Yeah, I'm thinking he's back...again

Rating: 8/10 (17 February 2017)

Only 2 films in, the "Wick" franchise is already a better version of what the Fast / Furious movies aim to be: over-the-top, silly action extravaganzas. Highly stylized, committed and just-self-aware-enough, it walks its bloody-tightrope between parody and sincerity with nearly as much skill as Wick has for killing baddies. While not as qualitatively surprising as its predecessor, Chapter 2 is still a brutally exciting and smartly hilarious romp. We open with Wick tying up some loose-ends from his last vengeance-fueled rampage. A 15-minute barrage of blood and high-stakes bumper cars, it took everything within me not to fist-pump a dozen times right away. As long as he's not trying to emotionally connect with his costars, Reeves is great. He and director Stahelski give us fights and chases that are just so much better than much of what America produces. From the humorous use of random weapons to the quiet nonchalance of a mall shoot-out to the climactic combat in a house-of-mirrors, it won't leave you wanting. From there, we're given a relatively contained narrative about John being dragged back in to this wonderfully mysterious world of suit-cladded, manners-following, rule-abiding assassins. It's a cliché, but the world-building really is great, getting into the minutiae and aftermath of the movie violence we're often immune to. All this made me wonder: maybe THIS is the American answer to Bond. Not Bourne, not Hunt, not Reacher; Wick. He fights with efficiency, he broods with purpose, he's appropriately lauded and feared, and Reeves (while great) doesn't "own" the character. And as long as these films stay this insanely fun, I welcome a future spending multiple hours in John Wick's gleefully violent world.