John Wick 2 (2017): Cast, Plot and Ending Explained

The full plot of John Wick: Chapter 2 is best read through its people and its two cities, and its last consequence shows up in the next film. Santino D'Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) and his sister Gianna D'Antonio (Claudia Gerini) draw John back into a life he had walked away from, and the story moves from New York to Rome, where the production shot on location in January 2016.

Along the way, John crosses paths with the rest of the underworld cast. Winston Scott (Ian McShane) and Charon (Lance Reddick) represent the Continental, Laurence Fishburne plays the Bowery King, and Common and Ruby Rose play Cassian and Ares, two of the rivals in his way. Aurelio (John Leguizamo) and Abram Tarasov (Peter Stormare) tie the sequel back to the first film's Tarasov storyline, while Helen Wick (Bridget Moynahan) keeps John's late wife in the picture.

The outcome is visible at the start of John Wick 3. That film opens with John having shot a member of the High Table on Continental premises, a breach of the hotel's code. The price is that he is cut off from the organization, with a brief window before a large bounty on his head takes effect.

I would point newcomers to the 2014 original first, since Chapter 2 builds on its characters and on the Continental, and then to the film that follows.

Chapter 2 hands John to the High Table, and the clearest evidence is how the next film opens: John Wick 3 begins with John having killed a member of the High Table inside the Continental, which breaks the rules of the hotel. He is declared excommunicado, gets a short grace period, and then a huge bounty takes effect. He starts that film hurt and on the run in Manhattan.

In my opinion, that handoff is what makes the series feel like one long chase rather than separate stories. The first film is a revenge job with a small circle of enemies, the Tarasovs. Chapter 2 is where the rules of the Continental stop being background and become the plot, with Santino D'Antonio and his sister Gianna pulling John back into a world he had left. Winston Scott, Charon and the Bowery King then carry that world into the later films.

So, what was the point of John Wick 2? It could be argued that it is the bridge between the lean 2014 original and the two bigger films that follow. Chad Stahelski directed all four main films, and the growth shows in the numbers: 101 minutes for John Wick (2014), 122 for Chapter 2, 131 for Chapter 3 and 170 for Chapter 4. The $40 million budget here also made room for a second shooting city, Rome, after New York.

Perhaps that is why it plays differently from the original: it trades simplicity for scale. John Wick 4 then has John deciding to take the fight to the High Table directly, which only works because Chapter 2 built the organization into something worth fighting.