A superior sequel and a great action movie in its own right

Rating: 9/10 (17 June 2017)

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 is a great addition to the action thriller genre and a superior sequel to the original movie, which in itself was a very good film. This one has a blistering opening action sequence, and then a relatively slow first hour which builds the story but keeps you interested. In the second hour, this turns into an extraordinary action movie, full of breakneck fight and kill sequences, with literally hundreds of bad guys getting constantly shot by our hero.
The film has the same kind of fluid choreography as the first movie, indebted to THE RAID and very nearly as good. Reeves proves to be an expert in terms of weapon skill and physicality, and if the supporting act are little more than caricatures, then that doesn't really matter. The scene in which Wick has a hit called out on him and is assailed by numerous assassins, utilising weapons such as a pencil to survive, is one of my favourite scenes in Hollywood in the last year or so, and as such I can't recommend this film highly enough.