was anyone else annoyed at how the movie almost crosses the line between a serious action flick and a parody at some points? Yeah, I know the first one was also like that, but in this case there were some moments where I either had to suspend my disbelief quite a bit, or it was too much on the nose.
Examples:
- Almost everything about the interactions between John and Cassian, like when they were shooting at each other with the silenced guns, the knife fight in the train(seriously, nobody screamed or tried to run away while it was happening?).
- Some characters, like the Sommelier("Do enjoy your party, Mr. Wick *winkwink*") and everything about Lawrence Fishburne.
- The opening scene with Tarasov's reactions to the noise.
Whereas in the first movie the ridiculousness was kept mostly around how durable John is. Now I worry about the third one.
It's obvious they'll expand on the internals of the organisation even more, and that might lead to even more of the aforementioned crap.
I think there's enough of a recap that she'd be ok. John Wick does some flashback joints at the beginning of the movie that give you an idea of what's up.
was anyone else annoyed at how the movie almost crosses the line between a serious action flick and a parody at some points? Yeah, I know the first one was also like that, but in this case there were some moments where I either had to suspend my disbelief quite a bit, or it was too much on the nose.
Examples:
- Almost everything about the interactions between John and Cassian, like when they were shooting at each other with the silenced guns, the knife fight in the train(seriously, nobody screamed or tried to run away while it was happening?).
- Some characters, like the Sommelier("Do enjoy your party, Mr. Wick *winkwink*") and everything about Lawrence Fishburne.
- The opening scene with Tarasov's reactions to the noise.
Whereas in the first movie the ridiculousness was kept mostly around how durable John is. Now I worry about the third one.
It's obvious they'll expand on the internals of the organisation even more, and that might lead to even more of the aforementioned crap.
I see what you're saying, but bare in mind the movie is meant to look and feel like a graphic novel come to life (the director himself has said as much). It's not meant to be realistic.
Saw it last night. Maybe it's because I was a high but, I thought it was terrible. Loved the original, but this one was one step too cheesy, the gun action didn't match the first, and the bullet proof vests..... man what the fuck.
The directors said that the coins aren't used like traditional currency. Each coin isn't worth X amount of money. They said it acts like a tip as well as a status symbol. They can tip as much or as little as they want.
Saw the movie again with a friend (he didn't watch the first film) and it was a blast!! Seeing my friend gasp in awe when John does his stuff is refreshing.
The Rome Catacombs shootout is really impressive when you watch it the second time. Watching John switch from his rifle to pistol is pure joy.
Saw the movie again with a friend (he didn't watch the first film) and it was a blast!! Seeing my friend gasp in awe when John does his stuff is refreshing.
The Rome Catacombs shootout is really impressive when you watch it the second time. Watching John switch from his rifle to pistol is pure joy.
I liked it better than the first one actually. The movie may be lighter on story, but the action makes up for it as it is just crazy over the top. I went in without expectations because I honestly thought it would just be a cash-in sequel on the success of the first one. That whole shootout in Rome was just fucking fantastic. Well worth the ticket and one of my personal favourite sequels the later years.
My dad hadn't been to the cinema for years, so figured I'd go with him and watch this movie.
Goddamn it was good. The action is, most of the time, utterly incredible and so much more visceral and riveting than the first movie. Yet, I don't think this one reaches the levels of the first movie. First of all, the Russian opening with a dreadful Stormare could've been left out, there was no need to try to connect back to the movie with a meaningless retcon. Secondly, since the body count is ridiculous the lack of any police pretty much anywhere sticks out even more. And some of the more ridiculous scenes stood out as silly, e.g. (big spoilers)
the silencer shootout between John and Cassian, John's fight with that sumo guy and the very end where Swearengen 'control's the entire crowd.
was anyone else annoyed at how the movie almost crosses the line between a serious action flick and a parody at some points? Yeah, I know the first one was also like that, but in this case there were some moments where I either had to suspend my disbelief quite a bit, or it was too much on the nose.
Examples:
- Almost everything about the interactions between John and Cassian, like when they were shooting at each other with the silenced guns, the knife fight in the train(seriously, nobody screamed or tried to run away while it was happening?).
- Some characters, like the Sommelier("Do enjoy your party, Mr. Wick *winkwink*") and everything about Lawrence Fishburne.
- The opening scene with Tarasov's reactions to the noise.
Whereas in the first movie the ridiculousness was kept mostly around how durable John is. Now I worry about the third one.
It's obvious they'll expand on the internals of the organisation even more, and that might lead to even more of the aforementioned crap.
I completely agree. During the opening scene, I was afraid the movie was going to lean too hard into the jokes.
I liked the first movie's sense of humour. John's durability and his casual and polite demeanour during tense moments (ex. Speaking with Jimmy the officer, the guard at The Red Circle, and any interaction with the Sommelier) were fun. These moments were still tense, atmospheric and serious but the contrast with John's casual behaviour was an underlying humour, not the focus. However many scenes and moments in the second movie, performed strictly as jokes (Ex. mentioned in the quote by KraftyKrankins), and the focus seemed to be on the humour rather than tone with undercurrent of humour.
I wouldnt say on par at all, the action is clearly elevated in every single way. I loved the nightclub scene in 2014 but the Rome concert into catacombs sequence blows it out of the water in every conceivable way for me. You can tell Keanu himself is like 3x better at quick shooting than he was in jw1, you just know the dood trained his ass off to make it look legit.
The catacomb scene alone is worth the price of entry. When Wick picks up the Shotgun he hid earlier, oh man. That was just so good.
Cassian and Ares were dope characters as well. The middle finger during the catacombs scene got me good.
I think I like it more than the first one, honestly. Hard to say why, other than the action was even better. The sound design on the guns was top notch as well.
Here's an interview from Empire Online with director Chad Stahelski. It answers a couple of questions people in this thread were asking, so I thought I'd post it.
3. Despite that final scene, not everyone is an assassin
"Less than 0.5% of the population [are assassins], I would hope! It was probably everybody in that world in Central Park. John Wick just killed more than a hundred people, and [Ian McShanes character] Winston was just laying down. But the people in the final shot in the parks they're not all assassins. You just don't know. I like ambiguity. It's like that Invasion Of The Body Snatchers thing you just don't know."
"People have been annoyed that we didn't explain the gold coins. You know what? I'm probably not gonna. They're currency. You don't explain the dollar bill! Theyre a holdover from the Cold War where you couldn't do denominations. It's more of a membership card. If you don't have a gold coin, that's an identifier. If you pay in gold, they know you're OK, so it serves two purposes. We always approach it from a realistic point-of-view, even though it's completely absurd. We like visual storytelling, so gold coins is an entrance level thing."
