John Wick 2

I couldn't see a thread about this film, and as i recall the first one was well received on the forum.

Here's some of what I thought about it, for what it's worth.

CGI blood. This didn't annoy me in the first one, but for the sequel they seem to have turned up the CGI blood to the threshold where you'd start noticing it, and then upped it a little more for good measure.

Good start, not maintained. I really liked the start. Although it doesn't make sense why the Russian gangsters would hold on to John Wick's car for any length of time. Nor why all the henchmen want so much to engage in hand to hand rather than just shoot him. Still, I liked the revelation that he wanted his car back so badly because of what was in the glovebox. Well, that's the impression I got.

Why would you burn down John Wick's house? So Mr Sergio Pannetone or whatever he's called has this blood debt owed by John Wick, who refuses it and so Ravioli (or whatever) blows up his house. And the dog is fine, of course. Even taking into account a weird code of honour, it just doesn't make sense. I mean, this guy certainly knows who John Wick is! Leading on to...

Story So I found the story disappointing. It seems like the kind of screenplay you'd make up as you go along without having an end in mind. Wick's visit to his gun dealer to have some gun specifications reeled off seemed like padding to me.

styleIt degenerates into slapstick at times. And John Wick does in fact kill some people with a pencil! I CLAPPED (to borrow a phrase coined by someone else) I did like the 'accounts payable' scenes, although the conscious mixing of retro themes was odd! and this leads to...

everyone is an assassin and so what does the normal Police force actually do? The lone officer who knows John Wick seems content to leave him well alone. I didn't see any other law enforcement presence. But it does seem by the end that Mr Continental-owner really is the Big Boss of Everyone. So how will John Wick get out of this one? A gripping cliffhanger, or just 'hurry up and roll the end credits already!'
 
SixTwoSix said:
Can't help but like Reeves, more so when I read about his personal life, seems like a pretty decent fellow.
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That kind of respect is the only thing that keeps me watching his films, TBH.

It was quite interesting to hear about the whole Centre Axis Relock shooting style he uses, when chatting with some American friends. They were thrilled that a film featured such a thing so prominently.
 
Loved the first one. Just got back from this, and quite honestly I'm a pretty disappointed.

  1. Felt far far too mechanical. I get the John Wick is the best, but it's just "5 random guys pop up from off screen and John shoots their knees then their head. Repeat 10 times for the next group of incompetent lackies"
  2. Would've liked more hand-to-hand stuff if they too didn't feel too mechanical and samey. Every fight seemed to be very jiu jitsu heavy, so it would've been nice to see a bit more variety in the martial arts used. There's a Korean movie called "The Man From Nowhere" which has brilliant melee fights with variety.
  3. John has a magical suit which makes him invincible. Other than a "oof, that had a kick" reaction, there is no sense of peril or danger, because he gets shot many times and just goes on like nothing happened.
  4. The whole world is out to get him, and yet not one person can sneak off a headshot to end him? Obviously that would be kind of pointless and end the movie, but at the same time you just have to think "are all these so-called assassins really that incompetent?" and kills the suspension of disbelief
  5. This is a personal nitpick, but I find mirror room showdowns gimmicky and overdone.


Overall 3/5.
 
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ttaskmaster said:
It was quite interesting to hear about the whole Centre Axis Relock shooting style he uses
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Screen Junkies did an interview with the directors whilst they all watched the John Wick Honest Trailer and they were asked about his particular gun hold style (during the club shootout) and instead of talking about CAR the directors didn't really seem to have much of a clue and talked about wanting to see a more "kinetic" style like he was stabbing his enemies with his gun. I took it from that point on that Keanu brought all the gun fighting techniques along from his training and the directors just agreed that, whatever it was, it looked cool :D
 
ianh said:
I took it from that point on that Keanu brought all the gun fighting techniques along from his training and the directors just agreed that, whatever it was, it looked cool :D
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TBH, I'd have expected it to be the senior fight choreographers' choice, to come up with something that matched whatever "looks cool on film" visual requirements the directors had.... However, Reeves does say:
"I’ve had some movie gun training in the past, so some of the techniques I was familiar with, but each character I play requires something different so I worked for a while with a gentleman from LAPD SWAT. I also worked with a guy from the army, because I would be doing different kinds of weapon and tactical techniques. So it was basically reacquainting myself with weapons and techniques while training new things on the job and trying to get it right under the circumstances. One thing I needed to get right was a tricky holster!"... so maybe he did have a hand in that.
 
So now, I've a theory about this franchise...

We're reminded at the start of this film that John Wick famously once killed three men...with a pencil!
And later on, what happens but he kills three men with a pencil! I clapped! Except I didn't clap, I groaned.

BUT THEN I got to thinking, it can't be that cheap! Note, this is the part of the film where the director also intercuts one fight with another, clearly they take place separately in time, but they're cut together for some or other reason, maybe it's just to add a little variety to what's becoming a grind by this point, but maybe there's more to it...

How about this: the pencil incident that we witness is in fact the famous incident referred to earlier? How could that be? I propose that Chapter 3 will get a little Inception and Matrix on us. The nature of reality in the first two films will be revealed to be not what it seems.

In the third book in the Ring trilogy, things get very weird, but it does hang together if you go with it. I think we might see something similar with Chapter 3.
 
Saw it last night an enjoyed it. I'm all for suspension of belief in these kind of movies but I did start to struggle with the volume of beatings, bullets and being run over by cars that he took and carried on with nothing but a limp. Ah well, still entertaining.
 
Mak3R said:
Saw it last night an enjoyed it. I'm all for suspension of belief in these kind of movies but I did start to struggle with the volume of beatings, bullets and being run over by cars that he took and carried on with nothing but a limp. Ah well, still entertaining.
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I'm going with this TBH. I enjoyed Chapter 2. Wasn't as good as the first, and it got more than a bit OTT, but still entertaining.

6/10
 
Saw this last night and was well entertained by it, not as good as the first one but certainly not the disappointment some people found it to be, will be a bluray purchase for sure.
 
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