Rating of
3/4
Sequel Rule of Thumb
Matthew Sanchelli - wrote on 12/17/09
After waiting for seemed like an eternity, the long awaited sequel to the sleep classic 'The Boondock Saints' was finally released....only be on a limited release.
By mistake, I happened to see it was finally playing at a local AMC, so I e-mailed a friend and we got our tickets to see it the other night.
Though I gave this movie a 3 star rating (good); if it wasn't for some occasional uber-redeaming qualities I probably would have gone with this movie being just Okay (a 2.5 star rating).
This movie seriously lacked the fun quality that was so addicting about the first movie. I felt Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus were not in the roles as much as they were in the first. Plus, they looked incredibly tired during the 'entire' movie; which I don't think was a planned look. I really like both actors for what they do...it just didn't seem like their heart was in this one. I don't know.
The major flaws I found with this movie...a lot of acting was over-done. Way over-the-top. A lot of the "jokes" and "comedy" were so literally shoved down your throat that it really wasn't that funny.
The movie also tried too much to be like the first one, in the terms of some dialogue. Quite literally, it seemed like Troy Duffy tooks lines he really liked from the first movie and just changed a few nouns and verbs here and there.
The good things about the movie. I liked how they did tie some things in from the first movie. They had some flash-backs which I believe worked. They even had some ellusions back to the first movie that only people who have seen the first one enough to have virtually the entire movie memorized would pick up on.
Julie Benz was a breath of fresh air to the ensembled. I loved her character and it's fun to watch her. I've followed her work since the Buffy days, and was incredibly happy to see her in Dexter; so having her cast in this movie was an added plus to this 'franchise'.
Billy Connolly had a little more of a role in this movie as well; which again is a good thing. He has this subtle wisdom and bad-assery about him.
Of anything...the one thing that really makde me happy (and sad) at the same time was the last 10 minutes or so. The ending was friggin great. The tone was incredible and if only the movie had had this tone during the entire movie.
All in all, you will not be disappointed by how it ends and find yourself oddly asking for a 3rd film.
If you liked the first movie, you will like this one...just don't expect anything up to it's caliber.
