John Wick: Chapter 2 delivers tenfold on bloodbath and mayhem
It may all sound absurd, improbable or just plain silly, but "John Wick: Chapter 2" (2017, USA) is so steadfastly committed to the depiction of its quintessential underworld that one can't help but be dazzled, pumped up and blown away by all the goings-on. Suffice it to say that this sequel to the 2014 surprise hit is one of the best action movies that I've seen in recent memory, with its ferocious and brutal energy matching any movie that Indonesian ubermensch Iko Uwais has ever done ("Merantau", the two "Raid" films, "Headshot"). If you think "The Matrix" is all that defines Keanu Reeves' career, then think again. At age 52, the brusqueness and agility that he displays in all of his difficult and bloody fight scenes are just awesome to behold;while his own brand of broodiness just fits right into his role (one can even say that he maintains the same kind of expression all throughout). The guy doesn't have any double (as does Iko Uwais) - and that's really badass!
It's some kind of an irony, then, that the film's director, Chad Stahelski, served as Reeves' stunt double in "The Matrix" movies. As it should be, Stahelski's direction of "John Wick: Chapter 2" bolsters not so much the story itself as the numerous fiery and visceral encounters of the titular character against horde after horde of fellow henchmen. It wouldn't really be putting down the film if we say that the plot (cooked up by writer Derek Kolstad) merely serves as an excuse for all the mayhem that we see onscreen. It's because as mentioned above, the portrayal of the hidden world of the assassins' operations and codes of conduct is of such vividness and eccentricity that we just find ourselves in awe of such. Essentially, it's a story of starting anew, betrayal, vengeance and redemption.
But in this sinister world of the assassins, turning one's back on one's former life isn't as easy as 1-2-3, oaths are forged by blood that won't readily fade and saying no is tantamount to a death penalty. And so goes the fate of the deadliest and highly-skilled assassin John Wick (Reeves) who, after accomplishing the mission asked of him by the Italian crime lord Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) - a mission the former wasn't entirely able to turn down due to a debt forged by blood that he owes the latter - finds himself being hunted down by a number of fellow assassins after a $7-million contract is placed upon his life by no other than D'Antonio himself, in a kind of slyly turning the tables against Wick. Being the seemingly indestructible and indefatigable hitman that he is, Wick (or Jonathan, as he's fondly called by Winston (a delightful Ian McShane), owner of the assassin-exclusive, Rome-based luxury hotel Continental) relentlessly punches, kicks, stabs and shoots his way through these hordes of equally lethal villains - one of whom is Cassian (an impressive Common), the most-trusted aide of D'Antonio's sister, whose skill and vigor nearly match those of Wick.
Stahelski, with the help of cinematographer Dan Laustsen and production designer Kevin Kavanaugh, stage the action scenes that would make Nicholas Winding-Refn drool and would bring to mind some early John Woo Hong Kong flicks. They're like a light-and-sound show (for example, the encounter in the underground lair of D'Antonio's sister, where all the similar-looking gunmen seem to be illuminated by flashlights or the one in a New York interactive museum, where the hall of mirrors makes everything all the more deceptive and threatening) and the gun-firings (one of the most ferocious you'll witness in recent cinema) are choreographed in a way no different from an operatic ballet, with the opponents whizzing bullets at each other like they're following every move and strategy of both dance and martial arts combined. As what others have already emphasized, it's "gun fu". Taking the risk of being branded as sadistic voyeurs, I'd say that this is the kind of cinematic bloodbath and chaos that comprise one of the guilty pleasures of a gorehound cineaste.
The first "John Wick", in itself, didn't call for a sequel. (That's why this one was somehow a surprise.) But now that we have "John Wick: Chapter 2", everything here amps up to the tenth power everything that we saw in the first one. And rather than resulting in an excessively gratuitous and messy schlock fare, what is delivered to us instead is an immensely satisfying and unapologetically graphic thrill ride, with inspired artful flourishes serving as a bonus. Isn't it how sequels of such genre should be? John Wick is certainly no "Le samourai", but there's a small pleasure in knowing that he seems to be the raging-bull cousin of the melancholy anti-hero in Jean-Pierre Melville's masterpiece. This is not to say that "John Wick: Chapter 2" is destined to be a classic, but it brings about total satisfaction to find out every now and then that Hollywood is still capable of coming up with action movies that aren't merely braindead entertainment (sometimes, being "entertained" is also called into question).
(Keanu Reeves shoots his way through hordes of villains in Chad Stahelski's "John Wick:Chapter 2")
It's some kind of an irony, then, that the film's director, Chad Stahelski, served as Reeves' stunt double in "The Matrix" movies. As it should be, Stahelski's direction of "John Wick: Chapter 2" bolsters not so much the story itself as the numerous fiery and visceral encounters of the titular character against horde after horde of fellow henchmen. It wouldn't really be putting down the film if we say that the plot (cooked up by writer Derek Kolstad) merely serves as an excuse for all the mayhem that we see onscreen. It's because as mentioned above, the portrayal of the hidden world of the assassins' operations and codes of conduct is of such vividness and eccentricity that we just find ourselves in awe of such. Essentially, it's a story of starting anew, betrayal, vengeance and redemption.
But in this sinister world of the assassins, turning one's back on one's former life isn't as easy as 1-2-3, oaths are forged by blood that won't readily fade and saying no is tantamount to a death penalty. And so goes the fate of the deadliest and highly-skilled assassin John Wick (Reeves) who, after accomplishing the mission asked of him by the Italian crime lord Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) - a mission the former wasn't entirely able to turn down due to a debt forged by blood that he owes the latter - finds himself being hunted down by a number of fellow assassins after a $7-million contract is placed upon his life by no other than D'Antonio himself, in a kind of slyly turning the tables against Wick. Being the seemingly indestructible and indefatigable hitman that he is, Wick (or Jonathan, as he's fondly called by Winston (a delightful Ian McShane), owner of the assassin-exclusive, Rome-based luxury hotel Continental) relentlessly punches, kicks, stabs and shoots his way through these hordes of equally lethal villains - one of whom is Cassian (an impressive Common), the most-trusted aide of D'Antonio's sister, whose skill and vigor nearly match those of Wick.
Stahelski, with the help of cinematographer Dan Laustsen and production designer Kevin Kavanaugh, stage the action scenes that would make Nicholas Winding-Refn drool and would bring to mind some early John Woo Hong Kong flicks. They're like a light-and-sound show (for example, the encounter in the underground lair of D'Antonio's sister, where all the similar-looking gunmen seem to be illuminated by flashlights or the one in a New York interactive museum, where the hall of mirrors makes everything all the more deceptive and threatening) and the gun-firings (one of the most ferocious you'll witness in recent cinema) are choreographed in a way no different from an operatic ballet, with the opponents whizzing bullets at each other like they're following every move and strategy of both dance and martial arts combined. As what others have already emphasized, it's "gun fu". Taking the risk of being branded as sadistic voyeurs, I'd say that this is the kind of cinematic bloodbath and chaos that comprise one of the guilty pleasures of a gorehound cineaste.
The first "John Wick", in itself, didn't call for a sequel. (That's why this one was somehow a surprise.) But now that we have "John Wick: Chapter 2", everything here amps up to the tenth power everything that we saw in the first one. And rather than resulting in an excessively gratuitous and messy schlock fare, what is delivered to us instead is an immensely satisfying and unapologetically graphic thrill ride, with inspired artful flourishes serving as a bonus. Isn't it how sequels of such genre should be? John Wick is certainly no "Le samourai", but there's a small pleasure in knowing that he seems to be the raging-bull cousin of the melancholy anti-hero in Jean-Pierre Melville's masterpiece. This is not to say that "John Wick: Chapter 2" is destined to be a classic, but it brings about total satisfaction to find out every now and then that Hollywood is still capable of coming up with action movies that aren't merely braindead entertainment (sometimes, being "entertained" is also called into question).
(Keanu Reeves shoots his way through hordes of villains in Chad Stahelski's "John Wick:Chapter 2")
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