JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 – Director Cites Hong Kong Influence, Plus New Images

The upcoming John Wick: Chapter 2 seems to be quite the juxtaposition to the original John Wick in terms of marketing. Whereas the first film didn’t even have a trailer until about a month before the film’s release, Lionsgate seems to have taken a completely different approach for its sequel. The film is still several months out from its February release, and we’ve already had a poster and a teaser trailer.

Between now and the film’s release, you can pretty much guarantee they’ll have a few more surprises up their sleeves. Given the success of the first one, you know the studio is taking the extra effort to capitalize on that success. Now, we have a couple new images from the film, courtesy of Empire, along with a few comments from director Chad Stahelski.

The first image, which shows the characters in a hall of mirrors, is an homage to the climax of Bruce Lee’s classic Enter the Dragon.

“The whole installation is a maze of mirrors where guys can pop out and disappear. It’s very cool and a lot of fun to fight in.”

The second image is admittedly less excciting, with John Wick himself walking through the city. It very much looks like an image we’ve seen in the past already, so nothing truly exciting there.

What is exciting, however, is the comment from Stahelski, where he explains the Hong Kong influence of the film. 

Nowadays, we very much live in a post-Jason Bourne world, where quick cuts, shaky-cam, and close-up shots are the norm. In many instances, one swift movement can be covered and cut together from several angles. While this definitely has its place in cinema, there is something a bit more pure about the old-school Hong Kong method more present in the classics.

“You go watch any of the great Hong Kong guys, [you’re watching] wider shots; you’re watching an extremely talented individual. If you’re using fast editing to hide things, I call bullshit. That’s cheating. Luckily, we have a cast member that can do it. Keanu’s been doing martial arts for 25 years. He’s been trained by us, he’s been trained by Yuen Wo Ping. He’s been trained by Chen Yen.”

Indeed while some may call Reeves’ acting credentials into question, the fact is that he knows how to kick ass in a big way, and so long as the role he’s playing intersects with his acting sensibilities, he’s set to give us one hell of a performance. This was true in the first John Wick, and if John Wick: Chapter 2 holds up in the action department, I have little doubt this one can meet expectations.

Are you excited to see John Wick back in action? Let us know your thoughts down below!

John Wick: Chapter 2 hits theaters on February 10, 2017.

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SOURCE: Empire



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