A lazy sequel settles for walking its audience through the obstacle course of the first film, refusing to change pace or scenery. An alright sequel does the same, but faster. A great sequel abandons the obstacle course altogether and drags its audience over ten miles of bad road, whooping and yelling as it does so. Case in point: Aliens, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The Godfather Part II, and, yes, John Wick: Chapter 2.
An eminently lovable follow-up to the 2014 surprise hit John Wick, this unholy actioner is equal parts Godardian postmodernism and the batshit insanity of John Woo. It’s a Looney Tunes cartoon that has stayed up all night doing nangs and reading Derrida, and somehow manages to craftily subvert a whole host of action movie clichés without ever seeming academic.
The plot is your standard high-octane revenge fare – despite his best efforts to stay retired, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is drawn back into the hitman game to pay back a debt he incurred years before. So yeah, it’s not exactly groundbreaking stuff – but the beauty is in the telling rather than the story. Indeed, the narrative is largely treated as an afterthought. It’s little more than a structure designed to hold up the film’s striking seam of magic realism, and a way of keeping things chugging along so that director Chad Stahelski can build his cinematic world.
And what a world. John Wick: Chapter 2 further develops the alternate universe manned by hitmen that was so colourfully drawn in the original; a universe in which taking out a contract involves making a call to a retro typing pool of tattooed, bored women, and in which guns are sold by a smarmy armourer-cum-waiter (Peter Serafinowicz in a film-stealing cameo).
Due credit must go to the supporting players, of which there are many: Ruby Rose does fine work as a charismatic mute hitman who communicates via sign language, Common is a huffy, arrogant bodyguard, and the ever-brilliant Ian McShane exudes dark, compelling charm.
Sure, the ending might be a little irritatingly franchise-building, and there might be a few moments that feel excessively on the nose – the villain’s ultimate plan, when revealed, feels a little bit too diabolical, for example. But even with these minor quibbles, John Wick: Chapter 2 is an audacious, endlessly exciting film – an oddity to be cherished and admired.
John Wick: Chapter 2 opens in cinemas on Thursday May 18.
