JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 (2017) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 (2017) movie

Genre             |  Crime Thriller

Classification   |   MA 15+

Running time   |   122 minutes

Released         |   18 May 2017

cast

Keanu Reeves ... John Wick
Riccardo Scamarcio ... D'Antonio
Ian McShane ... Winston
Ruby Rose ... Ares
Common ... Cassian
Claudia Gerini ... Gianna D'Antonio
Lance Reddick ... Charon
Laurence Fishburne ... Bowery King
​Tobias Segal ... Earl
John Leguizamo ... Aurelio

director

Chad Stahelski

writer

​Derek Kolstad ... (written by)
 
Derek Kolstad ... (based on characters created by)

cinematographer

Dan Laustsen

music

​Tyler Bates
Joel J. Richard

film editor

Evan Schiff ​

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box office result

Worldwide             $171,539,887   

Australia                 $​​​​​​​​​​​3,174,887

North America       $​92,029,184

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the best dialogue

Winston: You stabbed the devil in the back and forced him back into the life that he had just left. You incinerated the priest's temple. Burned it to the ground. Now he's free of the marker, what do you think he'll do? He had a glimpse of the other side and he embraced it. But you, Signor D'Antonio... took it away from him.

Bowery King: He's offered seven million dollars for your life. Seven million dollars is a lot of money, Mr. Wick.
John Wick: So I guess you have a choice. You want a war? Or do you wanna just give me a gun?
Bowery King: Somebody, please! Get this man a gun!

John Wick: Winston... tell them... Tell them all... Whoever comes, whoever it is... I'll kill them. I'll kill them all.
Winston: 'Course you will.

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 (2017) MOVIE IMAGES

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JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 (2017) STORY SYNOPSIS

​Retired super-assassin John Wick's plans to resume a quiet civilian life are cut short when Italian gangster Santino D'Antonio shows up on his doorstep with a gold marker, compelling him to repay past favors. Ordered by Winston, kingpin of secret assassin society The Continental, to respect the organization's ancient code, Wick reluctantly accepts the assignment to travel to Rome to take out D'Antonio's sister, the ruthless capo atop the Italian Camorra crime syndicate.

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 (2017) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 16 May 2017
​Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Australia finally gets a chance to see the Wick relit, as Keanu Reeves punches, kicks and shoots his way through 122 minutes of pure Action hokum! Nobody cares that he can’t act. Nobody cares that the story really doesn’t make much sense. Nobody cares that writer Derek Kolstad has made a concerted effort to expand upon the mythology he created with the 2014 surprise hit. What people will care about - especially fans of the first movie - is that no dogs were harmed in the making of John Wick: Chapter 2 and that the film’s over-the-top action is enough that it would have made even Schwarzenegger and Stallone stop for cool sip of water in their bone-crunching Eighties prime! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, John Wick: Chapter 2 is bigger and better than its predecessor and it needs to be seen on the largest screen possible to enjoy the mayhem that is unleashed when the world’s most dangerous assassin is double-crossed and forced out of retirement!

As something of a recap to the first movie, writer Kolstad and returning director Chad Stahelski indulge in an extended prologue that sees Wick use his beloved 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 as a dodgem car to bring down the remnants of the Tarasov crime organization. No sooner does he get home and park what remains of his prized possession in the garage, John gets a visit from Riccardo Scarmarcio’s preening Italian gangster, Santino D’Antonio; the man who allowed Wick to escape the world of assassins to be with his beloved Helen. Santino, however, is not making a social visit. He’s come to call in the unavoidable marker that Wick owes the crime czar for his patronage. Wick learns the hard way that he can’t refuse the marker and a visit to the underworld’s equivalent of Switzerland, the Continental Hotel, to share his plight with Ian McShane’s Winston doesn’t make the situation any easier. While sympathetic, Winston reinforces to Wick that he has an obligation to honour the marker regardless of how unpalatable the task may be. In this instance, Santino wants his sister, Claudia Gerini’s Gianna, disposed of so he can take her place among the senior members of an international crime syndicate that sounds suspiciously like the Mafia!

Anyone who ventures into the cinema is search of performance perfection should avoid John Wick: Chapter 2 at all costs. If, however, the sight and sound of a series of talented character actors chewing their way through the scenery excites, then this film is highly recommended. For fans of the Matrix films, the old team of Neo (Reeves) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) are back in action. Larry may have put on a couple of pounds but he sure knows how to take command of a scene. Playing the Bowery King, Fishburne’s character comes into play during the film’s Third Act, but there’s little doubt, audiences will get to see him again if John Wick: Chapter 3 gets a green light. Ian McShane is great and Lance Reddick, as the Continental’s Front Desk Manager, Charon, gets an expanded role in the second outing, bringing a sense of humanity and friendship that is well placed among the never-ending carnage that follows Wick wherever he goes. Rapper Common makes a great impression as fellow assassin Cassian and the subway shoot-out between him and Wick is one of the highlights of the new movie.

The shame of John Wick: Chapter 2 is that local audiences are seeing this movie three months after it premiered in the United States. No one really knows what happened with the film’s original local distributor, but Studio Canal have stepped in and at least given viewers an opportunity to see the new film on the big screen before it hits the home entertainment market. John Wick: Chapter 2 is not as frenetic as the first film, but that’s not a bad thing thing. A more straight-forward approach to staging the action allows Stahleski and cinematographer Dan Laustsen to deliver audiences a wider view of the action. In this respect, John Wick: Chapter 2 is far more cinematic. The effort by Derek Kolstad to incorporate more criminal mythology into the story adds a layer of texture that was hinted at but not fully developed in the first movie. Where John Wick: Chapter 2 finishes tantalizes with the prospect of Chapter 3. Just like Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone, just when Wick thought he was out, he gets pulled back in. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 MOVIE (2017) USEFUL LINKS

​John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) - IMDb
John Wick: Chapter 2 - Wikipedia
​John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) - Rotten Tomatoes

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