The Bearded Trio

JOHN WICK CHAPTER 2 Starring Keanu Reeves, Common, Riccardo Scimarcio, Laurence Fishburne, Ruby Rose, Ian McShane and Franco Nero Written by Derek Kolstad Directed by Chad Stahelski Reviewed by Paul & Patrick Gibbs Out of Four 2 014's cult hit John Wick was a guilty pleasure that won a lot of praise from critics and action fans alike for its intricate staging, unapologetic brutality and total lack of pretense. Nobody was claiming that this was anything other than what it was: a masterfully executed violence ballet with a very dark comic edge. It took the industry term of "killing the dog" (the moment in a screenplay when the villain does something so despicable that it becomes firmly established that not only do they deserve to lose, they  must be taken down) and used it in the most literal way possible: bad guys killed former assassin John Wick's dog, therefore they must pay, and that's the movie! It was a premise that was ridiculously thin an...