I disagree, the more texture the ‘real’ world gets the less portent the message. Same with John wick, one they start making it into a movie about the honor system in this world wide assassin network it loses its urgency.

The power of both is the mystique of the superimposed world, you don’t understand it, but it lends an excellent backdrop to the movie, that is really about something much smaller, self realization and vengeance.

Once the first movie concludes, the narrative cycle is basically over and a new, more convoluted, plot line gets drawn up that doesn’t feel as important as before.

The mystique gets filled in with additional detail, which rubs the wrong way with the metaphor, as a new rule system gets put in place in order for the protagonist to re-live the exact story arc of struggle and eventual victory as in the first movie.

Yet with every iteration it feels more hollow, the emotional pay off subsides. There is no resolution as three needs always be narrative room for the next sequel. It leaves you emotionally drawn out and no expertly choreographed fight scene can fill that hole.

As it wasn’t about the fight scenes, it’s storytelling.