News from Matteo & Simone
This Italian beating outfit, directed by Giuliano Carnimeo in 1976, is the direct sequel to "Zwei irre Typen mit ihrem tollen Brummi". The brothers Guido and Maurizio De Angelis are responsible for the moody music.
Matteo (Antonio Cantafora) and Simone (Paul L. Smith), who are called Toby and Butch in the German dub, ended up somewhere in Africa after the events of the previous film and, after some confusion, mistakenly pretend to be priests. As luck would have it, the two "priests" get involved in a robbery at a pawnbroker, during which they of course can't keep their hammer-hard fists under control, so the bad guys are given a lot of tinker. Among the bad guys is the frequently used Italian stuntman Claudio Ruffini, who a year later had a memorable appearance as a "Fettbacke / fat guy" in the film "Charleston" (1977) in the hands of Bud Spencer. The performance of Italian stuntmen like Claudio Ruffini cannot be appreciated enough and still accounts for the charm of these beating scenes in Italian genre films today.
Matteo and Simone are sent by their order to Amsterdam to deliver a statue of the Madonna, which various gangsters are also after. There is a reunion with Dominic Barto and his troupe, who were also seen in the previous film - albeit in completely different roles. There are some complications, but they are a bit lengthy. Some fights are not seen directly, but only from off-screen. Things only get really serious during the final fight in the kitchen of a restaurant, where Matteo and Simone can give their opponents a good thrashing.
Matteo and Simone do not achieve the quality of their avowed role models Terence Hill and Bud Spencer in any of their films. The fights between the two are definitely worth seeing. You don't need to pay so much attention to the story that is being told. But that's also the case with Spencer/Hill.
The film is also known by the following titles:
Zwei Fäuste räumen auf
Il Vangelo Secondo Simone e Matteo
The Diamond Paddlers.
