The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)

Troy?? What the hell was this!??


The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)
Directed By: Troy Duffy (The Boondock Saints)



The Prologue
We've already been over how great that I felt the original Boondock Saints was, but today we have the long awaited sequel, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. A movie that many, including me waited to see for many many years, and while a lot assumed this movie would be just as epic as the first, I wasn't that sure. I mean sure when you hear about a sequel to a classic you kinda want to see it, but you are afraid it won't live up to the first. And I'm sad to report that for the most part, my fears came to life once I viewed this. I'm not going to say it was awful, because it wasn't. It does however have some awful elements to it that just can't hold a candle to the original.


The Movie
So as the story of this film goes, for the last eight years the brothers have been living with their father on a sheep farm deep in isolated Ireland, but their legend is still growing back in the city. One day their uncle tells them that they have been framed for the murder of a Bostonian Catholic priest. The boys must return to Boston to not only clear their names but find the men who framed them. And while some of it is cool, it's just not as cool after the original. I think they may be trying a little too hard here, as nothing in the original seems forced where as it sure does at times here.

Well it was nice to see The MacManus Brothers again, I just wish it had been on better terms. Now while a lot of this film seems to rub me the wrong way, and I was very much annoyed by the cartoony characters and route this time around the film seems to take, I can say nothing at all was wrong with Cooner and Murphy. They come on like bad asses, they fight with each other, they get all Irish, and they smoke in almost synchronized smoking fashion. They hit their marks and they are not at all shabby with it. But if we dive into the other characters that is where we find the first of the films three major problems.


Like I said before these characters were very much like cartoons. We have our one bad guy who is obsessed with being tall. We have the boys new side-kick, Romeo, who is a Mexican. That point is hammered into the ground for the entire time he is on screen. And while at times he comes across OK, for the most part he was as annoying as a toothache. Also with the major lack of the great William Dafoe as Smecker, we get in his place Julie Benz as the new detective known as Eunice. Her character pretty much tries to do what Dafoe's did before only it's not half as effective and she has a weird accent. This can of course go back to the case this movie had of just trying too damn hard to be hip and different.


Another problem with the movie is the plot. we start off one place and we get a twist here and a turn here and it all gets waay too complex and it doesn't really come across as interesting or rewarding. The movie would have really been hurt had it not had the old elements and styles of the first film to fall back on at times to make this watchable and slightly more enjoyable than your average underwhelming action movie. The dialogue isn't horrid, but it makes me rethink the I high level I had Troy Duffy on after the first film. Some of it is OK and quotable. Other parts of it make you kinda flinch because it's just THAT bad. A mixed bag all around on many many fronts.

What the movie does best is what it did before. When it doesn't work it's because of most the new stuff. A hard spot to be in really as you don't want to be too different from the first or too much like it at the same time. All the more reason why such a classic never really needed to have a sequel follow it. Notice we don't see a Pulp Fiction 2 right? But in the middle of the good and the bad, we have two pretty cool surprises I found. One I won't mind spoiling because he's in the advertising and seen in the very first scene. That being the return of Rocco in a ghostly and spiritual form. He's there a couple times and he's there in a way that makes sense. The other shock..well, just watch it. Either way it goes, it's a kind disappointing film that just is above average.


The Conclusion
If you loved the first film, and most do, you'll probably go out of your way to watch this if you haven't already. But let me assure you it is NOT on the same level as the first film. Sure, it can be fun in spots, but it can be just as bad in others. I think there's a chance we may one day get a part three, and if it just has to happen let's hope that get right what they got soo wrong here. Still, worthy of a rent.


The Rating (6.5/10)