So John Wick is back, with a new job and a very short retirement. Thankfully no one's killed his goldfish or anything, but he is dragged back into the assassination game when total wanker Santino D'Antonio uses a marker Wick gave him when he got out of the game, and a hit man cannot refuse to honour a marker. Oh well, here we go again...
What follows is Keanu Reeves shooting lots of people and then shooting some more people and then shooting a few more for good luck. There's a reasonable plot in there somewhere, and it's all nicely set up for the next chapter in a way that really makes you want to see it. It's great to see Reeves sharing screen time with his old 'Matrix' mucker Lawrence Fishburne, and we also get a super cool mute assassin in the shapely shape of Ruby Rose. Ian McShane makes a welcome return as the boss of the Continental Hotel, as does Lance Reddick as the impeccably unruffled concierge. Rapper Common impresses as fellow assassin Cassian, and I look forward to seeing him again in the next one. All in all, it's a ridiculously solid cast.
'John Wick 2' is one of those films that could have easily been a straight to DVD duffer, but manages to be great thanks to everything being done in style. From the balletic gunfights to a final shootout that could have been a massive cliche but just ends up being a bit awesome. Keanu Reeves isn't required to actually do much acting, which is always a bonus, and he's helped immeasurably by the rest of the cast. Suffice to say if you enjoyed the first one this is a no brainer, and if you haven't seen the first one you really should. A wonderful example of a modern action film with total old school charm in abundance. Just don't hurt his dog...
Trailer
