5 Star

Bullets ‘N’ knives and People to Kill.

Here it is folks, the eagerly awaited sequel to the action packed first instalment of the assassin John Wick. Directed by Chad Stahelski (John Wick) this is his second directing role and he uses his extensive stunt filled background to bring us this adrenalin fuelled gun-fu masterpiece.

It is just four days since the events of the first film and he is still fuelled with anger about the death of his dog and the theft of his beloved 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1. We first see a dropped motorbike on the wet streets of New York. It is quickly picked up and speeds off just as John Wick (Keanu Reeves, The Matrix, Speed, Much Ado About Nothing) drifts around the corner in his borrowed muscle car. A high speed chase ensues through the wet congested streets as the bike gives him the slip and he has to take a detour before he catches up and spectacularly brings the rider down and and takes a key card from his jacket.

Meanwhile at Tasarov Imports, owner Abram Tasarov (Peter Stormare, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters) explains to his lackey why you don’t want to have John Wick as an enemy and you just can’t get rid of the man that is a legend. After John uses the key card to get into the chop shop, Abram gets a phone call from John regarding him having his car.

“Here comes the Boogeyman!”

“Whatever you hear about this man is watered down!”

John makes his way through the massive building. As Tasarov’s men fill cars with money and gold coins and oil drums with bars of gold, he finds his car and fires it up. What happens is carnage as Tasarov’s men are alerted and use their cars and taxi’s to smash into Johns car. There are many smashes and crashes and hand fights as John battles to get away. With all the men dispatched he heads up to Abram’s office, he pours two drinks and hands on to Abram and says “peace”. John goes back into retirement.

He limps his smashed car home then phones Aurelio (John Leguizamo, Romeo + Juliet) to get his car fixed, he plays with his new dog, (which is really well trained for a young dog). Being back in retirement, John packs away his work gear and concretes it back over in his cellar. Just as he finishes, the doorbell rings. He opens the door to find Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio, Loose Cannons), the Italian crime lord standing there surrounded by his men.

What he wants is for John to honour the marker he made with Santino so that he could do his “impossible task” which allowed him to marry Helen. This ‘Marker’ is a blood oath that cannot be refused. Santino wants to rise in power and get on the ‘High Table’ of crime Lords. To do this he needs his sister out of the way and it is this that John is tasked with, but John is in retirement and refuses the Marker. Santino is not happy with this but leaves John’s house. But a Bload oath is just that and Santino exacts his vengeance by blowing up John’s house with a grenade launcher.

Homeless, John and his dog head for the Continental hotel and he asks to see the manager. Upstairs Winston (Ian McShane, Pirates of the Caribbean) explains to John  the folly of not completing the ‘Marker’.

So John heads for Rome and the Continental there, he spends his time outfitting himself and his arsenal to take on his mark Gianna D’Antonio (Claudia Gerini, The Passion of Christ). What follows is a total tour de force as John does his wet work and we are treated to that visual delight. But as we know in these films that it is never plain sailing as the twists and turns are filled with people and their guns. Ace.

“You Don’t Want Me Owing You!”

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