InReview InReview

SA QLD
Support independent journalism

Film & TV

Film review: John Wick - Chapter 2

Film & TV

Do assassins have a code of honour? You bet! At least in assassin movies they do and that’s what at the heart of this violent action flick, along with a firing rate to put computer games to shame.

Comments
Comments Print article

In this sequel to the 2014 movie (John Wick, of course), our protagonist (Keanu Reeves) is pulled back into the deadly game from which he wanted to escape, all because of a blood oath in a system that runs on protocols of obligation.

Curiously, with that retirement device driving the plot, the movie opens with Wick in full action mode as he seeks revenge for the loss of his beloved car, and you know he means business.

There is some humour, and a lot of gore.

Wick is the master of improvisation when it comes to killing, and baddies aren’t what they used to be. The hiring system must need overhauling given that only one or two of the zillions summarily dispatched by our hero can hit their target, whatever gun they employ. Wick is hurt at times but leads a physically charmed life.

Don’t look hard for women in this movie. In the world of John Wick, they are either dead and gone already, a criminal mastermind, or an assassin. It underlines the extent to which this is a tedious shooter movie with no character development.

The end clearly flags a follow-up. It will have to be much more introspective or Wick will remain a robot fighting the criminal machine to which he once belonged.

My money is on a new love interest in Chapter 3, but she had better watch out.

Make a comment View comment guidelines

Support local arts journalism

Your support will help us continue the important work of InReview in publishing free professional journalism that celebrates, interrogates and amplifies arts and culture in South Australia.

Donate Here

Comments

Show comments Hide comments
Will my comment be published? Read the guidelines.

. You are free to republish the text and graphics contained in this article online and in print, on the condition that you follow our republishing guidelines.

You must attribute the author and note prominently that the article was originally published by InReview.  You must also inlude a link to InReview. Please note that images are not generally included in this creative commons licence as in most cases we are not the copyright owner. However, if the image has an InReview photographer credit or is marked as “supplied”, you are free to republish it with the appropriate credits.

We recommend you set the canonical link of this content to https://inreview.com.au/inreview/film/2017/05/18/film-review-john-wick-chapter-2/ to insure that your SEO is not penalised.

Copied to Clipboard

More Film & TV stories

Loading next article