One hell of a ride

Rating: 8/10 (21 May 2017)

The original 'John Wick' was such a giant success that it was always going to get a sequel, whether it was pre-planned or not. In fact before 'John Wick: Chapter 2' was even made this was planned to be a trilogy with each movie following on almost immediately from the previous one. So what makes the 'John Wick' movies so great? For me, it's that they've found a very unique and effective style. In a world of very little originality, it's actually very hard to pinpoint a film that is like 'John Wick'. So many actions films today are just trying to be imitations of other successful franchises. 'John Wick' feels like it is very much going in its own direction. I like that fact a lot.
'John Wick: Chapter 2' is one hell of an action packed film. It's almost overwhelming at times. In fact it nearly gets to the point where it is a downfall of the movie. You can only shoot so many people before it becomes a little tedious to watch. The action sequences are at their best when they are being creative. There is a lot of that, but it can get a little lost amongst all the constant chaos and killing.
The story is very simple when you stop and think about it, however that's probably a strength of the film in a way. It's impossible to get confused because there really is nothing to be confused about. All that leaves is for the audience to sit back and have a good time. And a good time they will have with this film I suspect. As far as straight up action films go, this is about as good as they come today.