With its worldwide gross of $88 million, 2014’s John Wick didn’t seem like a movie for which a sequel would become inevitable. However, it didn’t cost much and earned a nice cult following, so 2017’s John Wick: Chapter 2 wound up on theater screens.

In the first film, legendary assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) came out of retirement for a mission of vengeance. Wick hopes to return to the quiet life but soon finds this difficult to achieve.

To fulfill a promise, Wick travels to Italy, where he takes the assignment to kill a member of a powerful assassins guild. A nearly impossible task on its own merits, Wick’s Roman holiday becomes even more complicated when a price on his head sets a slew of mercenaries after him.

Part of the first movie’s charm came from its simplicity. It presented a rudimentary tale of revenge without many bells or whistles, and it executed those elements in a fairly satisfying manner.

With Chapter 2, we get a decidedly plot-heavier affair – or at least a film that wants to create the impression of a complex narrative. With the shift to Italy and the involvement of a feud among siblings connected to the assassins’ hierarchy, we find the roots of a reasonably complicated story here.

All of this ends up as window dressing, however, and somewhat useless window dressing at that. Chapter 2 eventually evolves into over the top action, and the story beats that take us there tend to feel superfluous.

Don’t get me wrong: I feel happy that the filmmakers at least attempted a real plot, and I also appreciate that Chapter 2 doesn’t just remake the first flick. The movie shows a willingness to venture beyond the confines of its predecessor’s world, and I applaud that.

I just wish Chapter 2 evolved into something more satisfying in terms of its story arc. The narrative elements seem perfunctory and feel likely to make the audience impatient to get to the action.

Once the bullets fly, Chapter 2 picks up, though the absence of real purpose makes these moments less impactful than in the prior flick. In that case, we saw Wick on a personal mission, whereas here, he ends up as a gun for hire, so it becomes more difficult to invest in his journey.

Of course, the absurdity of the action can become tough to take, as Wick’s ability to suffer massive amount of punishment and come back for more leaves the bounds of reality. No one comes to a movie like this for realism, though, so silly as these moments can feel, they’re part of the fun.

The inclusion of some new talent helps matters, as the fresh assassins bring engaging characters. Also, I find it hard to complain about the Neo/Morpheus reunion.

These various positives do enough to make Chapter 2 a moderately enjoyable action flick, but it falters a little too much to excel. While a decent follow-up, it doesn’t match with the highs of the first movie.

John Wick: Chapter 2 appears in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. As expected, the movie came with a quality presentation.

For the most part, sharpness worked well. A little softness occasionally hit some wide elements, but the majority of the movie boasted accurate delineation.

No signs of jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I witnessed no instances of edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to mar the proceedings.

To the surprise of no one, Chapter 2 heavily emphasized teal, though it threw out orange, amber, green, red and purple as well. I guess that passes for a “broad palette” these days. The disc replicated the hues as intended, and the disc’s HDR added some impact to the tones.

Blacks seemed dense and deep, while shadows offered appropriate smoothness and clarity. The HDR brought out extra oomph to the whites and contrast. The 4K UHD reproduced the film well.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack added oomph to the proceedings, as the soundscape opened up matters in a positive manner. Music offered nice breadth and filled the channels in a consistent manner.

With a mix of lively scenes, the soundfield offered a lot of chances for fireworks, and it used them well. Gunfire, explosions, car chases – all the usual action components popped up and created an involving impression.

Audio quality appeared good, with speech that came across as natural and distinctive. Effects also seemed accurate and tight, with clear reproduction of these components.

Music worked well, as the songs/score boasted solid range and dimensionality. This became a more than satisfactory track for the film.

How did the 4K UHD compare with the Blu-ray version? Audio remained identical, as both discs sported the same Atmos mix.

Upconverted from a 2K source, the 4K disc offered moderate upgrades. This version seemed a bit better defined, with stronger colors and blacks. This didn’t become a strong step up in quality, but it turned into a more pleasing rendition of the flick.

The disc comes with a slew of extras, and we open with an audio commentary from director Chad Stahelski and actor Keanu Reeves. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific view of story/characters, stunts and action, cast and performances, sets and locations, music, editing and related domains.

If Stahelski and Reeves discussed those topics on a consistent basis, this would become a good commentary. However, they often just praise the movie and its participants or simply narrate the tale. While not the worst commentary I’ve heard, this turns into a dull piece.

Three Deleted Scenes appear: “Aurelio” (4:07), “The Cleaner” (1:53) and “The Vatican” (2:03). All offer some modest character exposition but none of them seem memorable or all that useful.

A bunch of featurettes ensue, and Retro Wick fills four minutes, 34 seconds. It provides comments from Stahelski, Reeves, producers Erica Lee and Basil Iwanyk, executive producer Dave Leitch, and actors Ruby Rose, Common and Laurence Fishburne,

“Retro” looks at the first film’s success and the decision to spawn a sequel. It seems like a superficial overview.

Training John Wick goes for 12 minutes and features Reeves, Stahelski, Iwanyk, Common, Rose, stunt coordinators Darrin Prescott and JJ Perry, stunt double Jackson Spidell, utility stunts Eric Brown, jiu jitsu trainers the Machado Brothers, and stunt double Heidi Moneymaker.

As implied by the title, this reel examines the actors’ stunt/action training. It comes with too much happy talk but it still conveys some decent details.

With WICK-vizzed, we find a five-minute, 13-second piece that gives us notes from Perry, Spidell, Reeves, Stahelski, and Brown. Here we learn about the pre-vis process. Though we find a bit of fluff, the show offers a good array of notes.

Friends, Confidantes goes for nine minutes, 54 seconds and features Reeves, Stahelski, Spidell, Moneymaker, Perry, stunt coordinator Justin Yu and executive producer Jeff C. Waxman.

The featurette covers the long cinematic relationship between Reeves and Stahelski. Inevitably, we get some smoke-blowing, but the clip becomes more informative than expected.

Next comes As Above, So Below, a five-minute, six-second reel with Stahelski, Reeves, Leitch, Iwanyk, Common, Lee, Fishburne, and actor Riccardo Scarmarcio.

“Below” discusses the expanded assassins universe seen in the film. This doesn’t reveal much concrete info you don’t already know from the movie.

Car Fu Ride-Along takes up four minutes, 44 seconds and brings comments from Stahelski, Reeves, Prescott, Brown, Perry, Waxman, Lee, and stunt double Jeremy Fry. It looks at car stunts and becomes a decent take on the topics.

After this we find Chamber Check, a 10-minute, eight-second segment with Reeves, Prescott, Stahelski, Iwanyk, Perry, Spidell, Brown, Lee, Common, Rose, Moneymaker, Yu, production designer Kevin Kavanaugh, actor Oleg Prudius and stuntman Anis Cheurfa.

The show discusses more stunts and action. It becomes reasonably informative.

Wick’s Toolbox lasts eight minutes, 14 seconds and involves Stahelski, Reeves, Spidell, Perry, Yu, Brown, Rican Machado, Fry, shooting trainer Taran Butler, and costume designer Luca Mosca.

Here we cover the weapons Wick uses through the film. We find some useful details.

Next we locate A Museum Tour With Sir Jonathan Wick. It spans two minutes, 11 seconds and shows a little of the museum in which one battle occurs. It’s perfunctory.

Kill Count runs three minutes, nine seconds and runs through all of the movie’s 116 (!) violent deaths. That sounds gimmicky – and it is!

Finally, Dog Wick offers a one-minute, 37-second short film. In this one, Wick dies and his pooch takes revenge. It’s fairly amusing.

The included Blu-ray Disc opens with ads for Hell Or High Water, Mechanic: Resurrection, American Gods, Patriots Day, John Wick and Knock Knock. We also get the trailer for Wick 2

As a sequel, John Wick: Chapter 2 offers an erratic experience. Though I like much of it, the movie’s flaws ensure it doesn’t live up to its predecessor. The 4K UHD brings very good picture and audio along with a long roster of bonus features. A mixed bag, Chapter 2 still does enough to provide a pretty decent action flick.

To rate this film, visit the prior review of JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2