JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2

(2017) How I loved John Wick.  It was insane, violent, over-the-top, mindless fun, and fit perfectly Keanu Reeves block-of-wood acting style.  Looked forward with anticipation to the sequel even as I knew they'd mess it up; happily, John Wick: Chapter 2 meets somewhere in the middle between hope and reality.  After killing about a bazillion people in the first film, Wick (Reeves) comes home to a new dog, just wanting to get back to his life, until old frenemy Santino (Riccardo Scamarcio) crawls out from under his rock to remind John of an old debt.  A debt that, in fact, will not only thrust John Wick back into the old life of a killer he's so desperate to leave behind ... but also a debt that, if he refuses to pay it, means his certain death.  Naturally, Wick refuses so Santino blows up his house, at which time Wick "gets it" - he has no choice - so after putting his new dog in a safe place he fulfills the contract ... only to find a bit of a double-cross when, to cover his tracks, Santino puts out a high-paying hit out on John's ass to every assassin in his Rolodex.  Thus the carnage begins anew, Wick mostly on the defensive this time as the bodies stack up again and the soulless killer cuts a bloody swath toward Santino ... in a sequel that never quite comes up to par to the original.  The mindless fun isn't quite there, the addition of Common as a bodyguard/assassin is nothing more than an annoying distraction - and unfortunately, instead of being a brooding monosyllabic killing machine here, the film actually tries to give Wick some viable dialogue that allows Reeves a chance to ... "act" instead of just be.  A serviceable sequel, but overall unnecessary and without the visceral glee of number one. (rated R)  6/10 stars