I foolishly ignored the first one when it came out in the cinemas, as the trailers and concept felt too generic for the genre.
But what made this such a success, was the high-quality action scenes, the beautiful cinematographer and the simplicity of it.
Now that the expectations are a lot higher, it is going to be tough to emulate that success.
It starts off strong and right where we left off. We begin to explore more of the mythology. That is key to making any sequel memorable of worthy of being made. Each act has a big set-piece that is just a privilege to watch. The build-up to the finale shows each departments biggest strength, and we end on something that sets us up nicely for the third chapter that has already been confirmed.
Keanu Reeves continues to be the action hero of the moment. You can see his dedication in his combat training and that makes you respect him even more for taking that risk in those action scenes. I will never get tired of the precise head-shots Reeves characters produces throughout.
Common was a nice surprise. He played the role well and he was as dedicated in the physical work as Reeves was.
Ian McShane was as cool as ever in his role as Winston. While his screen time is no different to the first one, he still manages to make enough impact to be a memorable character. Ruby Rose was pretty cool and bad-ass in her supporting role and I hope to see her in more action films.
Sadly, Riccardo Scamarcio was fairly unmemorable as the main villain. It would be interesting if you can get a big name in that role to see if this could improve the quality of the film.
There was a nice surprise appearance from a fairly well known actor in the second half that had no idea was being cast. I hope to see more of this character in the already confirmed Chapter 3.
The content that sells the film is the action scenes. The heavy use of hand-to-hand combat gives the film a lot of realism. It is amazing to watch it as it never goes for that over-the-top Hollywood moment. Everything is grounded, highly physical and very little of it that I could tell was done by stuntmen. You could see our main characters actually doing the work on-screen.
I loved one particular action scene that fulfilled a rumor from the first film. That made me and all the other cinema-goers in my screening go pretty much "woah!" in amazement.
What elevates them more is the slick looking cinematography. The colour scheme has not changed, and still or slow moving camerawork lets the action breathe and that you can actually tell whats going. Unlike the shaky-cam style that masks over the poor action.
Despite all the praise, I do have some negatives with the film that won't make it as good as the first one. While I liked the story being more in-depth and focused. There were moments that I think it was trying to be too complex for its own good towards the end.
The pacing sadly does grind to a halt too many times to make it go un-noticed. Something similar to that, was there were a fair amount of moments that seem to linger too much on what was going.
While I had a good time, I don't think it was as exciting or fast-paced as the first one. The motivations of John Wick did not feel as impactful. Plus, the surprise factor of the first one will be tough to ignore when seeing the sequel, as you now have expectations.
Most of it felt viscerally satisfying. The performances worked well and I am already looking forward to seeing what happens next.
This remains to be the best American action films that can actually compete with The Raid films in terms of their style of action scenes. I did enjoy the forever world building. It really interested me on what the laws are within this universe.
The technical side was pretty good. I forgot to mention the sound design as it stand-outs well, and I don't usually notice that in films.
What manages to make this work the most, is that it felt like a stand alone film as well as developing the events from the first installment. Bring on Chapter 3.
Rating: 7/10
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