The original John Wick film that was released in 2014 was an amazing and wonderfully entertaining old school revenge flick with some of the best action scenes I've ever seen, thanks to the insane choreography, physical stunts, and great settings for each scene. I can tell you right now, if you loved the first movie like I did, you'll absolutely love the second film as well.
John Wick not only told a story of vengeance against the people who murdered his dog, but set up it's own little world of assassins with it's own lore and mythology. This second film explores that world of assassins and shows us all the little subcultures happening inside of it as well. Don't get me wrong though, we still get plenty of Mr. Wick doing his thing in this impressive and relentless action film.
This sequel starts off not too far from the ending of the first movie, with Wick tracking down his stolen vehicle from the first movie. He locates it at a chop shop which is owned and run by Abram Tarasov, uncle to Iosef and brother to Vigo Tarasov. John tears through Abram's men in his normal, violent way while also managing to mostly wreck his stolen car. He decides to spare Abram under the banner of peace, and then proceeds to take his wrecked car and go home.
John then begins his life of retirement by burying his weapons and gear in concrete, having Aurelio take his car in for repairs, and spending time with his nameless dog. Unfortunately, John is terrible at retiring. Very quickly a man named Santino D'Antonio, who happens to be an Italian crime lord, pays him a visit. We find out Santino was involved with helping John out with his impossible task which led to him marrying his wife and getting out of the life of a hitman.
He's come now to ask John to make good on a blood oath he took in return for the help of the task. John flat out refuses him at first, saying that he is now retired and apologizes. This leads to a fire filled scene showing Johns house exploding, and having no choice but to accept the deal. However, things get pretty complicated for John after this.
This series has some of the most amazing (If not best) and interesting world building compared to just about any other film series in recent years. We're introduced to many organizations and colorful characters within the world, and some of it is just comic book like in a way. The attention to details is crazy at times, and the The cinemotography is absolutely gorgeous in this film, with some amazing settings for the scenes just like the first film. A lot of the fight scenes are continuous shots which shows how dedicated and committed Keanu Reeves was in my opinion. His performance is again top notch, as is the rest of the wonderful cast.
I think I'd have to say though that there were some surprisingly good performances I wasn't expecting, such as Laurence Fishburne's and Common's. I think the past work with Reeves and Fishburne helps a lot with their chemistry in this film, and lets Fishburne flush out his acting ability a bit more here, even just for a short while. Ruby Rose also had an excellent performance, even without speaking a single word the entire movie.
I think the character is perfect for Reeves to play, because it explores a trait that I believe Keanu can work with best- loneliness. John is struggling with his loneliness throughout the film, still grieving from the loss of his wife. His struggle to find peace with himself and where he fits in exactly in the world at this point in his life is pretty touching. Keanu has quickly become one of my all time favorite action stars, and I think he is brilliant in this series.
This film will leave you in awe with your skin feeling tingly, it is bolder and more daring than the first film. I would even say there are some scenes were it's far more intense and violent than the first movie. At times, it can even be surprisingly funny which I really didn't expect going in. It's a wonderful action flick, that you can tell had a lot of love put into it by the entire cast on the film, especially Reeves. I can highly recommend this one to anyone interested in checking it out, though you definitely need to give the first one a watch before viewing!
Thanks for reading my movie review! Hope you guys enjoyed it, I tried being a bit shorter with this one because it's hard to not get into all the amazing stuff in the film without spoiling it. If you did enjoy it, please resteem and upvote the post, and I would greatly appreciate it if you gave me a follow as well! I posted this at a bad time the other day, and had a few errors I wanted to correct, so I'm reposting it now. Hope that's okay! Also had to throw in the birthday bit in the title, because I am a loser like that, haha. Thanks again!