“First things first, check out my Halloween costume this year. Makes sense I pick something from out of an AFI film 😀
I must have been waiting for today for about six years. It was definitely freshman fall when I first saw the awesome that is Boondock Saints. Someone was watching it in the lounge of 1E. This was before I really knew movies, and I figured that if I hadnt heard of something, it prolly wasnt worth knowing. But I sat and watched anyway as I would for countless movies over the next four years. I \m/ loved it. And I wasnt even familiar enough with Boston at that point in time to fully appreciate it. I acquired the DVD soon after and have watched it so many times since, including every year on or around St Paddy’s Day. I even have one of those jackets with an outline of the bros holding guns on the front and the prayer on the back. I wore it every day for two years until the zipper broke.
Way back then, there was an IMDB page for Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. I’d check it every couple of weeks, and the release date got pushed back and back. Then one day, the page was gone. I nearly cried. Then I didnt really think about it after a while. Fast foward to a few months ago, I hear whispers of All Saints Day. Without expecting much, I searched for the IMDB page and holy \m/ it was fully fleshed out, with a cast and synposis and release date and everything else that proves a movie is legit. I did a happy dance.
So now we finally get to the day where I get to see this \m/ movie. I was filled with equal parts anticipation and apprehension. Would it be one of those sequels that surpasses the original like Dark Knight (which I knew was extremely unlikely) or would it pull a Matrix and be bad enough to taint the original (very much within the realm of possibility). Verdict: closer to the Matrix end of the spectrum, but not that bad.
I think Troy Duffy was just trying way to \m/ hard. There were too many awkwardly placed one-liners. The need to reference every iconic moment and relive every joke felt very forced. The pacing was very slow. It kinda felt like he was also trying to build the boys’ bad-ass-itude as much as possible, but really, they dont need any help. Simplicity would have been a much more effective route.
It wasn’t all bad. The action scenes were fantastic, prolly the best part of the whole thing. It was the same scheme as last time, lotsa cool slo-mo shots, and walk thru’s with the detective narrating. And while most fell flat, there were a couple of well placed lines that were hi-\m/-larious.
The MacManus boys themselves were great, as expected. (Im still very much in love with Murphy MacManus) And I adore Billy Connelly as Il Duce, aka Daddy MacManus, and while it was interesting to get his backstory, I really care more about the boys. Clifton Collins Jr. appears in yet another movie this year. He was kinda annoying, and not as endearing as Rocco ended up (his character was kinda the replacement Rocco). The big disappointment was Julie Benz. She’s usually one of my favorites. I mean c’mon she was Darla in the Buffyverse and she’s on Dexter. But she attempted a southern accent. Big. Mistake. She had a chance for a really bad ass, tough as nails, femme fatale character and I really couldnt stand her. Kinda sad.
Overall, worth a watch if you’re a fan of the Saints, but dont go in expecting too much.
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day – \m/ \m/ \n