Making a good sequel is never easy, but John Wick: Chapter 2 manages to pull it off and make it look simple. Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski have once again teamed up to tell a story about the world's most deadly assassin, and they have sincerely crafted a story that stays true to the original while hitting all of the necessary emotional beats that many sequels often fail to achieve. Chapter 2 isn't just a pulse-pounding action thriller or a compelling drama; it's a genuinely funny action movie with a strong sense of when to cut the tension with a great joke.
To make sense of it all, we have taken it upon ourselves to compile a list of the funniest moments in John Wick: Chapter 2. The highly anticipated sequel may not be a straight comedy, but these sequences had us chuckling in our seats. Now let's get the ball rolling with one of the best callbacks to the original John Wick.
Viggo's Brother Listens to John's Attack
The ending of the original John Wick and the beginning of John Wick: Chapter 2 overlap very neatly, as the new film sees the titular badass tying up loose ends with Viggo's criminal organization. This sequence leads him to recover his car from a chop shop owned by Viggo's brother -- played with gusto by the always brilliant Peter Stormare. Not only is this a perfect, action-packed opening for Chapter 2, but it also gives us some of the film's funniest moments as Viggo's brother nervously listens while John lays waste to hordes of his henchmen outside of his office.
"You Working Again?"
The original John Wick made it pretty clear that the police in this universe have a solid understanding of the criminal underworld that exists in this environment, and they want absolutely nothing to do with it. When John's house blows up, beat cop "Jimmy" returns to write the whole thing off as nothing more than a gas leak, and ask John if he's working again. This moment represents a perfect (albeit somewhat on the nose) callback to the first film and serves as a great reminder that law enforcement doesn't hold power in this particular universe; it's the endlessly classy criminals that call the shots. (When the line comes up later, as Common bumps into Keanu in Italy, we laughed just as hard.)
Charon Agrees To Babysit A Dog
The entire John Wick universe is packed to the brim with lovable and charming characters, but few can come close to comparing to Lance Reddick's Charon. He's not a lethal badass (at least not that we know of), he simply takes pride in doing a good job as the concierge of the New York Continental. His standout moment in Chapter 2 comes when he offers to take care of John's (unnamed) dog. Once the badass assassin heads off for his new mission, the pooch and the hotelman are left to stare at one another. It's a small moment, but it's delightfully innocent and fun.
"Are You Here For The Pope?"
When John finally decides to make his way to Rome, he's greeted by Julius at the Roman Continental and asked one crucial (and hilarious) question: is he in town to kill The Pope? This scene works on a couple of different levels. On the one hand, it speaks to the absurdity that these evil criminals in Rome somehow manage to remain devout Catholics. Beyond that, it serves as a humorous reminder of how good John is that people genuinely believe that he could manage to get through all of The Pope's guards and pull off such a mission in Vatican City. He's that infamous in this underworld.
The 'Sommelier' Has Nothing To Do With Wine
If you're one of the people who adores the immersive world-building elements of the John Wick universe, then the sommelier sequence was pretty much completely designed for you. When John gets to Rome, his preparation for his mission takes him to numerous criminal fronts, such as a "tailor" who makes modified body armor, and a "sommelier" who can equip him with heavy-duty firearms. Peter Serafinowicz' dry wit sells the montage beautifully, and the juxtaposition between what John asks for and what he receives flawlessly encapsulates the type of humor that the John Wick films do so well. Remind me to go to this guy for my next wine tasting.
John And Cassian Vs. Stairs
Without question, one of the best fight scenes in John Wick: Chapter 2 occurs when Cassian (Common) finds John outside of the coronation ceremony in Rome, and they face off in a close-quarters, hand-to-hand battle. The sequence moves quickly through the streets and takes a humorous turn when the men continuously throw each other down several flights of stairs outside of The Continental. The entire film has a deep-seated commitment to slapstick stunt work (the Buster Keaton movie shown at the beginning telegraphs that idea), and this scene captures that combination of brutality and comedy perfectly.
John Takes On The Sumo Assassin
When Mr. Wick finally makes his way back to New York to face off against Ricardo, he doesn't just stroll breezily back to The Continental. With a contract on his head, John has to face off against a horde of assassins in the streets, and the funniest of them all is the sumo assassin (easily twice John's size) who comes after him in a park. As intense as it is, the film plays the sequence for pure physical comedy, and the fight comes to a head when Wick is forced to use an excessive amount of bullets just to put this dude down permanently.
The Pencil Kill
This one was a deep cut from the John Wick lore, and fans have waited to see it play out. During the first film, Viggo uses an anecdote of John murdering three men with a pencil to make a point of how lethal the titular badass can truly be. In Chapter 2, we get to see that skill on full display as John viciously murders two assassins with a sharpened writing utensil. Keanu Reeves pushed hard for this sequence to make it into the sequel, and it totally paid off. The pencil kill is brutal, but it also gets some of the movie's best laughs from hardcore fans.
John And Cassian's Silenced Guns
Common fans were likely very pleased to see that Cassian and John got one more hilarious moment together after their badass fight on the streets of Rome. During the climax of the movie, when Cassian is stalking John through a New York subway station, the two spot each other from across the building and begin surreptitiously firing their silenced guns. Despite shooting dozens of rounds (with insane accuracy), nobody around them notices because they're just that good at keeping themselves hidden. It's a bizarre scene that borders on ridiculous, but it ultimately works because the film knows how ridiculous is truly is.
