The saga of John Wick continues with “John Wick: Chapter 2”, the sequel to the acclaimed 2014 fan favorite hit that not only brought Keanu Reeves back to the mainstream, but brought his titular character back into the fold as the boogeyman who sought bloody retribution against the men who broke into his house, beat him and left him for dead, stole his vintage Mustang, and killed the dog that his late wife Helen left him as a present.
Now comes “the man, the myth, the legend” in “John Wick: Chapter 2” with Wick in Rome, one of the cities that is well-known for love and romance. After all, the film is scheduled for February 10, 2017, a few days before Valentine’s Day. But Rome is also well-known for the legendary Colosseum fight between the “Lone Wolf” known as Chuck Norris and the “Dragon” known as Bruce Lee in 1972’s “Way of the Dragon”. And a fight is what John Wick will bring in Rome with a fistful of guns — against a fistful of guns.
“John Wick: Chapter 2” is “the One” that reunites Keanu with Laurence Fishburne.
“You’re not very good at retiring”, Fishburne’s character told Wick.
“I’m working on it,” Wick said.
John Wick, though, can’t retire any more than these onscreen tough guys: Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), the ex-spy with a “particular set of skills” from the “Taken” films”; “24”‘s Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), the ex-fugitive/ex-agent/trained assassin/soldier/hero who continues to live another bad day after another in saving the world from global terrorism; ex-spy turned Batman in the Suit John Reese (Jim Caviezel) from CBS’ “Person of Interest”, and “The Equalizer” with Oscar winner Denzel Washington, as well as the original series that influenced “POI” with Edward Woodward as Robert McCall, a former covert operative who has the tools – and skills – that are needed to help people fix their problems against the corrupt and powerful.
Maybe it is time John Wick to get out of the assassin business and go into the business of becoming an avenger-for-hire: a cross between Batman and “The Equalizer”, enforcing his own brand of vigilante justice against the criminal underworld.