Green Goblin Reviews: John Wick Chapter 2
So I think we can all agree that the concept of secret societies is cool from a storytelling perspective, yes? You catch a glimpse under a curtain that you never knew existed, while rudimentary things in your day to day life may be revealed as something much more substantial to the world around you, and so well-oiled and clean-running that it had eluded you and any other normal person for generations. Mind you it’d be a TERRIBLE thing in practice that would always inevitably collapse in on itself but for the sake of offering a compelling narrative, you can see how a secret world right in front of your eyes can be quite mesmerizing. But what separates the Harry Potters from the Men in Blacks is the ability to return to a secret society and still have it make sense a second time, even with expansion. And I am thankful to report that we have one more addition that has withstood the second go-around. Ladies and gentlemen: John Wick Chapter 2
While John Wick’s original film was very by-the-numbers in terms of overarching narrative (“The bad guys did a bad thing to a powerful man. Now powerful man wants revenge!!”), it made up for it with incredibly focused fight choreography, terrific acting performances and style that just oozes from every scene. Case in point, the concept of a society of hitmen who all utilize a unique form of currency to pay for everything from body cleanup and specialized guns to drinks at a bar and fine Italian suits. It was established that all of these goods and services revolve around a hallowed grounds hotel in the middle of New York City known as the Continental, which all assassins take advantage of when out on assignment. Now on paper, that’s just a cool-ass concept. But from a storytelling perspective it offers an in-canon contrast to any action scenes within the film, should characters fight it out too close to the hotel. All someone has to do is step in that doorway, and it’s like being on base in a game of freeze-tag. Suddenly, both parties in the confrontation get to go all “Morning, Sam”,”Morning, Ralph” with each other and sit down for drinks. And like every good sequel, John Wick Chapter 2 takes this concept and expands on it. You see, the Continental isn’t just a single hotel. It’s a franchise; with branches all over the world. This opens you up to different shops and goods to purchase with your assassin coins and actually enhances the believability of your secret organization for the viewer, from being just an Eastern European front in New York to an international conglomerate that deals in all things revolving around death. World successfully built. SSS Rank status. Well done.
Now as for the actual plot of the film, they thankfully set this up for immediately after the events of the first film and serve up what your average moviegoer might assume is the go-to concept for the sequel as just the intro to show just how much of a bad-ass Mr.John “Baba Yaga” Wick truly is. He sees your “Taken 2” plot and says “Yeah, I can knock that out before the title drops. Boom!!”. Once he’s back at home and settled down, he is this time approached up front by a man from the Italian mafia (in contrast with the Eastern European mafia from the first film) whom he is indebted to with a blood oath. He asks John to come back for one more assassination, which of course doesn’t go as planned and upsets the entire established order in its (no pun intended) execution. So just like before, director Chad Stahelski has taken a simple plot that most would even call cliche and polished it to a high-mirror shine. And just like in the first film, it goes off like gangbusters. The gun choreography is some of the best work I’ve seen since…well, since the original film. Very little shaky cam or use of jump cuts to allow the scene to progress and as a result, the fights feel more visceral and connected with Keanu as he does his own stunts. And the juxtaposition of gruesome wetwork being immediately followed up by penthouse views, gold inlay architecture, dark rich drinks and rich mahogany is something that we as a society don’t seem to ever tire of. Just like James Bond before him, John Wick is cool enough to kill a dozen men, and sit down to a shot of bourbon at the bar ten feet away. And when you break it down, that’s basically what John Wick is in a nutshell: James Bond, with minor alterations. He operates from a morally gray position not out of an altruistic endgame, but for vengeance. And because he’s a widower, he is emotionally unavailable and doesn’t go womanizing left and right in the middle of his murdering sprees. Because of this detachment from the outside world caused by the void left in losing his wife, he’s often laser-focused on his goals to the point where those in his line of work consider him less of a man and more of a force of nature. It’s to the point where seeing him take in the moments of calm in his hotel room or the lobby bar seems almost taxing on him, but his familiarity with his world and everyone in it is what enables him to move with the precision that the narrative requires.
I can’t pretend that I wasn’t worried going into this film. It’s rare that a sequel to a film manages to not only capture what made the original great, but work off of it to make a stellar film in and of itself. But that appears to be exactly what we have here. And I wait with eager anticipation for what’s next in store for the Boogeyman, John Wick. Maybe something with the Triads or the Yakuza. That’d be cool to see through this movie’s lens.
9/10 Don’t skip it!!