Goon: Last of the Enforcers

"That was a ******* ****show, eh"

And with that line, Liev Schreiber summed up this sequel best.

'Goon' not only made me fall in love with hockey, but it was virtually an introduction to Canadian culture for me - as I moved from Australia to Canada mere months after watching it years ago. So safe to say, I had high hopes for 'Goon: Last of the Enforcers', and remained open-minded despite all the bad reviews.

I'm being generous with my 6/10 rating. It was pretty clear from early-on, that this sequel lacked all the charm and direction of its predecessor. Many jokes fell flat, and some scenes were just filled with far too much cringe. If it wasn't for my love of the characters from the first film, there's no way I would have persisted with seeing this one through.

Baruchel's directing didn't do the film any favours. At times it felt like he'd just got really stoned while watching Rocky II and thought it would be a fun idea to put it on ice. Despite all its downfalls, I still enjoyed a couple of laughs towards the end and Schreiber's performance was a highlight.

I never really felt fully into it though, and I'm left a little disappointed at what could have been. I feel like I've been hit over the head and have no brain cells left after watching. But maybe that was the point of this altogether.

Some will say that a sequel can never live up to the first film.

Goon: Last Of The Enforcers begs to disagree.

I was impressed with the writer's ability to squeeze another story out of Doug Glatt and the Highlanders. The story was very well done, and I enjoyed the fact that it managed to incorporate Liev Schreiber's character once again, in an enjoyable way that you may not be expecting. I enjoyed the inclusion of adult life, Doug having to balance hockey and an incoming child. The dramatic bits are very well done, and make you care for the character that much more.

Jay Baruchel's direction is also top notch, especially from a first time filmmaker. The fight scenes are gripping and bone-crunching, as are the hockey games themselves. Paul Sarossy's cinematography is very versatile and impressive, making the hockey and fight scenes a joy to look at.

Of course, there's the comedy. Seann William Scott is hilarious as lovable but dopey Doug Glatt. Jay Baruchel reprises his character from the first film and is just as hilarious as he was the first time around. The locker room antics of the team are also just as gut-busting as ever.

This film is humorous, touching and moving, and is on par with the first in terms of quality.

If you enjoyed the first Goon, then you'll love this one. I highly recommend this one.

9/10

Out of the gate there's nothing inherently awful about this movie. It shorthand catches you up to where Doug Glatt is now. Pretty much everyone returns from the first movie. But as they start to set up the plot things start to feel a bit tired. The Russian duo on the team are still insulting everyone and making crude jokes about their mothers. But it all feels more like a checklist of showing everyone is back to their same old high jinks rather than creating new jokes. Even Jay Baruchel directing himself just looked to me like he was going through the motions.

Once it got to the 20 minute mark I realized I hadn't so much as cracked a smile. With that in mind I intended to take note when such a moment happened but it never did. When you don't write a different enough story than the first movie you're kind of stuck rehashing old jokes.

And finally, this movie really lacked the heart of the original. The first wasn't a masterpiece by any means but it played around with some of the teammate dynamics in an interesting way. And the whole old guard/new guard with Liev Schreiber worked well then too.

As far as the good stuff in this movie I'd say all the performances are fine. Liev Schreiber is solid again but perhaps a little underutilized. Seann William Scott was decent but thought it was a step back from his first portrayal.

Overall, I'd say don't rush out and watch it but if you love the first you might like this too.

Goon was a cult-classic, and while Goon 2 brought back the majority of the cast, making it sentimental, most of them looked older, and the writing was awful.

Other than a decent villain (Cain) and a strong performance by Schrieber (Ross the Boss Rhea) there was no real story to enjoy, regurgitated jokes and lines from the original lacked any flavor, the lock-out (?), what the hell did that even have to do with anything?

There was no growth from the ending of Goon for anyone, especially LaFlamme, which makes me sad. My imagination had him soaring to the Hall of Fame after Doug resurrected his career, but no. The jokes were way stupider, and overall this film is horrible.

I hate it when this stuff happens. I'll always remember the original as one of the best surprise films I've ever seen.

Kinda tough to top Goon 1 but still had some laugh out loud scenes. I didn't set my expectations to high so I still enjoyed the movie. Goon 1, I can watch over and over and still love it, this one maybe will watch it one more time. REALLY with they wouldn't have changed Stevesie's actor, not nearly as funny as Ricky Mabe. Sequel's are rarely as good as the original so I'm not really disappointed.