In the mythology of “John Wick,” for example, elite assassins lurk everywhere - in the guise of street people and subway musicians, as well as the ninja-like executioners in bespoke suits who roam the streets. That’s where his screenwriter, Derek Kolstad, comes in.Īkoni (Chukwudi Iwuji), left, and Cassian (Common) in “John Wick: Chapter 2.” (Niko Tavernise/Lionsgate)Īs he did with the first “Wick,” Kolstad has created a fictional universe in “Chapter 2” that is just recognizable enough to be persuasive. He has a real genius for action, but not much else. So does the plot from the first film, essentially: Instead of a Russian mobster, John is pitted against an Italian killer (Riccardo Scamarcio), who has once again forced the film’s antihero out of retirement.įranchise director Chad Stahelski is a former movie stuntman and stunt coordinator, who worked with Reeves on “The Matrix” and its sequels. John Leguizamo also returns in a cameo as John’s mechanic. In the first 15 minutes, he gets it back, immediately proceeding to trash it in the process of killing a parade of goons, with the same kind of creativity demonstrated by his flair for the Faber-Castell No. As “Chapter 2” opens, John has a new pup, but his car is still missing. There was something compulsively watchable about the first “Wick,” which had a mesmerizing intensity - at once noirish and cartoonish - despite the superficial monotony of its plot: a supremely single-minded revenge mission by a retired hit man (Reeves) against the Russian mobster (Alfie Allen) who had killed his dog and stolen his beloved 1969 Ford Mustang. For the last time, dude: Where’s my car? Keanu Reeves, as the antihero of “John Wick: Chapter 2,” finds and then totals his vintage Mustang.