John Wick: Chapter 2 Blu-ray delivers truly amazing video and audio in this exceptional Blu-ray release
Legendary hit man John Wick is forced back out of retirement by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins' guild. Bound by a blood oath to help him, John travels to Rome, where he squares off against some of the world's deadliest killers.
For more about John Wick: Chapter 2 and the John Wick: Chapter 2 Blu-ray release, see John Wick: Chapter 2 Blu-ray Review published by Jeffrey Kauffman on June 3, 2017 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.5 out of 5.
As covered in even one of the supplements adorning the Blu-ray release of John Wick: Chapter 2, John Wick was a rather unexpected sensation when it was released in 2014,
reinvigorating Keanu Reeves' career and providing action adventure junkies with a pretty steady supply of adrenaline pumping sequences. Some
curmudgeons (ahem) found some elements in the first film to quibble with (receiving lots of disparaging messages for their trouble, it
might
be added), but even those dunderheads (ahem) couldn't help but appreciate the breathless quality to the virtually nonstop array of fight scenes, all
choreographed to within an inch of various participants' teeth by co-directors Chad Stahelski and an uncredited David Leitch, both of whom earned
their stripes (and/or bruises, as the case may be) in the stunt industry, experience which was more than apparent in John Wick's
astounding
array of set pieces. John Wick: Chapter 2 picks up from more or less literally where the first film left off, with an extremely
angry
John on the hunt for his epic Mustang Mach 1, which he finds in a chop shop being run by Abram Tarasov (Peter Stormare), part of the Russian
gang
which ran afoul of Wick in the first film. Suffice it to say, Wick marauds through a cartwheeling series of attackers as he attempts to reclaim his
car,
all while Tarasov listens with an increasingly frightened and/or resigned look on his face from his locked office. Neither the Mustang nor Wick
himself
make it through the carnage unscathed, but in an interesting moment that recalls the first film's depiction of Wick attempting at least to lead an
ordinary life, once Wick finally makes it to Tarasov's lair, he shares a shot of vodka with the hoodlum, toasting potential "peace". Yeah, right.
Now it's
notable that this frenetic sequence all unfolds for fourteen minutes or so before the film's credits are trotted out, perhaps one indication that even
Stahelski, who's back on board as director, knows where the fans want to see John Wicknamely in the center of an action adventure whirlwind,
kind
of like the eye of a hurricane.
One of the sidebars to that opening sequence is a moment of apparently intentional humor, something that the first film was in short supply of,
when
Tarasov
laments to one of his henchmen that all of the mishegos the Tarasov clan has been experiencing is because they were stupid enough to
mess
with Wick's car and (deceased) dog. As I mentioned in our John
Wick
Blu-ray review, the whole "dead wife and dog" angle, while understandable in terms of giving the character motivation and providing at least
a
modicum of a humanizing element, struck me as needlessly maudlin, especially when it was obvious the whole point of John Wick was to
simply see the character kick some serious butt. The over serious depiction of these supposedly traumatizing events has been largely dropped in
this
follow up, as evidenced by Tarasov's kind of cheeky commentary on his gang's "issues", and in my estimation that's a very smart evolution in
screenwriter Derek Kolstad's approach toward this evident franchise.
Now that's not to say that this film doesn't have its own stumbling blocks, albeit probably fairly minor ones. The biggest one is a
completely
needless episode that introduces Italian gangster Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), who shows up at Wick's gorgeous ultra modern mansion
to
collect on a "marker" that D'Antonio had gotten from Wick back in the day when Wick was trying to get out of the hitman business so that he could
forge a normal life with his wife Helen. In a series of events that is rote at best and pretty hackneyed at worst, Wick of course demurs to help
D'Antonio's request for "help", leading D'Antonio to destroy Wick's home on the spot. Then Wick turns to mentor Winston (Ian McShane), who
tells
Wick that a marker's a marker and that Wick has no choice but to honor it. That then leads to another interchange with
D'Antonio,
where Wick tacitly agrees to perform the requested task, which it turns out is killing D'Antonio's sister Gianna D'Antonio (Claudia Gerini). Now,
some
inquiring minds may want to know what exactly the whole initial scene between Wick and D'Antonio served to provide the story other than a
chance
to have a luxe mansion go up in flames.
Suffice it to say that plans don't go, well, according to plan, leaving John in desperate straits once the true levels of D'Antonio's villainy are revealed
(wanting to have his sister killed is only the tip of this particular iceberg). As with the first film, once the pieces have been set into place, Stahelski
simply flicks the first domino (so to speak), leading to a cascading series of awesomely staged fight scenes as John has to take on one adversary after
another. There's an obvious tip o' the hat to the famous closing sequence of Orson Welles' The Lady from Shanghai, with a fantastic scene that is very similar to the hall of mirrors sequence in the
Welles film, but which offers a near hallucinatory level of color. (Kind of weirdly, another film I just reviewed, Jacques Rivette's Duelle, had another visual reference to the Welles filmsee
screenshot 10 of that review for a little clue.)
The subtext of John Wick: Chapter 2 might well be something along the lines of "those who live by the rules die by the rules," with John
circumventing some of the assassin's creed (so to speak) leading to pretty calamitous consequences. I'm not quite sure what I think about Laurence
Fishburne's character of The Bowery Lord, who kind of comes off like Morpheus appearing as Franz Liebkind in The Producers, but otherwise the film offers some nicely done supporting roles for
everyone from Common as one of D'Antonio's bodyguards to Franco Nero, manager of Rome's Continental Hotel, where all the best hitmen stay. As
with the first film, the story may not ultimately offer incredible depth, but it certainly supports one of the most fearsome assortments of set pieces in
recent film history.
John Wick: Chapter 2 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. As with the first film,
this outing was "captured by Alexa", as the closing credits helpfully inform. This is one stunning looking transfer, one that has little to none of the severe
green color grading that did admittedly make the first film's appearance so striking but which also tended to rob at least some scenes of fine detail. There
is still grading going on here, often quite aggressively, but detail levels are uniformly high and absolutely exceptional when lighting regimens allow and
especially when close-ups are employed. When not overtly graded, the palette looks natural and quite vivid. Some of the scenes have a near psychedelic
quality, including the great showdown in the "hall of mirrors", and the palette offers really impressive saturation in these moments. Despite long
stretches of relatively dark material, there are no real problems with inherent video noise or any compression anomalies.
John Wick: Chapter 2 continues the first film's overwhelming sonic tendencies with another blisteringly effective Dolby Atmos track. From the
first seconds of the movie, when an incredible chase between Wick and a motorcyclist offers a near riot of panning sounds and LFE, it's clear this film is
going for the gusto in a major way with respect to sound design. There are moments of relative calm here, as in John's brief moment of peace at his
house with his new (nameless) dog, but even here there's nice pinpoint placement of ambient environmental effects. Both in the hand to hand combat
scenes as well as tangential elements like the explosion that takes out John's house, the mix offers constant immersion, top notch fidelity and impressive
dynamic range.
Audio Commentary with Keanu Reeves and Director Chad Stahelski
Deleted Scenes (1080p; 8:05) have timecode and other data at the bottom in the black bar section.
Retro Wick: Exploring the Unexpected Success of John Wick (1080p; 4:34) looks at the phenomenal excitement the first film
generated.
Training John Wick (1080p; 12:00) has some fun looks at fight choreography being developed.
Wick-vizzed (1080p; 5:13) has more candid rehearsal footage in support of a focus on pre-viz.
Friends, Confidantes: The Keanu/Chad Partnership (1080p; 9:54) is an appealing look at the longstanding friendship between the two
(Stahelski was Reeves' stunt double before going into directing).
As Above, So Below: The Underworld of John Wick (1080p; 5:06) takes a look at the assassin's lifestyle.
Car Fu Ride-Along (1080p; 4:44) looks at the several Mustangs they used, which perhaps gives vintage car lovers hopes that some of
them at least escaped without a scratch.
Chamber Check: Evolution of a Fight Scene (1080p; 10:08) has yet more fight choreography footage and in fact seems to be
documenting more than one fight scene, unless one simply takes the entire film as one long extended fight scene, which isn't that far fetched of a
perception.
Wick's Toolbox (1080p; 8:14) explores some of Wick's many weapons.
A Museum Tour with Sir Jonathan Wick (1080p; 2:11) takes place at the modern art gallery in Rome where Sir Jonathan has evidently
morphed into an Italian woman.
Kill Count (1080p; 3:09) recaps all of the kills in the film. Spoiler alert: there are a lot of them.
Dog Wick Short (1080p; 1:37) is a faux trailer.
Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:40)
Note: This is the first disc in a long time I simply could not get to load on my PC drive, where I use the frequently glitchy PowerDVD.
This second chapter in the John Wick saga still has a series of events which defy logic, but this film has at least the hint of a sense of humor at times and
it also has an easier time overcoming any narrative deficits simply because the set pieces are so staggeringly effective. I got quite a bit of heat from
various readers here when I didn't give John Wick an out and out rave, but maybe John's manic moves have finally kicked some sense into me.
Highly recommended.
John Wick: Chapter 2: Other Editions
4K
2-disc set $11.99
4K SteelBook
2-disc set Best Buy
SteelBook
2-disc set $25.50
SteelBook
2-disc set Best Buy
Blu-ray
2-disc set Target
Blu-ray
2-disc set Wal-Mart
Blu-ray
2-disc set Wal-Mart
Blu-ray
2-disc set Wal-Mart
Blu-ray
2-disc set Wal-Mart
Blu-ray Bundles/Box Sets with John Wick: Chapter 2 (10 bundles)
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Lionsgate Home Entertainment will release on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray Chad Stahelski's film John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019), starring starring Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, John Leguizamo, and Lance Reddick. The two releases will be available ...
Lionsgate Films has provided us with the official new domestic trailer for John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019), starring Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, John Leguizamo, and Lance Reddick. Currently, the film is set to open in theaters across ...
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