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.

This review of Goon: Last of the Enforcers is spoiler free

** (2/5)

YOU CAN'T DISMISS the idea that Michael Dowse's Goon was a success, it was light, accessible and there was an incredible performance from the always likable Seann William Scott as enforcer Doug 'The Thug' Glatt, who's better with fists than sticks and it was undoubtedly funny. Unfortunately there were a couple of problems namely Jay Baruchel, sure he's a cracking voice actor (notably as How To Train Your Dragon's Hiccup). But he was on his lowest form as Glatt's best friend he was unfunny, idiotic and very silly. His weak script didn't help either.

So, in theory for his directorial debut Goon: Last of the Enforcers he should have perhaps learned. And for a while he has, William Scott returns to top form as the titular character still faithful to his team the Halifax Highlanders, keeping his form with his quick witted gags through his gimmicks to his mannerisms. And maybe punching the brains out of whoever stirs him wrong. Until he finds that his status is in danger with the introduction of a newer, younger, tougher player Anders Cain (Russell), after an injury he's forced to retire. He needs to find a new job to look after his pregnant wife (Allison Pill).

This stunning opening is sadly short-lived due to gross-out gags, amateurish direction and awful character study that fail to slide smoothly across the ice. There's an under-written turn in insurance for Doug, an underwhelming training montage with returning player Liev Schreiber's hard-hitting brawler Ross Rhea who tells him to "just hit with the left" that's sadly left empty and gasping for energy. However Goon: Last of the Enforcer's biggest let down is Wyatt Russell's Cain, granted he's brutal in his punches, but his jokes fail to hit the penalty box rubbing away the endearing charm of Doug with his over aggression of expressions and his lumberjack beard.

While this is a mostly generic, horribly written sports-quel as you'd expect there's an incredible performance from William Scott who continues to be the show-stopper by giving much deserved levity. Particularly in the third act's redemption hockey match giving his character a much deserved and an emotional farewell ending the film on a high note. Sadly writer-director Baruchel's debut is a poorly written, misguidedly directed and a boring redemption sequel that bombards its top player with bad ideas, and yet another stinky cameo. The truth this is an unfunny sequel that didn't need to be made.

VERDICT A generally fantastic William Scott is brought down by a weak script, poor direction and unfunny gags in this disjointed and dreadful sequel.

So I was a huge fan of the first Goon movie, so when I herd that it was going to have a sequel I could not wait to see it. Sean William Scott returns as Doug Glatt, a Dim witted but has a heat of gold Hockey player, playing in the minors on his last legs when the son of his boss takes him out of hockey for what seems like forever but interesting enough he gets a comeback thanks to old rival and mentor Ross Rena(played by Liev Schreiber, who I'm so happy returned to do this film) It's not a Hockey movie or a sports movie ironically (or at least not the best one I've ever screen.), but it has the essence of true sportsmanship and the underdog gone good, but most of all it's about goons. That's the thing they get right in this. If you love the first movie you'll like this movie for the same reason.

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.

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.