Goon: Last of the Enforcers

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.

A sequel to hockey. In real life, these muzzles would hardly survive. Blood flies and hockey is played. On the other hand, the effects of drama are also brought to the fore. Still a pretty mediocre movie, though on the other hand quite entertaining.

With few exceptions sequels tend to not be as good as the originals. That is the case here, sadly.

However, this movie surprised me with how fun it is. I am a fan of the 1st Goon, which charmed me with its heart and crazy gore-filled fights. This movie continues in that tradition, with a little less success than the 1st movie had. Sure there were a few annoying parts, like TJ Miller's cameo as a sports desk host, but the overall chemistry of the cast remains, as does the brutal violence. I wasn't expecting much and I found this movie to be quite enjoyable.

So if you don't know, there was a 2012 movie called "Goon" which was made on a shoestring budget and starred Sean William Scott, written by the guy who voices Hiccup in those "How to Train Your Dragon" movies.

It had a bit of success, even getting nominated at the Canadian Screen Awards (yes, that's a thing apparently) and so on this weekend, probably the slowest weekend in the history of film, the best new release we got is a movie with Stifler.

He's this minor league hockey player named Doug Glatt and what separates him from a lot of sports movies is that Glatt isn't really there because he's especially skilled. He's just really good at putting a hurt on opposing players.

But here a broken arm and approaching fatherhood forces him to have to reassess everything and whether or not he can keep playing or not.

There's nothing terribly special here but I do really like the character that Scott has created, who feels like an Adam Sandler creation back when you can still say Sandler gave a damn.

Doug is the nicest, most simple-minded roughneck in the game and Scott proves that he has maybe been either underrated or typecast with the whole Stifler thing. There is more he can give us and this role has proved it.

I also liked his relationship with an old rival now turned mentor played by Liev Schreiber.

Doug's teammates are all a mix of Canadian and Russian cartoons but they're still enjoyable "dick joke" loving sidekicks, but it's TJ Miller and Jason Jones who get the material that's going to make people howl with the most laughter.

Of course this wouldn't be a "Goon" movie without one man beating another man to a bloody pulp and you'll get that here, especially in a grand gladiatorial final showdown between Scott and the lead antagonist played by Wyatt Russell.

This isn't as good as the first. The story is all over the place, with characters retiring and coming back, health concerns being discussed and then discarded. Seems like Jay Baruchel wanted to address some real issues here but he never frames them right.

It's also just not as funny. If you've seen the first movie you know what to expect and that's basically what you get here.

What saves it from being a total waste of time though is that Doug and company are, despite the heavier themes which way the movie down, still fun to watch.

So I go 6 out of 10 guys. If you liked this, check out Craig James Review on Youtube for more.

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.