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The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)

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Overall Rating 55%
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Ranked #2,093
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Connections: The Boondock Saints

The MacManus brothers are living a quiet life in Ireland with their father, but when they learn that their beloved priest has been killed by mob forces, they go back to Boston to bring justice to those responsible and avenge the priest. --IMDb
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Review by Crispy
Added: March 31, 2010
Even though Boondock Saints was, and is, pretty much universally hated by critics, over the years it's built up an extremely large cult following. Large enough to warrant the release of a sequel, albeit ten years later. Even though I'll admit my hopes were pretty low for a worthwhile second romp, missing this was out of the question.

Following the public execution of Papa Joe Yakavetta, the MacManus twins and their father escaped back to Ireland where they've spent the last eight years in hiding. However, when word reaches them that a famous priest in Boston has been executed in their distinctive style, they head back to Boston on the double to find out who's trying to frame them. Along the way, they hook up with a rather eccentric Mexican named Romeo who claims he is well informed on the goings-on of the mob back in Beantown, especially Concezzio Yakavetta, the son of Papa Joe. They quickly figure out he was the one to set up the frame job, attempting to draw them out. Meanwhile, detectives Dolly, Duffy and Greenly are shitting their pants fearing that with the feds re-opening the Saint case that their part in Yakavetta's murder will be discovered. The fed in question is actually the protege of the late Special Agent Smecker, Special Agent Eunice Bloom. Considering the only thing sharper than her mind is her tongue, the three Boston cops are sweating bullets as she begins to piece things together. All they can do is wait for the boys' inevitable return, and hope to keep their secret safe through their bloody campaign for vengeance.

Like the original Saints, critics are slamming the sequel left and right, but it's been quite well received by fans of the first movie. A fan myself, I find myself following that trend, although I did have some issues with it. Perhaps the biggest was the constant references to the original movie. References that served absolutely no purpose other than to be a reference. I understand that, given Boondock Saints' reputation, there has to be some considerable fan service, but they went completely overboard. For example, there's a scene where Rocco appears to the boys in a dream, giving them a much needed pep talk. While this scene could have easily hit the cutting room floor, fans wanted Rocco back somehow. I hated the scene the first time I saw the movie because it struck me as mind blowingly random, but it seemed to fit better during my next viewing. With that said, Donna's cat running past, while possibly worth a small chuckle, was entirely retarded. Same goes with Doc's Turrette's Syndrome. Here's a bit that went from a lovable little tic to a completely unrealistic gimmick. Last time, it just slipped out from time to time, and while an old man randomly screaming "FUCK! ASS!" seems inherently funny, there just wasn't any humor there, nor was there supposed to be. This time, Duffy tried to use it as a joke, but sadly it earns just as much laughter, along with the added bonus of a face palm.

Also, it was a bit of a let down that the film didn't have much of the grit that defined the first film. The whole feel of the film is so much more polished. Now this isn't exactly a bad thing in and of itself, it's jut a difference that I'm not too sure was welcomed. Like, watching the two hanging from the ventilation shaft, upside down, blowing away mob members was a great scene. Watching them dive off a scaffolding on the side of the building, falling 100 feet before swinging through the penthouse suite's windows and blowing away mob members as they're sliding on their knees was admittedly cool, but not exactly something I want to see in a Saints movie. Same goes with Bloom's breaking down the crime scene. Watching Smecker walk along with the boys, explaining their moves was brilliant. Bloom does the same, but for some inexplicable reason she's dressed as a cowgirl because the room was "the OK Coral". Duffy doesn't quite the understand the beauty of "less is more".

I know this is shaping up like a negative review, but the truth is I did like the movie. It just didn't provide what the first Saints did, but then what sequel does? More than a handful of the characters we love are return, and the new ones don't disappoint. Julie Benz was great as Eunice Bloom. It would have been nice had Yakavetta been a more threatening villain than he was, but that's not Judd Nelson's fault; and since he was kind of splitting the main villain role with Daniel DeSanto, the damage wasn't too bad. And while my initial concerns that this was going to be reduced to a braindead action film were kind of true, it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it would be. It's not exactly the greatest sequel, but it's definitely a fun movie and has more than enough to make it worth a watch for returning fans.

7/10

In closing, if Duffy ever gets to around to Boondock Saints III: Saints Perserve Us, hopefully he models it more after the original movie instead of the second.
Lucid Dreams #1: Lucid Dreams - added March 31, 2010 at 10:58am
I agree with what you said 100%, but I didn't like it as much as you. That part in the begging when they were cleaning themselves with that stupid fucking 80's song in the background....I wanted to kick my fucking TV. 6/10
Ginose #2: Ginose - added March 31, 2010 at 4:45pm
As a fairly large fan of "Boondock Saints", I'd say this is one of the most shamless, hollow and boring follow-ups to a cult-classic I've ever seen. Didn't like this one a bit, excluding the fact that one of the most un-Mexican Mexicans I've ever seen in my life somehow was expected to play a believable, pride-filled Mexican, the performance of which had me laughing myass off. Yeah, no, this one was pretty damned awful. None of the energy of the first and hardly any of the fun. Was kinda embarassed that I convinced my lady to watch it.
skel1977 #3: skel1977 - added May 2, 2010 at 9:03pm
About half as good as the first one.
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