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Unexpected sequel ‘John Wick 2’ sets up possible franchise

February 18, 2017

Last year, Ben Affleck fortuitously landed a career-high role as a savant math whiz/ninja-like assassin in “The Accountant.” Just one year prior, Keanu Reeves uncovered an equally satisfying role from an equally implausible setup as retired hitman “John Wick.”

“Wick” closely aligns with “The Accountant” in its supremely silly setup. In Wick’s case, it was deceitfully simple: retired hitman returns from retirement to get back his stolen car and avenge the death of his dog.

It seemed as laughable as Affleck’s strip-mall accountant-by-day, super-sniper-by-night character, but they both worked due to expert crafting of their tales and dedicated performances by their respective leads. Each film initially appeared to provide generic entertainment within the shell of another anonymous action flick, but surprisingly, each delivered far more than we anticipated.

Wick returns in the simply named “John Wick: Chapter 2,” which picks up almost immediately after the first film left its audience. Wick is immediately reunited with his 1969 Mustang from a Russian overlord (played with camp-ish glee by Peter Stormare) and gives us just enough backstory to bring the uninitiated up to speed.

Just as Wick once again attempts to seal his past, a knock at his door pulls him right back into the action. A shady Italian dude asks Wick to make good on a former blood oath and assassinate a member about to take a seat at the High Table, an equally shady international organization that (apparently) truly runs the world. After Wick receives a little coaxing at the business end of an RPG that levels his house (don’t worry, his new dog survives), he’s off to Italy to complete the task.

Of course, this lands him on a global bounty list and makes him a target for essentially every covert operative within a wide radius, including his New York City home, where Wick must weave through all who want to collect (which seems about every third person he passes). He seeks asylum with an underground group masking as street vagrants, led by someone named The Bowery King. The King is played by Laurence Fishburne, who makes a welcome cameo to reunite with his “Matrix” buddy Reeves.

Given that the first “Wick” film ended without a hint of a sequel (and perhaps none was initially planned), the second installment could have easily felt like a tacked-on cash-grab. Chad Stahelski, a former stuntman who made his directing debut with the first film, once again relies heavily on his past, staging astoundingly complex action sequences that are chaotic but never confusing. His reliance on actual action over quick editing enhances the immediacy of the thrills, of which there are many.

Reeves once again allows his stoic exterior to mask inner demons in a way that is as iconic as Neo was in “The Matrix” almost two decades ago. Once again, he’s handed a character that plays to his strengths (and sidesteps his weaknesses) as an actor.

The world envisioned in “Chapter 2” may have been an afterthought following the first film’s success, but it opens a Pandora’s Box of potential dangers for Wick in future installments. And, refreshingly for an action film, they are anxiously awaited.

Now, if they can somehow find a way to get Affleck’s Accountant into the fold....

  • Rob is the head of the English and Communications Department at Delaware Technical Community College, where he teaches film. He is also one of the founders of the Rehoboth Beach Film Society. Email him at filmrob@gmail.com.

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