Oh, John Wick. I can’t type that name without feeling a slight pang of guilt. This was a film that I had pretty much dismissed upon hearing a synopsis coupled with the name Keanu Reeves. Now, I’m not a Keanu Reeves hater, but most of his movies just aren’t for me, and the actor had a tendency to sign on for roles for which he was woefully unfit. In retrospect, I feel like quite the idiot, as John Wick turned out to be one of the bigger surprises for me back in 2014.

Somehow, the film managed to make me believe that this guy would kill for his murdered pet. It’s a dumb-sounding, silly premise…but man did it work for me. What’s more is that I bought Keanu Reeves in his role, and in light of this role, I’ve actually managed to look back at his filmography and appreciate some of the other characters he’s played based on his very specific skill set (no, that does not include his role in Bram Stoker’s Dracula). 

On the whole, it may have been the general mythology of the film that worked so well, including the questions fans had surrounding the Continental Hotel, which serves as sort of a neutral sanctuary in which all assassins can stay. 

Speaking with EW, John Wick: Chapter 2’s director Chad Stahelski discussed how hungry fans were for more information about that hotel.

“People kept asking us in the year after the movie came out, ‘We’d like to see more about the hotel,’ ‘We’d like to see more about all the different characters.’ ‘What is this underworld where everyone’s the best?’”

Stahelski promised that there would be more for fans to enjoy, and that the movie would find John Wick dealing with the consequences of the many men he murdered in the first film.

Stahelski continued:

“What’s it like to be in a world like this? That’s what we really wanted to expand on. Me and the other creators on the show, my partner and the other producers, the biggest attraction to us about filmmaking really is creating a universe, and creating a world, and creating a little bit of escape. That’s really what we focused on and we’re hoping that’s what comes across in the second movie.”

In addition to the plot info, Stahelski mentioned that Laurence Fishburne would be in the film and that his connection with the actor goes back as far as the Matrix Trilogy, where Stahelski worked as a stuntman and stunt coordinator. 

“I loved working with him. So we made a call and he was more than gracious and more than willing to come help.

[…]

“Laurence’s character, we just call him ‘The Bowery King,’”

Stahelski did not embellish on that titled, sadly, but he did have one other piece of crucial information to share. As mentioned above, I loved the first film for many reasons, and in regards to the movie’s quality, it certainly didn’t hurt that the “gun-fu” action was so spot-on. Luckily for us, we can not only expect more action in the sequel, but from the sound of it, a lot more than was even in the first film.

“I would say we had twice as much action as the first movie. We took it all a full notch up as far as the driving car stuff went. A great portion of the car chase in the opening of the film is Keanu, which is very impressive.”

Let’s hope the action isn’t so extensive that it becomes mindless, but I’ll wait until the film’s release before I start judging it.

What do you think? Do the director’s comments make you feel any better about John Wick: Chapter 2? Let us know in the comments down below!

SOURCE: EW

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