Becoming a badass like John Wick isn't something that only comes as part of movie magic. It also requires hours of training. Now, we have a glimpse of what Keanu Reeves went through in order to become the master assassin again in John Wick Chapter 2. In addition to showing off the tactical training that Reeves went through, it may also give us a hint as to the sorts of weapons he'll be using in the new film.
The video comes courtesy of Aaron Cohen, one of the people that producers chose to send Keanu Reeves through an intensive three-week training course during the pre-production phase of John Wick Chapter 2. The primary focus of the training appeared to be the use of a special below-the-waistband deep concealment holster designed by Cohen. In addition, we see Reeves learning how to quickly reload a carbine, and clear a room without getting killed.
The deep concealment holster is probably the most interesting thing that we see here. It works remarkably well as we see Keanu Reeves slide a plastic gun down the front of his pants, something we would generally try to avoid, and the gun simply disappears. It's hard to tell how easy it would be to move with that, but it's basically impossible to see that it's there. The difficulty then is learning how to draw it quickly and smoothly from that position. Doing so is obviously a little tough for Reeves at the beginning of the video, but by the end, he appears to have it down pretty well.
You can actually see Keanu Reeves getting a little frustrated with himself when he has trouble drawing the pistol or reloading the carbine. He obviously really cares about getting this right and doing it well so when he messes up he gets annoyed. A couple of times though his speed is fairly close to that of his trainers, so it seems like eventually, he's getting it.
Based on what we saw in John Wick we can only guess at the variety and quantity of weapons that the character will be using, in John Wick Chapter 2, but we have to assume it will be a lot. In addition to numerous guns, his body itself was also a weapon. According to Aaron Cohen's YouTube page, Reeves also underwent training in Judo, Ju-Jitsu, Krav Maga, and boxing along with his weapons training, so it would seem he'll be plenty well-equipped to take on whatever threat he's dealing with in the sequel.
Keanu Reeves tactical training looks like the sort of thing we'd love to try once but probably wouldn't have the strength to do for hours at a time. He certainly put the hours in to make it work. It just makes us want to see John Wick Chapter 2 that much more.
