Did you see and like the first John Wick film from 2014? If so, close this browser window quickly and urgently—X out the window; shut your laptop lid; destroy your tablet with a single, perfectly placed bullet; or even stab your smartphone with a pencil—then use a burner phone to order a ticket for the sequel with haste.

For the rest of you or for those less smitten with the first entry in the revenge-action series, I will do my best to implore you to see this film without spoiling its bloody majesty. John Wick Ch. 2 is a dizzying, enjoyable mess of guns, cars, knives, more guns, and martial arts, but it’s also an incredible example of how an action-film director can position so many disparate elements—scenery, cast, tension, pacing, and cinematography—to make filmmaking excellence look so easy.

They pull Wick back in