Just as badass as the original, John Wick Chapter 2 is another two hours of Keanu Reeves kicking butt and not letting things like stab wounds, gunshots and sumo wrestler assassins slow him down--all resulting in what will certainly be considered one of the best action movies of the year.

If you were concerned that the original was lightning in a bottle and that a sequel would be just like so many other action sequels--bigger and lamer--don’t be. Chapter 2 is slick, stylish and violent in all the right ways.

The movie does start off a bit rough--returning director Chad Stahelski drops us into the middle of a car/motorcycle chase that results in a bunch of anonymous death as John Wick attempts to retrieve his stolen car, but this re-introduction to the character is so sudden and lacking context it takes a few minutes to figure out what’s going on.

But it doesn’t really matter. That’s the pre-title sequence.

From a plot perspective, John Wick Chapter 2 doesn’t exactly push boundaries--thankfully, his new dog doesn’t get killed this time around--but Stahelski does a good job of expanding his world of assassins while remaining true to what fans want: Keanu Reeves kicking butt and not letting things like stab wounds, gunshots and sumo wrestler assassins slow him down.

Stahelski, working from a screenplay by Derek Kolstad, does the necessary plot-building to get to the good stuff: several long, impressively staged action sequences where John Wick kills people in increasingly creative and brutal ways. The audience audibly gasped and giggled at several of Wick’s brutal takedowns, a clear sign that John Wick Chapter 2 wasn’t just going through the motions.

John Wick Chapter 2 is an absolute blast of a film: exciting, action-packed and fun as hell.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.