again, John Wick: Chapter 2 still feels fresh thanks to it's plot which honestly kept me guessing on how things were going to move forward.

Do I think it's a higher rated movie then before? No, simply because if it does have any faults, it's that it feels a bit long. Not the segment in Rome, but when John returns to New York. It's quick pace suddenly halts when he visits a friend. Though the scene is okay, I feel like they could have cut it in favor have keeping up with John's mysterious background.

Keanu Reeves is still the perfect choice as John Wick. You can tell this man wants to be happy, but understand that with his connection to the crime world, is unlikely to happen. This is enough to keep me hyped for another John Wick movie.

I'll give this eight grey pitbulls out of ten. If you liked the first movie, you'll definitely like the sequel. John Wick has plenty of action waiting to burst, so I can only say love your dog and go see this sequel.

Adding to his earlier Wickipedia page with a significant increase in body count contribution, not including the injured and\or maimed, although he was not as irked as on his previous visit because the rage was more professional than personal: I fancy he can go one, excuse me, considerably better, next time.

To put it simply, the movie is fascinating, exciting and fantastic. The dialog, the fight choreography, the way the story moves, the characters charisma, all and much more are combined together to deliver this masterpiece. Such an amazing flow, providing a fusion between the 90s and the new century, it's like the assassins are living in another world, with another mindset, without people understanding it. Just one advice for you though: Don't build an expectation of what you want to watch in this movie, if you do, then you will ruin it. This movie has it's own flow and movement, so watch it with a clear mind, and have fun.

Well, I committed to watching the first three "John Wick" movies consecutively, and in case I totally worship them - like apparently the rest of the world does - I would hurry myself to the theater and watch the fourth installment on the big screen. After the first one already, I knew this wasn't going to be my thing. Not that "John Wick" is a bad film, it's just a very monotonous 'shoot-em-all-up' actioner that rapidly makes you go like "yeah, whatever".

The first film doesn't have much of a plot, but it does make one thing crystal clear. You cannot kill John Wick, but he sure as hell can kill you without barely even lifting a finger. The plot of chapter two is identical, give or take a few minor details. And if you thought, after the 500+ body count of part I, there wouldn't be any more bad guys left to shoot to pieces, you thought wrong. Another couple of cargo containers full of disposable thugs literally stand in line to get executed by Keanu. This is ironically also where the film gets rather tedious. During some of the never-ending shootout, like in the Roman catacombs, it felt like I was gazing at the ultra-violent video games that my 13-year-old son plays fanatically. And I hate those.

I'll still watch number 3 as planned but the fourth isn't not worth the expensive price of a cinema ticket nowadays. It's more of the same anyways, so I wait patiently until it plays on television in a couple of years.

I am retired at 41 years old and watch movies all day and night. I take my action films very serious.. From Die Hard to District 13, from First Blood to Taken... John Wick 2 is one of the best action movies I've seen. Simply put.. on a scale of the good old 80's red blooded American action films, John Wick 1 will draw you in and make you a fan, John Wick 2 will satisfy your soul with the 2017 evolution of 80's action with a feeling of have hit the gritty lotto.

This is a man's man film that should be enjoyed after a hearty steak dinner (as I did tonight).

I may have to go see this again.

In this 2nd installment of John Wick, the stylish visual and hard core action returns twice the level of the first film. So prepare for another suspenseful and cliffhanging sequences flow from this action movie when you watch this. The story goes deeper and the action scenes were incredibly entertaining! The revenge theme was still part of the movie's plot but this time the focus is the personal backstab of Wick. Keanu Reeves delivers again a notable performance as a titular character. This film is what a sequel movie should be - justifying the connection to the predecessor movie that made it successful by expanding its story and maintaining the elements that made it a superb film. The ending of this film opened the possibility of many more franchise of this movie.

This movie got more money than the first one and it didn't got wasted. The movie looked gorgeously. John Wick was a badass again and he kicked some ass. I liked that John Wick had new cool memorable phrases and his stunts were incredible. I heard that he done about 90 % of them by himself and that really proves that he puts a lot of work in his job Keanu was really good in this movie. The movie shows more about assassins life and about their rules and that was awesome to see I am glad that director listened to the fans. Because of this deeper insight in assassins, better visual looking, awesome action sequences its safe to say that this was better than the first one of course the first one was good also I gave it 7 and this one gets 8.After all I really recommend you to watch this is one of the better movies this year so far.

I felt the brilliance of the first film was found in the under lying mythology of the Continental Hotel, the coins, the laws/culture between the Reeves and some of the smaller parts (police official / bartender etc). As such I hoped that in the second film this would be continued; I wasn't disappointed.

The film continues from the first film with a great level of balance. Respecting the first film and allowing a 2-hour film to have its own identity without dragging was a challenge that was met well. The Laurence Fishburne element and the subsequent ending allow a great opening for another film.

Another strength of the movie is that the John Wicks character (like Neo i) is so well suited to Keanu Reeves. He is the strong-silent type and it feels Chad Stahelski, the Director, glorifies this and uses it to move the story forward. He gives you the same in an enhanced but similar format.

Loved : Lance Reddick as the Hotel Manager / Ruby Rose and the signing stuff Note: If you don't like people being shot in films – this is not the film for you!

Just as the previous movie in what appears to becoming a franchise, this movie delivers solid action sequences that are a blast to watch, and probably just as much fun to make. The action in this film makes it feel like a video game come to life, and in a good way. I'm sure people will look to this the next time they try to make a movie like Max Payne.

Like the previous film, this is not much beyond an action film - but it does seem like they're intent on establishing a quite unique world. Just how far they are willing to go with it, time will tell, but right now it seems like half the population of this world is involved in an assassin underground, while the other half is utterly clueless. The fact that Laurence Fishborne and Keanu Reeves appear together is no the only parallel to the Matrix.

It's also a movie that doesn't shy away from having a little fun instead of keeping to any sort of realism. And because the world the movie is set in is kind of silly, it works well enough. I think it went a bit too far when the characters seemed willing to shoot passersby (like in the fountain scene), but mostly they try to keep them within the strange moral universe they have established.

John Wick 2 is a great sequel that wasn't underwhelming it produced great action scenes great performances and there wasn't a dull moment in sight, its more fast paced than the first but all in good favor, Keanu Reeves gives it his all and adds a lot to these movies I'm hopeful that this continues on to be a great franchise, we got are first peek into the mob underworld in the first movie and in this movie its more fleshed and we get to know more about wick as the story progresses as I said it adds more to the story in every aspect which is to be praised.

I also believe that the action set pieces in this movie topped its predecessor with stunts where you tilt your head in amazement. Only negatives sometimes the movie doesn't take time to stop and let you have a breather but otherwise its a very impressive movie with great acting, story and action sequences. JOHN WICK YOUR NOT VERY GOOD AT RETIRING!!

When someone spells the word "sequel" my body starts shaking. I have so many problems with this type of movies that only exist to make money and not to actually be a good movie. Even if John Wick: Chapter 2 started as one of these films, it's able to break the curse and become a fairly good sequel.

There's twice the action of the first one and it's twice as good. The hand-to-hand combat is amazing and if you've seen the behind- the-scenes videos that went viral, then you know how happy I was watching those one-take masterpieces. Keanu Reeves might be the best actor alive to actually do his own stunts. Even the cheesy script works for him because ... Well, he's f*cking Keanu Reeves!

I also loved the exploration of the assassin's institution. Throughout the second act, it's shown several "safe houses" and rules by which the killers live by. The pacing drops down, which is a problem, but it's mostly fine since the story is interesting enough for us to be captivated. Just not enough for a whole second act about it.

However, the first film is far better than this one. John Wick was a big surprise in 2014, no one thought it would be any good, so a lot of the scenes were great because we're not expecting them. John Wick: Chapter 2 has those same scenes and it doesn't have the same impact (it made me yawn at some points).

The motivation for John Wick to go back to business is forced and not emotional (as it was in the first film), which I can accept ... Until the end. The ending doesn't make any sense to me, it's only done this way in order to have a trilogy. Keanu Reeves' character changes his personality and his whole attachment to emotions because ... Well, because the studio wants three movies.

The script is super cheesy and it could have ruined the movie if not for Keanu Reeves' brilliant acting. The work that he puts into this character shows up on the screen and I felt it. He carried this whole thing. The rest of the cast did their job pretty well, with major praise to Laurence Fishburne, he's just great.

Overall, John Wick: Chapter 2 is a good movie. It has those brutal, man-to-man one-take action scenes that blow my mind every single time. The story around the institution is interesting to some point, but the slow pacing throughout it took me off a little. The script is cheesy, but Keanu Reeves' makes it work. I don't buy the ending, it's only that way in order to have a trilogy and John Wick's motivations to come back are too forced and not as emotional as the first time, which contradicts the character's personality.

• MSB Reviews - If you like my reviews, please follow my blog :)

Keanu Reeves is reunited with his Matrix master, Laurence Fishburne in this sequel. It was nice to see them as allies.

Meanwhile, there is endless murder and mayhem as all hell breaks loose when Wick is the target of revenge and a seven million dollar bounty on his head. There is a lot more action in this sequel, and less melancholy memories of Wick's dead wife. Now it is just Wick killing everyone that looks at him funny, and enjoying the bloodshed.

I liked the first John Wick because it had some realistic elements to it and you could relate to John and his suffering, and his will for revenge against those russians thugs. This one it just not plausible, they tried to make it bigger but it just gets ridiculous in my opinion. It's still mildly entertaining so I'll give it a 6 out of 10 but no more than that.