John Wick: Chapter 2 had its premiere last night in Los Angeles and it reunited Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne on the red carpet. Reeves is, of course, John Wick, and Fishburne is playing a new character named “The Bowery King”. The obligatory reference here is “Neo and Morpheus together again!” but I really believe, in the long run, Reeves is remembered more for John Wick than Neo. I’ve said it before and I’m doubling down. John Wick is an actual person with a memorable personality, and he’s not in Reeves’ typical “Whoa” style, either. I quote John Wick way more than Neo. So the question is, will The Bowery King be indelible like John Wick? Or will Morpheus remain Fishburne’s #2 character? (#1 is obviously Cowboy Curtis.)
Reeves, in a wrinkled suit, and Fishburne, in pajamas, were joined by Ruby Rose. I don’t understand her outfit at all but it doesn’t matter because Rose always looks hot as f*ck. She has, at the moment, displaced Scarlett Johansson as my #1 girlcrush. Also on hand was stuntman turned director Chad Stahelski. His date? Heidi Moneymaker, arguably the top female stunt performer in the business. She doubled Ruby Rose in this movie, but she’s best known as ScarJo’s Black Widow double. I don’t know if she’s doubling for ScarJo in Avengers 3/4 but I hope she is. All of Black Widow’s coolest moves are Heidi Moneymaker. And one of the best things about ScarJo is that she has never tried to pretend that she does all her own stunts—she has always supported Moneymaker’s right to be recognized. Not many actors do that. Some actors even stake their reputations on not acknowledging stunt performers. Ahem.
