Director: Chad Stahelski
Distributor: Belga Home Video
Duration: 117 minutes
John Wick: Chapter 2 (DVD) – Movie Review
There’s no denying that when John Wick came out in 2014, the movie was simply badass, with an equally badass Keanu Reeves in the lead of said action flick. The story was rather captivating, as it revolved around a legendary hitman, who retired to live a family life. Sadly, his retirement didn’t go as planned as his significant other passed away, and all he had left was the car they used to go travelling in, and a puppy. When someone broke into his house, to steal his car and kill the puppy, John came out of retirement and pretty much hunted down the entire Russian mafia to punish the one responsible. This second movie is a direct continuation of the first movie, which means that you’ll really have to watch the first movie first, as with chapter 2, it just becomes one very long film.
John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is still on his crusade to find back the car that was stolen from him. After taking out nearly the entire Russian mafia, because one of their underlings killed his puppy and stole his car, he finally found out where his car was being stored. Of course, a lot of action ensues, with a lot of blood, gore and violence, which was pretty much the signature of the first movie. From here on out a new threat comes John’s way, namely in the form of the Camorra, otherwise known as the Italian mafia. Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) arrives at John’s doorstep with something John dreads to see, namely a ‘marker’. A marker in this case is an agreement that John once gave to Santino, which states that John has to do one assignment for the Italian mobster, no questions asked. Now Santino heard rumors of John being active again, and thus he requests to complete a job for him, namely kill the current head of the Camorra, Santino’s sister, so he can take her place at the ‘High Table’, otherwise known as the ‘counsel’ of different mafia groups. John refuses, which ends up in his house getting blown to bits, forcing John to agree to the arduous task, even if it’s only to follow the rules of the society of assassins, to allow him to exact his revenge at a later time.
The movie may span nearly two hours, the flow is still rather fast. You’ll bounce from one action scene to another, each with very impressive choreography, making this movie, just like the first part, a delight for action enthusiasts. While this movie could have been nice to tell us more about John’s past, the information given to you is on the low side, as it pretty much revolves around John’s new mission, hoping he can quit the life of a hitman once again.
Even though a fair amount of big stars get their time to shine in this movie, it’s Keanu Reeves that once again manages to steal the limelight for the entire duration of the movie. Keanu’s character, John, remains mysterious from start to finish, yet you simply like his character and feel connected, even though he is nothing more than a retired hitman, one who clearly killed many people. This fairly conflicted way of liking a character means that Keanu does a great job in bringing this retired killer who wanted nothing more than a ‘normal life’ to the little screen.
The special features on this DVD release are rather slim, as you’ll be treated to standard commentaries and a trailer. Outside of the usual content, you’ll get two short featurettes, one revolving around the unexpected success of the first movie, and the other about the expansion of the entire ‘underworld’ in this second installment of the series. Both are rather interesting, but with each of them only spanning around four to five minutes, your journey through the extras will be over before you know it.
Conclusion
John Wick: Chapter 2 is a decent continuation of the first movie, albeit with a little less charm than the original. Nonetheless, the action is extremely brutal, yet convincing, and the exploration of the underworld of this parallel universe is interesting to say the least. If you’re up for another badass Keanu Reeves movie, with action, interesting characters, and a certain likeability for a hitman, this movie is certainly up your alley.
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