By Adam Miklas
Staff Writer

The first “John Wick” movie was a surprise hit.

A small story about an ex-hitman getting revenge for the death of his puppy and his stolen car turned out to be a very fun action film.

It wasn’t very deep, but it didn’t need to be. It also made more money than anyone expected it to, so of course there would be a sequel.

Taking place not long after the first movie, the film starts out with John Wick, played by Keanu Reeves, getting his car back in the most over-the-top way possible.

He tries to head into retirement permanently when an old favor he needs to complete haunts him.

He refuses, and his house is destroyed because of it. He now has no choice but to fulfill his debt, but the situation is never as simple as that.

This film is a little slower than the first.

While the first film took a while to get going, it never stopped when it got to the action. This film does more character and world building.

Since the rules of a hitman were never really defined in the first movie, this one makes sure to better show the world of John Wick.

It does make for an interesting look into the world of a professional hitman, even if this is purely fictional. It takes its time to explain it, but not by spoonfeeding the audience with exposition.

It explains it by showing the rules, not explicitly telling them, minus a few parts that need to be explained.

However, there is still action, which is just as good if not better than the first.

Wick is clearly a master of Gun-Fu (gun Kung-Fu) and manages to pull off some incredible acts of violence.

The choreography is very well done and moves fast enough where it looks cool, but not so fast that you can’t tell what’s going on. Speaking of that, there are little to no jumps cuts in the action scenes.

Too many action movies use shaky cam and extreme close ups in action scenes, which make them look intense, but you can’t see what is happening.

Like the first movie, this one has the camera pulled back so you can clearly see everything. There are cuts here or there, but it’s more for a stylistic reason.

However, while the action is fun, it does get a bit ridiculous.

Wick, a 50-year-old man, can do things and survive attacks that people in their 20s could barely do.

It makes for entertaining scenes, but not very believable ones.

This movie is not just serious killing every two seconds either, as there is humor in it, albeit dark humor.

The movie is not too deep or complex (basically everyone is a villain, even Wick), but if you can engross yourself in the slow moments and turn your suspension of disbelief off, you have a very fun, action-packed story of revenge here.

Email Adam at:
amiklas@live.esu.edu