John Wick 2 (2017)

First thing’s first - if you are in any way squeamish around blood, do not see this film. I’m usually okay with graphic scenes but there was no shortage of cringe-worthy moments in John Wick 2 (2017). Despite the dark atmosphere, everyone in the theater could be seen turning their heads away from the screen at one point or another. I’m not complaining, though, as I’d rather watch a movie that shows the reality of death rather than a flick that portrays it through rose-colored glasses.

Overall, John Wick 2 ticked all the boxes. It wasn’t amazing, in my opinion, but it was good. What I admired most was that it displayed the protagonist as maybe not being in the best shape of his life. What we know from his backstory is that he was revered as an assassin known by the moniker “The Boogeyman” for his ability to complete the hardest kills without leaving a trace. However, as he falls prey to the toll of time, you can see how physically taxing each kill has become. Because of this, the character felt more human to me, and that’s sometimes a hard quality to come by in such hysterically fictitious plots.

On the other hand, there does exist the possibility of compromising a storyline if a character is too weak. Take, for instance, Liam Neeson in Taken 3 (2015). At the time of filming, Neeson would have been around 63 years old - a hard age to be playing such a physically-demanding character. At some points, his inability to keep up with the demands of the role were borderline pitiful, which totally detracts from the believability of the plot.

However, when compared to other action-packed films such as The Bourne Identity (2002) where you see the protagonist in those flicks going non-stop without breaking a sweat, the likes of John Wick 2 (and even Taken 3) are more digestible. It’s almost too unrealistic to the point where you want to shout “Oh come on! You just got shot and now you’re swan diving off a 100-story building?!” I admired that John Wick was susceptible to injury, and I appreciated every action scene more knowing what kind of pain the character must have been feeling in that moment.

Speaking of action scenes, there were a few things that I couldn’t help but notice during the movie that just seemed... odd. For instance, John Wick would be putting a man in a headlock using his feet and then shooting the man straight through the head. But common sense would dictate that, no matter which way he shot his target, he would’ve undoubtedly shot himself in the foot (no pun intended). It was incongruous scenes like this that unfortunately distracted me enough from the scene to snap me back to reality.

That’s not to say that I didn’t find anything interesting in this film. On the contrary, I actually found myself very curious about the whole underground assassin arc and would love to see that developed more. There seem to be so many fascinating facets to this mysterious world of killers. Take the gold coins, for example - what’s the story behind those? Or the “Continental Grounds” that are sacrosanct to every assassin - why/how were they erected? I think elaborating on these topics would really add to the storyline as a whole and it’s something I am especially looking forward to in any upcoming sequels.