JOHN WICK 2

There are awesome revenge films like Kill Bill and decent one's like this. It has some cool fighting and obviously gun heavy action with interesting weapons but just like the first film you get bored with it. It was good as a one viewing but I can't imagine seeing this again since the dialogue is so minimal and the characters having no substance to them. Even John Wick is just a caricature. Anyway, it's all about the fight sequences and the gun porn but it just gets boring by the end of it.

Grade - B

On par with the first, very entertaining. Has a higher body count than the entire Friday the 13th franchise.

Soo cool! Better in the action department but less in the emotional dept. If only they had killed his dog again lol j/k

B+

Oh yeah baby. This is that good stuff.

I loved it obviously. On a technical level it is superior to the first film. These are some of the most well crafted action sequences ever.

I think I like part 1 more though. As Rev mentioned, it feels more personal and therefore more emotional. I definitely don't sign off on killing the dog though. A better final boss, like say Ian McShane, is all that was needed, but we will have John Wick 3 for that.

I give it A because it's fucking Awesome!

Action sequences were good. At times the film felt a little too direct-to-video but thankfully not the whole time. Go Keanu.

I had a fucking blast with this. In the action department alone it's far superior to the first film, but I don't think the gorgeous cinematography is mentioned enough either. I swear there were some shots that looked like they came straight out of Skyfall. Sure it's not as personal as John Wick and the main villain is pretty weak, but I found it to be much better paced and I really enjoyed the finale at the Art Exhibit. The cliffhanger ending was a bit on the weak side, but I honestly can't wait for Chapter 3 and I'm glad Keanu has a legit action franchise now, because he deserves it.

John Wick: Chapter 2 in a word is: repetitive. Repetitive of the first movie, without the cheerable character motivation. And repetitive of itself with the same choreographed fight scene over and over with slightly different urban industrial backdrops. As much as I enjoy Keanu Reeves, JW:C2 is boredumb. *D*

It's definitely a step up from the first. Really confident direction and cinematography, and the action sequences are by and large fucking awesome. I loved the return to NYC and the subsequent sequence that leads into the climax. But it's way too long and could have been cut by about a half hour. The Laurence Fishburne scenes are completely unnecessary, and also any time this movie has moments of dialogue it came to a screeching halt. The writer is a little too self-indulgent with this universe he's created and I don't think it's nearly as awesome as he seems to think it is. They should just embrace the campiness factor of it all. But it's a solid actioner for the most part and Keanu is great. B-

Fifty Shades Darker has 2.5x as many replies.

How bout those mirrors?

I enjoyed this almost exactly the same as the first: not the over-the-moon enthusiasm many have, but a definite level of admiration for its style and craftsmanship, as well as its smart use of Keanu Reeves' brooding, laconic screen presence. It is a film where one frequently has to say, "All right, cool, bravo." The scene where one assassin after another comes after him in the subway station, almost creating a Rube Goldberg machine of gunfire and viscera. The hall of mirrors. What perhaps restrains me from loving this sleeper-hit franchise as much as others is how arch and self-aware it is: I have no emotional investment in John, particularly without the first film's novel twist of him avenging a beloved family pet, and the world-building tics (gun-for-hire contracts are put out by Roaring Twenties-style switchboard operators!) are at once amusing and distancing.

B

John Wick: Chapter 2

Awesome film. Terrific action, which pretty much continues where the first left off, and that's where the film hits a snag. It doesn't elevate the sequel to another level. It is a victim of sequelitis in that the first was for his dog, and the second was for his house. But it is superbly set up for the franchise ender. The final scene of Wick running out of the park to that music is brilliant (though also amusing as now seemingly every person on the planet is a secret and dormant contract killer). All of the fights, especially the gun fights, are absolutely riveting and well choreographed. The knife fights and hand-to-hand combat is also very, very cool (I noticed a couple of waiting opponents but this comes with the territory as these shots are very hard to get right). Reeves is good in the role, though his bad acting is still there but now it has become a charming advantage more than highlighting how out of his depth he is. Loved seeing more about how this world operates with regards to putting a contract out, the currency of the industry etc. The worst things about the film were Ruby Rose; as a deaf version of her xXx character, who I was glad to see Wick finish off in no time, and Laurence Fishburne; as a previous mark of Wick's, but who's true presence was as a device for provoking fan boy hysteria because Neo and Morpheus shared screen time. Overall, probably not as the good as the first just because it had a lot to live up to, but still a cracking action film - one that I hope to revisit often. Look very much forward to the third part. It is set up perfectly.

B+

Chapter 2 is a more than welcome sequel to John Wick, although it doesn't start off as such. Its got the action right from the start, but what initiates it feels very unpurposeful, they got their hands on his car and hell breaks loose because of it. Peter Stormare, whom I always like, has a bit cameo in this start which follows right where the first film finished. The way the main story starts also feels underwhelming to the set-up of the first. However once Wick accepts his fate to do the mission the film kicks into the same gear as the first. The action becomes bigger and often better, more hand to hand fights, more guns, more head shots, more meaningful villains. The film also does a great job of further delving into the hitman world the story is part of. The film does a lot of things right and I simply love Keanu in the titular role. There could be a few more things to mention left and right, mostly positive, in the end it's simply a great continuation on John Wick.

A-

I feel that's selling the premise of the second a bit short. His motivations first and foremost were about the rules of the society he decided to live by (he was given a marker and he's gotta accept it, or death).

It's also selling the the first a bit short, but it may be what people remember as his motivation. As a tongue in cheek way of looking at all three films and why he started to kill hundreds of people: first was for his dog, second was for his house, and the third was because they revoked his club membership!

I liked this. It was not only cool to watch, but it gives the impression that this organisation has been operating for a long time.

One thing I didn't like was how self-aware the franchise has become since the first. When Wick is sitting in Fishuburne's office and he says "Do you want a war, or do you want to just give me a gun?" wink wink *you know, because I'm John Wick, didn't you see my first movie!*... Wick himself should be modest with very little dialogue like the first. But here he was in on the awesome-factor, and it bothered me. Though I cannot remember too many other moments like that, thankfully. The "whoever comes, I'll kill them all" line isn't included because it's in direct response to Winston telling him that he's excommunicated and what's coming after him is going to be immense.

And I've also read loads of places that Ruby Rose's character was mute. Not sure if she was unable or just unwilling to speak, but in the final fight she did make screams and grunts.

I think this is that piece:

Ruby Rose seems like someone who is too cool to speak. And when she does its "Booze, blood, bitches ... John Wick is back."

The action scenes are brilliantly done here but the stakes are just tired and tested in that sense this sequel just doesn't give us a reason for its existence but its still welcome. Keanu is fine here. The world built by the writer is weak and nothing much than a tactic to setup the next sequel. But then this movie is only about action and when there is a lack of it, the movie just halts. The side actors aren't very interesting either other than McShane.

6/10

I guess it's the kind of you like or don't kind of thing, while the stakes are not as high here I still think they wrote a very good script for this sequel. Keanu is great and I think everyone who likes the film commends it for it's world building. It's action is surely what makes it stand out but I think it does nearly as well by again drawing you into story like the first.

The script isn't going to win any awards, let's put it that way. Let's not kid ourselves; the action, music, and world-building are its highlights.