"John Wick: Chapter 2" is an enjoyable, stylish and action-packed thrill ride.

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2017)

In Hawaiian, the native language of Keanu Reeves' biological father, his first name means "cool breeze over the mountains". Sounds peaceful, right? Well, early in his career, Reeves played pretty peaceful characters in 1988's "Dangerous Liaisons", 1989's "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and, in 1991, "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey", "Parenthood" and as an FBI agent pretending to be a surfer in "Point Break". That last role also marked the beginning of Reeves' transition to more intense and even tormented characters, like in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992), "Speed" (1994) and "The Devil's Advocate" (1997). Although the man with the peaceful-sounding first name still sprinkled in some sweet and peaceful roles (e.g., "Sweet November", "A Walk in the Clouds", "The Lake House" and a voice-over as a kitten named after him in 2016's "Keanu"), most of the parts Reeves played in the late 1990s and early 2000s have been decidedly un-peaceful – in movies like "Johnny Mnemonic", "The Matrix" (and its two sequels), "Constantine", "Street Kings", "Man of Tai Chi" (which he also directed), "47 Ronin" – plus "John Wick" and its sequel "John Wick: Chapter 2" (R, 2:02). Peaceful? Not hardly! Entertaining? You betcha! "Chapter 2" is a very appropriate phrase to include in this movie's title, for a couple of reasons. The action picks up right after the events of 2014's "John Wick". Having come out of hit-man retirement to avenge the murder of his puppy and defend his own life by dispatching scores of bad guys, he now comes for his stolen car, knocking off a few more thugs in the process, and then calls it even with the boss (Peter Stormare) of what's left of the crime family which John has decimated. He calls a mechanic friend (John Leguizamo) to repair what's left of his souped-up Mustang, reburies his weaponry in the floor of his house (under concrete which he lays down himself), looks wistfully at a picture of his late wife, Helen (Bridget Moynahan), takes care of his new dog (which he has not yet named) and, to quote the 1980's singer known as Rockwell, John might say, "All I want is to be left alone in my average home, but I always feel like someone's watching me." He has good reasons for thinking and feeling all of that.
Since Wick (aka "The Boogeyman") came out of retirement (albeit for very good and personal reasons), the international organization of assassins of which he was a part now considers him un-retired. (After all, John himself said in the previous film, "People keep asking if I'm back. Yeah, I'm thinking I'm back.") Italian assassin Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), a member of one of the families represented at "The High Table" of assassins shows up to hand his old friend an amulet with John's bloody thumb print inside, a token of what Santino says is a blood oath which was reinstated when John came out of retirement. John is now obligated to fulfill a "request" by Santino or he himself will be killed.
Winston (Ian McShane), the manager of New York's Continental Hotel (a kind of safe house and DMZ for international assassins), reaffirms to John that those are the rules and there is no other way, so John heads to Rome to do his job. John proceeds with his trademark classiness as he plans to execute his responsibility. Of course, nothing will be easy, even for John Wick, and he'll eventually have to defend himself against a number of deadly agents, including one played by Common, and another by Ruby Rose, but he also gets help from "The Sommelier" (Peter Sarafinowicz), who deals in a lot more than wine, Charon (Lance Reddick), the classy and extraordinarily helpful concierge at The Continental Hotel – and a blast from Keanu Reeves' own cinematic past (a cool cameo which I don't want to spoil).
"John Wick: Chapter 2" is an enjoyable, stylish and action-packed thrill ride. As good as the original film was, this one keeps what worked so well the first time, takes the plot deeper into the main character's world and adds several interesting new characters. It's an intense action shoot-'em-up, but it's not just the guys who get to have all the fun. (Beware of mute female henchmen, lady violinists on the subway and women who would rather slit their own wrists than become a hit-man's victim.) Besides its many colorful characters, this sequel keeps audiences engaged with its general air of sophistication, its stylized action sequences and visually sumptuous set pieces that are to die for. If you don't mind a high body count and a few vagaries in its plot points, this is everything an action sequel should be – including setting the stage very well for "Chapter 3". For now, I'll close this "John Wick" chapter with an "A-".