RETURN OF THE BOOGEYMAN: a review of "John Wick: Chapter 2"

"JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2"
Based upon characters created by Derek Kolstad
Screenplay Written by Derek Kolstad
Directed by Chad Stahelski
*** (three stars)
RATED R

In some ways, I really do not know why I even wanted to sit through this film.

Dear readers, as you know all too well, my fatigue with sequels, prequels, re-boots, remakes, re-imaginings and so on has been more than documented. But even so, I, like so many of you, do find myself drawn to the continuing adventures and storylines of whomever over and again regardless of my protests. Director Chad Stahelski's brutal, bullet ballet of "John Wick: Chapter 2" is indeed such a sequel that I was more than happy to give a whirl as I was indeed surprised at my enjoyment of the series' initial scuzzy yet super-slick and stylish installment.

With this sequel, Stahelski does indeed achieve the finer elements of what good sequels are supposed to accomplish: create something that is familiar yet extends and expands upon what we already know while delivering more of what we loved in the debut episode. As far as action is concerned, "John Wick: Chapter 2" delivers the goods in spades in a barely there plot surrounded with contrivances that are as ridiculously preposterous as they are deliriously entertaining in their bloodthirsty execution. No, and as with the first film, there really is no greatness to be had here. And, somehow that is perfectly OK as Stahelski seems to revel in the film's scrappy junkyard dog temperament..albeit a junkyard dog that is dressed to the nines!

Picking up just a few days after the events of "John Wick" (2014), Keanu Reeves reprises his role as the titular anti-hero/formerly retired hit man brought back into the underworld as a one man wrecking crew, viciously eviscerating a faction of a Russian crime syndicate who stole his precious 1969 Ford  Mustang Mach 1 as well as the murder of his puppy, a final gift from his now deceased wife.

"John Wick: Chapter 2" opens with Wick tracking down the whereabouts of his precious car to a chop shop, where he, of course, chops and socks his way back to his car, mowing down his whack-a-mole adversaries one after another, all the while  praying that each kill will be the last, allowing him to fade from this murderous existence in peace.

But before you can echo those now famous words wailed by Al Pacino from Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather III" (1990), Wick, who thinks he is out of the killing game, is unceremoniously forced back into his underground dealings (via the complete destruction of his home) by Italian crime lord Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio). Wick is assigned with the seemingly impossible task of venturing to Rome to assassinate Santino's sister, Gianni D'Antonio (Claudia Gerini), so that he will be able to ascend to the council of premiere crime lords known as the "High Table," taking her place in the process.

Well, wouldn't you know that impossible tasks become even more impossible as double crosses are made, boundaries are broken and John Wick becomes a target of the secret and seemingly unending legion of sharply dressed assassins, including the formidable Cassian (Common), who is every bit Wick's unstoppable equal.

Much like its predecessor, Chad Stahelski's "John Wick: Chapter 2," is an elegantly nasty slice of pulp and pummeling that finds Keanu Reeves again perfectly cast as the reticent, relentless "Boogeyman" himself, Mr. John Wick, the anti-hero with the bottomless vengeance streak augmented by an impeccable wardrobe and whom Reeves injects with a poignant existential sadness of grief and mourning for his deceased wife and the life of quiet he is unable to attain, either by circumstance or brutal karma for past evil deeds.

With this character, Keanu Reeves has returned handsomely to the action film genre with a character  that is not only worthy of his skills, but one that does indeed fulfill an action film archetype: the lone soldier like The Man With No Name from Sergio Leone's "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" (1966), George Miller's Mad Max character (1979/1981/1985/2015) or even The Bride from Quentin Tarantino's downright orgiastic "Kill Bill" series (2003/2004).

For whatever reasons, this type of figure certainly continues to resonate within the action genre and Reeves has indeed instilled it with a terrific physicality that showcases the character's iron will, ravenous rage as well as its palpable inner sorrow that makes the character more than a killing machine, even though we are clearly watching this film mostly to see him as that killing machine.
 
Now, this is not to say that this second installment is anything deeper than advertised; a glossy, bloody, ultraviolent shoot-em-up filled with expertly devised, choreographed and delivered fight sequences and shoot outs, filmed crisply and cleanly, so that we in the audience are able to follow the storylines of each fight set piece without feeling disoriented via the sadly standard editing by Cuisinart techniques that have made action films such a bludgeoning mess to view.

In fact, it is precisely because the film doesn't take itself too seriously that makes the proceedings so entertaining (and often quite laugh out loud hilarious) regardless of how violent the fights actually become. From the wildly propulsive "Spy Vs. Spy" battles between John Wick and Cassian (please find a way to bring Common back for "Chapter 3") and the splendidly filmed hall of mirrors climax, obviously inspired by Orson Welles' "The Lady From Shanghai" (1947),  Stahelski is undoubtedly having a blast building his universe one bodyslam and bullet ridden blast at a time.

That being said, and while I do appreciate Stahelski expanding his cinematic universe of assassins by including and increasing all manner of hitman secret codes and rules, blood oaths and honor encased medallions, and of course, the assassin's luxury four star hotel itself, The Continental, "John Wick: Chapter 2" did run into a bit of expositional bloat with its own growing mythology, a quality that does work a tad against the sheer efficiency of the series by slowing down what needs to keep moving like a rocket. The "John Wick" series is working due to the brevity of the story and character motivations and really doesn't seem to need a larger, grander narrative suggesting something that is more epic than it may need to be.

And yet, even with its minor flaws, Chad Stahelski's "John Wick: Chapter 2" concludes with a doozy of a climax that makes me more than ready for "Chapter 3," which I have seen is due to arrive in 2019. Yes, and generally, I have had it up to my eyeballs in sequels, prequels, and the like but sometimes, knowing precisely what you are going to get, while not enormously satisfying, can be buckets of fun.