Babayka (an alternate cut of John Wick 1 & 2)

Major Changes:

1. A few scenes regraded mostly if there was an drastic and unpleasant change to the center white point— but still retaining the comic book inspired color schemes
2. Multiple fight scenes tightened up for better action
3. Linear storyline
4. The ending callback is now a muscle car, not a dog. Opening and closing scenes are muscle cars.
5. No flashbacks of John’s wife
6. Marcus, Perkins, Vigo’s brother, and the pit bull are all removed (Perkins is the only character I regretted having to cut)… more explanation below at the end
7. The mute hench-woman no longer has a prominent role
8. Wife’s narrated letter to John is more subtle
9. Corrected the Russian word for boogeyman which the screenwriter got wrong. BABA YAGA is an old witch who lures kids into her hut to eat them. BABAYKA is the boogeyman.
10. Other than Vigo, no one narrates about how strong, intimidating, and/or vengeful John is.
11. John is more brutal and on the offensive instead of defensive, he doesn’t need Marcus to keep saving him, and he gets his car back at the beginning
12. Vigo (not his brother) is in the warehouse as John steals back his car— John walks into Vigo’s office and pours him a drink, telling him to step aside and surrender his son
13. Santino now uses the Marker at Vigo’s request, effectively slowing down John’s rampage against the Russians
14. John’s house is not blown up / burned down— instead, the assassins arrive after John refuses Santino’s Marker
15. Removed the friendly cop that lets John get away with murder (John should not seem to operate in god-mode where there never any real danger)
16. Events in Rome happen before the shootout in the Red Circle
17. John is not James Bond with a team of Q-like helpers
18. Cut back the intensity of the rave party in Rome (in the Red Square)
19. Gianna dies by suicide without John’s goodbye bullet (assassins prefer stealth)
20. Removed / trimmed some of the less than amazing action sequences with Cassius
21. The Red Circle is treated as more of a finalé, launching the 3rd Act
22. John runs into Santino in the Red Circle (the scene where the crowd parts in suspenseful silence before John draws and fires), regraded to match up with the club
23. The contract on John’s life is not lifted
24. No hall of mirrors boss battle with Santino
25. Right after killing on Continental grounds, John kills in a church, a continued theme of damnation
26. No boss battle with Vigo in the rain— John matter-of-factly shoots Vigo down in cold blood
27. When John becomes excommunicado he escapes into the night instead of day
28. New music for end credits

A few words on cutting Marcus, Perkins, and the pit bull with no name:
While Marcus, played by Wilem Defoe, was meant to give extra gravitas to the film, his scenes were not necessary to the overall story progression. And in multiple instances he was reduced to being a Deus ex machina plot device (randomly saving Wick’s life which made John survive by luck, not skill).
Perkins was a great character with a lot of sass but there’s no room for her in this new storyline. If you didn’t like her bitchy face then anyway, now it’s gone.
The pit bull with no name was not truly John’s pet. It was a prop to look cool running around the city alongside John, and the repetitive comic relief scenes with the dog were not amusing. Finally and thankfully they dumped the whole dog sidekick schtick in Parabellum.
A few words on action sequences:
I tried to reduce the time it looks like a stuntman (or the large Asian man) is literally standing there letting John kick their ass without fighting back. I removed some of the wrestler takedowns that went nowhere; the choreographer must’ve gotten bored and couldn’t figure out what else to do. But the important thing is– the killings by pencil are still in this edit!