John Wick: Chapter 2

You remember John Wick, don't you?

Deadliest hitman in the business until he gave it up. Loved his wife until she died. Loved the puppy she bought him until it was killed by some home-invading punks. Got revenge by killing everyone who got in his way. Yeah, that guy.

It's been a few years since Keanu Reeves reminded us all of his badass bona fides by playing the titular Mr Wick in the 2014 action movie that became something of a surprise hit. But Hollywood has never let a talented trigger finger lay idle for too long, and so we have John Wick: Chapter 2, which gives Reeves another reason to load up and start shooting.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a good reason, just as long as it gets John armed and dangerous once again. This time around, it's not payback driving John Wick. Getting out of the assassination game back in the day required a favour from crime boss Santino (Ricardo Scamarcio), as well as an assurance that John would stay retired.

John killing everyone in sight in the first film broke the agreement, and now Santino is calling in his favour. He wants his sister Gianna (Claudia Gerini) rubbed out so he can rise through the underworld ranks. And while John is reluctant to do the job, refusal to comply equals certain death. The thing is, John's a walking target anyway, with Gianna's bodyguard Cassian (Common) and Santino's mute trigger-woman Ares (Ruby Rose) hot on his trail.

Let's be honest, though: it's not so much why John goes about his bloody business in Chapter 2 as how he goes about it that really grabs the audience's attention. Admittedly, it was a grimly funny joke in the first John Wick that our hero racked up a big body count as he avenged a dead puppy. But it was really the long and beautifully choreographed scenes of gunplay, and the elegantly brutal way Reeves moved through them, that helped set the movie apart.    

The byzantine rules and customs of Wick's world - with its gold-coin currency and swanky hotels catering exclusively to the hitman crowd — provided some interesting texture the first time around, but Chapter 2 dwells on it just a little too long at the expense of keeping the action moving forward steadily and speedily, even with the welcome presence of accomplished supporting players like Ian McShane and Reeves' old Matrix mate Laurence Fishburne.

Still, when Reeves activates his arsenal and takes on a single opponent in the streets of Rome or a squad of adversaries in a hall of mirrors, Chapter Two gets a jolt of energy and reminds its audience of what a fascinatingly lethal character this sometimes underrated actor makes John Wick.

The only person onscreen who really gives him a run for his money is Rose's silent but deadly Ares. Unburdened by dialogue, the Aussie actress reveals herself as a charismatic and capable physical performer — not unlike a certain Mr Reeves early in his career, in fact.