• Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket

Second Opinion – John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

February 14, 2017 by Amie Cranswick

John Wick: Chapter 2, 2017.

Directed by Chad Stahelski.
Starring Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ruby Rose, Common, Claudia Gerini, Lance Reddick, Tobias Segal, Ian McShane, Bridget Moynahan, John Leguizamo, Peter Stormare, Laurence Fishburne, and Franco Nero.

SYNOPSIS:

After returning to the criminal underworld to repay a debt, John Wick discovers that a large bounty has been put on his life.

Action cinema is in a sort of dirge at the moment where geriatric superstars – Liam Neeson, Denzel Washington, Kevin Costner – fight valiantly against disposable henchman while being cut to shreds in the edit room because to truly believe them as dangerous would be to take too big a leap of faith. Enter real life Dorian Grey, Keanu Reeves, appearing once more as he did with Neo way back in 1999 with John Wick, a character in a similar mold to those mentioned – vengeance induced by death (of his dog) – who was brought kicking and screaming into a fantastical world of long takes and bizarre mythos. And in doing so rejuvenated the genre with a wry smile and a series of head shots and punches to the throat.

With John Wick 2, director Chad Stahelski doesn’t exactly reinvent the formula, instead reinforcing the formula with bulletproof lining. Starting at it means to go on with a car chase all sorts of ludicrous which involves a “car gang bang” and what Stahelski calls “car fu,” (a loaded term which at its simplest finds henchman being hit by the bonnet of the car). The film then begins to mirror its predecessor. Returning home, Wick finds himself in the company of one-time buddy Santino with whom he is bound to by a blood debt. Santino wants Wick to off his sister who now finds herself mingling with those high up in the criminal underworld. Wick refuses, thus triggering a chain of events leading to a trip to Rome and a ridiculous body count.

It may lack the streamlined, break neck pacing of the first, but it placates this for further extremities and absolute absurdities. The bizarre world Wick occupies is opened up to reveal entire cityscapes run by hit men and women, where the homeless are employed by Laurence Fishburne channeling his best Ghost Dog, where shop owner Peter Serafinowicz discusses guns with lingo more appropriate for Jay Rayner and seemingly everyone is baying for the blood of Keanu.

Yet Stahelski and writer Derek Kolstad choose not to be bogged down with the bloated mythos, forcing the viewer to accept this world as it is. Exposition doesn’t exist to explain how the currency works and why a drink costs the same as a loaded gun, or why the blood debt is of such importance; they don’t simply throw you into the deep end, they throw you into the deep end attached to vast stones and hope you can breathe underwater.

That silliness passes through into the ultra-violent set pieces. Wick fights off two henchman with a single pencil, he forces a lit cigarette into the mouth of an assailant, grand symphonies of bullets and fists are shot in long fluid takes. It’s an ode to all that makes action cinema so hysterically enjoyable. There’s a language to violence that too often is lost beneath a need for plotting and stuntmen, a language Stahelski and Reeves are clearly fluent in.

Then there’s the finale, a grand, mirror room set gun fight which exists as a fuck you to Enter the Dragon, a true testament to the powers of all those involved. John Wick 2 isn’t to be taken seriously, and it’s well aware of that. The world is baffling and bizarre, the violence is joyous and of such extremities, be grateful for Wick.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

Thomas Harris

Filed Under: Movies, Reviews, Thomas Harris Tagged With: Bridget Moynahan, Chad Stahelski, Claudia Gerini, Common, Franco Nero, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, John Wick: Chapter 2, Keanu Reeves, lance reddick, Laurence Fishburne, Peter Stormare, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ruby Rose, Tobias Segal

About Amie Cranswick

Amie Cranswick has been part of Flickering Myth’s editorial and management team for over a decade. She has a background in publishing and copyediting and has served as Editor-in-Chief of FlickeringMyth.com since 2023.

FMTV – Watch Our Latest Video Here

WATCH OUR MOVIE NOW FOR FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

10 Horror Movies That Avoided the Director Sophomore Slump

The Most Iconic Moments of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

10 Essential Vampire Movies To Sink Your Teeth Into

7 Mad Movie Doctors Who Deserve More Recognition

The Film Feud of the 90s: Steven Seagal vs Jean-Claude Van Damme

10 Great 1980s Sci-Fi Adventure Movies

The Essential Modern Day Swashbucklers

Ten Controversial Movies and the Drama Around Them

Great Tarantino-esque Movies You Need To See

Exploring George A. Romero’s Non-Zombie Movies

Top Stories:

Crazy Cult 80s Movies You May Have Missed

Movie Review – Superman (2025)

4K Ultra HD Review – Quatermass 2 (1957)

Movie Review – Sovereign (2025)

“Dexter In Space” – Michael C. Hall talks 20 years of Dexter and where the killer will go next

Movie Review – Abraham’s Boys (2025)

Matilda Lutz is Red Sonja in trailer for long-delayed fantasy reboot

Great Tarantino-esque Movies You Need To See

STREAM FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

FEATURED POSTS:

7 Kick-Ass Female-Led Action Movies

The Best Eiza González Movies

Sirens from Space: Species and Under The Skin

15 Great Feel-Good Sing-a-Long Movies

Our Partners

  • Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

© Flickering Myth Limited. All rights reserved. The reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication of the content without permission is strictly prohibited. Movie titles, images, etc. are registered trademarks / copyright their respective rights holders. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you can read this, you don't need glasses.


 

Flickering MythLogo Header Menu
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket