The Movie: John Wick: Chapter 2
The Director: Chad Stahelski (John Wick)
The Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ruby Rose, Common, Claudia Gerini, Lance Reddick, Tobias Segal, and John Leguizamo
The Story: "After returning to the criminal underworld to repay a debt, John Wick discovers that a large bounty has been put on his life." - IMDB.com
The Review:
If you haven't seen the first installment in this franchise, then you need to change that immediately. John Wick became an instant classic in what is known as the "gun fu" genre of film making which includes films like The Raid and pretty much anything made by legendary director, John Wu. Former stunt man Chad Stahelski once again uses his action movie expertise and experience to create a fast paced, stylish, bullet riddled, and bloody thrill ride that, in my opinion, will be tough to top this year. Sure, there will be movies with bigger budgets, bigger stunts, and bigger special effects, but none of them will be able to measure up to the intensity and precision that Keanu and crew bring to the table.
Speaking of Keanu Reeves, it's been interesting to watch his career over the years as he has evolved from playing a goofy teenage time traveler to saving the world from robotic domination, all the while establishing himself, oddly enough, as a viable option in the world of martial arts cinema. As John Wick, he has created what could end up being his most iconic role yet and, when it comes to Excellent Adventures, he is definitely The One. I would say his performance in this movie is more understated when compared to other action heroes, but it definitely fits who he is as an actor and that smoldering undercurrent of intensity reminds me of someone like Clint Eastwood during his heyday.
The Verdict:
John Wick: Chapter 2 takes everything we loved about the first movie and expands on it in some very creative and inventive ways. What was most interesting was seeing more of the secret society of assassins that Wick is trying to head to leave behind and it looks like we will get to see even more in the inevitable chapter 3 and that is absolutely something worth looking forward to.
No comments :
Post a Comment