The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day

I had high expectations, as I very much enjoyed the first movie. I was also very pleased to see the return of the father and his sons as the original actors...so far so good! Were it not that this new movie is almost an exact copy of the 1st one! The characters are not worked out in more depth, the mobsters are simply replaced with new ones, there's a new annoying sidekick in Rocco's place and the gunfights seem to be amped a bit. The very cool agent Willem Dafoe has been replaced by a female FBI agent who acts a bit too tough for her character and has a southern accent that is again, very annoying and distracts from the actual story.

At 2 hours playtime in total I'd recommend that you'll find something else to with your time...ANYTHING else...clean up your house, sleep go out or take a walk.

I am an avid fan of the original movie. While the concept of vigilantism has been around for decades in film, it was never communicated in such a way. The original movie was both entertaining, and made certain statements about society. After all, isn't the first purpose of film to entertain, and the second to create a message? If the first movie focused on the message, the second seemed to focus more on the entertainment. I'm OK with that. I already know what the McManus boys are all about. Still, it was refreshing to see Il Duce's beginning as a killer, even catching a glimpse of the first version of the gun vest.

I was very skeptical of Clifton Collins Jr., thinking that he would simply be a stand-in for Rocco. He wasn't. He had his own personality, although I would have liked to have seen him involved in what the boys were doing on a more personal level. It was like he was waiting for them to come along just so he would have an excuse to kill mobsters.

The humor, slow-motion gunfights, and light-hearted moments were back. During the first half, I sometimes felt the humor needed to be left behind and the serious tone needed to come into play, but the second half delivered that aspect very well, so it balances out in the end.

Julie Benz. Hmmmm. Attractive, intelligent, fun. But the southern accent is so thick I had a hard time focusing on anything else.

I would like to make a special note of how ridiculous it is for someone to dual-wield Desert Eagles, even if they have compensators attached.

Still, none of my complaints stopped me from enjoying the movie. I watched it for what it is. An over the top-low(er) budget film that was written to please fans of the original. I took it for what it is, and I think I'm better off for it.

Many people criticize Troy and the films themselves, some going so far as to say fans should go kill themselves. The internet, where everyone thinks their opinion is fact, and everyone is a hardass. If you don't like the movies, fine, but please, don't insult the intelligence of the fans. Liking something that you don't doesn't make us any less intelligent than you. If you want to pick on someone, pick on the Twilight fans that think those movies are a real representation of love and vampire mythology.

I hear Troy can be a bit of a douche. Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't. What isn't true, is that the movies do not rip off of Tarantino. I like Tarantino's work, but he was not the first person to do the flashback narrative, dual wielding of pistols, slow motion gunfights, etc. etc. That's like saying Halo was the first good shooter. All movies borrow elements from one another. They're called themes and archetypes.

All in all, an enjoyable film that gives the fans a taste of what they've been missing for ten years. The editing is a little spotty at times, and not everything hits the right beat, but simply to see the boys in action again was enough to make me smile and laugh out loud, and once again, isn't that what movies are supposed to do? Its supposed to entertain us.

To tell you the truth, I was no big fan of the first Boondock Saints. I thought the violence was gratuitous, the plot stupid, and the dialogue boring. After watching this one, I can confidently say that Troy Duffy has matured and made a film with much more quality. Sure, the over-the-top violence is still here, and so is the naughty language, and even the crude jokes, but now, the plot and the dialogue seem so much more mature.

That said, there are somethings that could be improved in this film. I think this movie would have worked better as a 90 minute action flick, but it was actually pushing the two hour line, and I believe that is a bit too long.

However this is nitpicking. The Boondock Saints II is a funny, cool, action packed, and maybe even though provoking look into the actions of two vigilantes.

Don't let the lack of promotion for "Boondock Saints 2" fool you. The fans are clamoring for it. The plot picks up in Ireland where brothers Connor (Sean Patrick Flannery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus) McManus are hiding out after the events of the last movie. A priest shot in Boston, in the same style the brothers are known for, makes them the prime suspects. Writer/ director Troy Duffy is going for the old-school Charles Bronson-style vigilante movie, and achieves something pretty close to that. He even goes with that cool voice-over quote you hear in trailers all the time, "they wanted to call them out, there's just one problem, it worked." Then cue the hard-rock. The movies villain is Concezio Yakavetta (Judd Nelson), son of the mob boss the brothers killed in the first film and he wants revenge. An FBI Agent (Julie Benz) is brought in to investigate the murders, taking over for Willem Dafoe as the one cop who can imagine in great detail (which of course is done in flashback) exactly how each murder went down. There is also some back-story about Papa McManus (Billy Connelly) that eventually ties into the plot. Duffy is eager to please, going with guns-blazing, lots of tough-talk, heart-beat style splicing, a lot of slow-mo (a naked shower scene, gun fights, a sexy chick's legs just to name a few), cool sunglasses, religious overtones and childish jokes (gay gags, naked ass), but his writing doesn't really crack between lulls of action and he has less stylistic discipline than Michael Bay.

The whole thing is like bland Tarantino (guys playing with guns, killing bad-guys, sums it up). Basically the fans get a chance to oooh and ahhh over familiar characters (while creating some new ones), although most of the supporting players are gratingly stupid for the interest of cheap laughs. It's mindless fun though and for the most part, Duffy captures that. The cast is all game, with Julie Benz being the sultry, fun to watch highlight and Nelson chewing scenery. Clifton Collin's wild-eyed Mexican sidekick character would be an example of grating though. If you loved the first one, you'll love this. If you were indifferent to it, then you'll be like me. And if you hated it, look elsewhere. Either way, it looks like a third movie is coming.

I just saw the movie tonight at the advanced screening. If you're a Boondock fan, this movie is everything you'd expect it to be. It was awesome. Cant wait to see the third one, if there is one.

To be honest, I think the editing sucked in the movie cos at some points, there was no transition. Also, the director should have considered making a 2 hour 15 minute movie instead of the 1 hour 57 minutes. But it was good regardless. The movie was well written and had a lot of humor. The actors did a great job. The cinematographer was good too. The only thing I didn't like was the editing.

I don't want to spoil the movie by discussing about it. But I will be back after it releases on the 30th. Hope it gets released nationwide so that more people will know about the Saints.