John Wick Chapter 2

John Wick: Chapter 2,” the sequel least likely to suggest anything with actual chapters or anything to read, stars Keanu Reeves in the role of Liam Neeson. Here we are, it’s February, and in recent years we’ve often had a “Taken” sequel in theaters to take our hard-earned money for two hours of recreational sadism. But the solid autumn 2014 success of “John Wick” proved there was space in the universe for a new Neeson, a more youthful exemplar of steely vengeance.

Reeves has headlined plenty of action movies in his career. Now in his early 50s, the actor’s in his prime nonverbal grieving phase. It doesn’t matter that “John Wick 2” isn’t very good, or that it’s a step down from the first “John Wick,” which played its killing games with more wit. The fans cannot complain about the body count. The semiretired superassassin killed 77 adversaries last time around. The numbers are similar here.

In “Wick: The First One,” director Chad Stahelski and screenwriter Derek Kohlstad waited nearly 15 minutes for the violence to begin, and for one of Wick’s haters to kill his dog. I will happily spoil it for you: The pup Wick adopted at the end of the first movie is not killed in the sequel. Nor does he do any killing. He’s a pacifist surrounded by corpses — the Desmond Doss of dogs. In a nod to Sergio Leone’s Clint Eastwood Westerns, he is also the Dog with No Name. Early in “Wick 2” someone asks: “Does he have a name?” And Wick says: “No.” Yet the way Reeves, brow furrowed and voice a whispery rumble, pauses before his line, it appears as if the actor has forgotten the dog’s name. Ruh-roh! So he just says no.