John Wick: Chapter 2 - Kinetic thrills, don't expect much plot

Daniel Craig having a hole shot through him and falling off a 100-foor bridge? Piece of piss. Try being hit by ten different cars over the course of a few days and continuing on to amass a body count so large it would make Bond feel insecure. Clearly - like the Fast and Furious franchise - the makers of John Wick don't give one about realism.

After all, this sequel to the (somewhat Indie) 2014 action film builds on the fantastical assassin's underworld of laws and safe-house hotels as Keanu Reeves' titular hitman is dragged back into his old life. Still. Chapter 2 picks off right after its predecessor. Wick has to take on a contract. He is double-crossed. He is hunted. It's all very formulaic stuff, but what makes this franchise work is the combination of real-life martial artist/ human weapon Reeves and director Chad Stahelski (co-director David Leitch only produces this time around).

Stahelski's stunt background comes into play again to give more sensational action, including some neat cross-cutting montages of Wick dispatching waves of assassins. Reeves' mixture of grappling and gun-play is as seamless as ever, although after a while the endless onslaught of enemies makes the film feel like someone is playing Hitman on easy difficulty. Even so, the tension is built back up (and the weak script redeemed somewhat) with some fairly unexpected detours in the final act. 

With a doubled budget of $40 million compared to the first outing's $20 million, Stahelski goes all out on locations and a higher profile supporting cast, but lumbering them with posturing dialogue removes some of the grace the film would have had; Laurence Fishburne's scenery-chewing may only last a few minutes, but his over-the-top laughter leaves large teeth marks. Nevertheless, it looks great, and if you're filling to suspend your disbelief enough to accept a bullet-proof suit, John Wick: Chapter 2 will regale with some inventive action beats. Notably, a trippy hall of mirrors that manage not to feel like every other such fight, a pencil and an almost laughably conspicuous exchange of gunfire in a train station between Common and Keanu.

Try to have fun with it.

We'll forgive its flaws mostly. FOUR STARS. But why not aim for the head more? ? He doesn't have a bullet proof snapback.