The biggest twist in movie history could have happened in this film, John Wick could have turned to Laurence Fishbourne and said to him, ‘dude, none of this seems real,’ and Fishbourne could have replied with, ‘John, your real name is Neo, and this is the Matrix.’ The audience would have lost their shit, and all that has happened would make perfect sense, like the weird organisation that uses old school telephones to get people taken out, the unrealistic society where almost everyone is a hitman and John like Neo has perfect aim, a man who does not die or age.
I saw this movie with my wife who had never seen the first one, and she turned to me and said, this is like a video game; Keanu was taking people out, getting strikes with every shot he took, no-one had a chance and because of this, the film started feeling like Keanu was unbeatable, and if a character is unbeatable then there’s no drama and the film maybe nice to watch, but there is no tension or stakes, because you know Keanu is going to ballerina bullet his way out easily.
The storyline is convoluted, using Wick universe mythology to get him back into the cabal to do something and then towards the end it appears that the entire world is against him. The only okayish adversary he had was Common, but even he didn’t survive. It was all choreographed brilliantly but without the tension, ‘the hurt locker tension’ as I call it was never there.
The action set pieces were choreographed brilliantly, the effort that Keanu and the team put into keeping everything within the frame without the Taken 3 editing was a breath of fresh air, and whilst watching you were in awe of how they did it, but unfortunately despite all the wonderful set pieces and hours that went into getting them perfect, the film suffered from a lack of investment. The film’s set pieces in Italy and some of the actors acting choices, made it feel like a vampire film which 100 percent would have made it a better film.
The film was like watching your mate who’s brilliant at a shoot em up game, going through the levels, reloading, taking out opponents whilst eating a meal with a knife and fork, it was that easy for him. Keanu’s cuts and bruising were there to show us the audience he was getting hurt but really, after a thousand bullets and punches you’re going to end up with a bit more than a scratch, he does get stabbed but the pain he feels from this is unrealistic, if you’re going to portray injuries inefficiently and irrationally then write it out of the story.
The film like Keanu’s suit was too clean cut – like an advertisement, nice to look at but you’re never going to buy the product, in this case, you’ll never re-watch it, unless you’re demonstrating to someone your new television and sound system.
John Wick 2, could have been the best film of the year if Fishbourne, muttered the phrase, ‘Neo, this is The Matrix.’
3/5
