John Wick was a film that took audiences by complete surprise. When the initial trailers for the film came out, nobody really had a lot of faith in it and expected it to just be another generic action flick with a star trying to regain some relevancy through a mediocre flick with a premise that was very simplistic and even laughable in terms of set-up. However, the film was a great time; with memorable characters, a rich world with plenty of possibilities, fantastic action set pieces and helped rebuild the career of Keanu Reeves and made him a beloved icon in today’s society. Due to the success of the first film in 2014, a sequel was green-lit and eventually, John Wick formed into a franchise, with several sequels and spin-offs being created. The first to start this pattern off was Chapter 2 which was released in 2017. After recovering his car from relatives of those he murdered his way through in the previous film, John Wick (played again by Keanu Reeves) prepares to officially re-enter retirement with his new dog when he is visited by crime boss, Santino D’Antonio (played by Riccardo Scamarcio) who demands he do another job for him. Having a ‘’marker’’ over him (an unbreakable vow that John made to him in the past to earn his freedom), John has no choice but to comply, but quickly discovers that this isn’t going to be an in-and-out situation after D’Antonio puts a hit on him after the deed is completed. Now being hunted down by various assassins from every direction and not being able to trust anyone (not even his own agency), John Wick is forced to work with underground crime boss, The Bowery King (played by Laurence Fishburne) in order to get stocked up and fully prepare to take revenge on D’Antonio for stabbing him in the back, even if the consequences could be severe and make it so that he can never have a normal safe life ever again. John Wick Chapter 2 brought people back in nicely with strong audience and critical scores, and a bigger box office from the last film. However, even though this film proved that a franchise in John Wick’s world is viable, is it actually needed?

The original idea for the first John Wick film is honestly nothing special and is actually a little by-the-numbers insulting in some areas as it’s a concept that has been down to death within this kind of action film; person who was once in killing business is pulled back in after tragic incident sends them down a killing spree of those that wronged him in an effort to get revenge. It’s a gory tale as old as time, and the fact that the first film has a dog be the driving force sounded a little ridiculous, but through great handling, pacing, action and acting, it managed to pull it off and people took it pretty legit. However, it doesn’t change the fact that the film clearly wasn’t built to have a lasting narrative that could evolve and progress overtime, as the plot to this film originally starts off a little too similarly to the first film in terms of set-up and delivery. The franchise that spawned from this singular film clearly adored the environment, personality, and world that John Wick inhabited and wanted to do more with it, but it didn’t really put much thought into how it could evolve its main story or its main characters, as those feel second nature to this franchise at this point. This film has all the right workings for a perfectly solid action flick; its paced decently enough, the tone is light and edgy in the right places, the action is very good and the actors and stunt workers are very good at their craft, and it has just enough of a brain and handling of its environment to make people somewhat intrigued to what could happen next, at least moreso than a mindless action flick. With the same writer (Derek Kolstad) and director (Chad Stahelski) from the last film, they are able to create a sense of continuity and build-up to this world that makes it feel like it can function as a franchise, but it clearly wasn’t an idea in their minds to begin with as the story feels like it only exists to get action scenes going. It does close on a very solid note that builds up a lot of potential for its follow-up film, but it does kind of feel like this entire movie was created just to get to that point, as in terms of new elements of world-building, lore or character development, there’s practically nothing substantial.

When a franchise gets so focused on its visuals, world-building/lore and/or its action, elements like the story and characters suffer the most. Thankfully unlike other franchises that have done this to varying levels of quality, John Wick hasn’t quite fallen into that trap as there is still a desire to create this world that is populated by larger-than-life characters thanks to the film’s larger-than-life personality. Most of the assassins and people working in this agency around the world are colorful in how they look, interact with others and how they go about handling their business, almost feeling like a James-Bond type environment with a quirkier mob-mentality that has a global appeal rather than a distinguished British one. With this in mind, while the characters are odd and unique in these elements, they aren’t the most engaging or interesting people when they have to partake in actual movie stuff and sadly, John Wick suffers this the most here. Keanu Reeves surprisingly did a very strong acting performance as John Wick in the first film, leaving most of his usual monotone, surfer-dude like delivery behind, and giving something more personable and genuine while still carrying that grit and edge that makes him believable as an efficient killer. It worked quite nicely and showed Keanu in a new light, but here its weirdly not there. He’s returned to his usual bad delivery and monotone nature and it’s hard to determine exactly why because it’s the same team and people as before who directed him to be much better. He still moves and performs his stunts great, but it’s sad that his best acting is when he’s not talking, and for a franchise that proved Keanu could act when given the right guidance, it’s sad to see that element disappear in the follow-up. Not to say that everybody else is that much stronger, as none of the supporting cast is that intriguing either. Certain returning faces that pop up from before are decent like Lance Reddick and Ian McShane, and there’s even a chief bodyguard played by American rapper, Common who actually gets some nice moments with Keanu Reeves both in fighting and even in dialogue, resulting in some of the few fresh and engaging parts that aren’t action-oriented, but most of the others aren’t so lucky. Ruby Rose plays a villain so underutilized that it’s bizarre that she was even chosen for the role (literally anyone could’ve pulled it off and its not like she’s that huge of a name to draw people in), it’s cool seeing Laurence Fishburne interact with Reeves all these years later, but his scenes are so short, and his acting is so weird that it doesn’t come across that great, and Riccardo Scamarcio provides for a pretty pathetic and unmemorable main villain, only feeling like he’s positioned for John to kill at the end rather than acting as a foil to the character.

Director Chad Stahelski’s prevalent work as a stuntman and stunt co-coordinator for several films like The Crow, The Matrix, Spider-Man 2, Serenity, and 300, proved his capability for filming action and explains the strength of the fight sequences in these films. Even if there are elements that take a backseat, there’s no doubt that the action scenes in these movies are always at the front and centre, and you can clearly tell because they are once again, very well handled. They could also be described as being laid out like a video game level; with various waves of people coming in and taking them out one by one as you make your way through a large expansive, yet linear environment in order to reach the final destination, it has that flow and energy to it, and it works in its favour by adding this modern yet familiar sense of cool accomplishment when you see characters work their way through a similar outline. It also helps that this universe doesn’t take itself too seriously and it can get away with being a little weird, odd, and even humorous at times. It doesn’t break the tension of serious and dramatic moments and instead livens up what could be repeated cold and depressing and makes it more even in its tone (there’s no real funny lines, but there are quips, the situations aren’t often humorous, but how they are handled can sometimes be, etc). There’s a fantastic kinetic flair to the action that allows it to be flowing, elegant and even brutal, but there is also an element of fun that comes from the variety of ways people are flown around, punched and kicked and even shot, it makes the action feel more engaging because it’s trying to be more than just a set piece, it’s pretty much what this franchise relies on so it needs to be a big factor, and they do have some fun moments that are impressive on a technical level, yet are still engaging just to watch within a story. There are various locations used, different manners to kill people (one very fun but wincing one involving a pencil), and even fun unique ways of presenting the action (there’s an entire fight scene done in a hall of mirrors and it’s pretty fun and disorienting in the best way).

Whether or not it was something that needed to happen, John Wick does benefit from being a franchise. Like other action films before it, it took what was a base premise and stretched it past its desired length in order to milk it for every penny its worth, but unlike some of those options, these movies still feature impressive moments, stunts, visuals, and situations that keep people coming back. It is a shame that it’s clear that this wasn’t an intended factor as the story doesn’t evolve, the characters remain stagnant and it has started to lean into a ‘’famous star fights this person’’ kind of film (similar to what the Rocky franchise started to devolve into before it was rebooted into Creed), but if even the worst is a film like this, it’s not too much of an issue. Chapter 2 is a bit shallow, lacks depth in its characters and plot and doesn’t really make its case for existing outside of a few choice fight scenes and a fun ending, but otherwise, it’s still directed well, looks nice and gives some fun action, so that’s really all the matters in the end.

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