John Wick: Chapter 2

Let me start by saying that I loved the first John Wick film to pieces. It was surprising to watch, with an energy level that you just don’t often see in American action movies, and with a creativity in its violence that made it a visceral thrill to watch. So how’s Chapter 2? I was disappointed. It started off great, with a fantastic car action sequence that was on par with what we’d seen in the first film. But then things slowed down, and when the action picked up again, it just felt like rinse-and-repeat, I just became used to it, and so it lost its urgency — it just felt like more of what I’d seen him done before, but more often, and to more people. I can also appreciate what they’ve done with expanding the film’s “universe” (the rules of how things work, on a global scale), but at the same time, I preferred the smaller stakes of the first film (I did like the idea of an office of tattooed women who take care of the bureaucracy of this world in an old-school manner). At this point, I can’t say I’m especially excited at the prospect of watching a 3rd chapter.