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The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009) - (Blu-ray)
Ten years after the original film became a cult classic, we finally get the follow up film that fans of the original have been salivating for the last decade for. It seems that the original film falls in one of two categories for film fans, you either love it or hate it. For me I really enjoyed the original film as a different twist on the action film at a time where everything action related was simply the same. The movie was a bit over the top as well as being a bit overstylized but I still enjoyed it as well as the cast of characters that it included. Since the original film was released there had been talk of a sequel. All of this seemed to stumble after the 2003 release of “Overnight”, a documentary about the rise and almost fall of director Troy Duffy. But after the smoke cleared from that film, years later we finally see Duffy tackle the Saints storyline again.
“The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” picks up eight years after the events of the original film. We pick up with the MacManus brothers living with their father on a sheep farm in Ireland in what seems to be much more peaceful than their former lives. That is until their father informs them that they have been setup to look like they killed a Catholic priest back in Boston. The boys decide it’s time to go back to Boston to find out what happened and who set them up, ultimately to get their revenge.
Although I found the story here to be much weaker than in the original film, we basically get a premise to setup more of the same. The boys return to Boston and all hell breaks loose, which is assumingly what I would think fans of the original film would want. There are some of the usual cast of characters (including Rocco, who is no longer alive but shows up in dream sequences) as well as some promising new ones. Considering that Rocco was one of the more popular characters in the original film, you would think the addition of the new MacManus brothers sidekick in Romeo would be a mistake. Thankfully it’s not as the character of Romeo (played in the film by Clifton Collins Jr aka Clifton Gonzales Gonzales) is quite the welcome change and really adds to the overall entertainment and comedic aspects of the film. Also this time picking up right where William Defoe’s character of Smecker left off is actress Julie Benz (Dexter) playing the role of Eunice. She is in charge of the investigation after Smecker’s death and although isn’t quite as good as Defoe’s portrayal in the first film manages to be interesting enough in the role. We also get Peter Fonda playing an integral part of the movie in a role that I was incredibly disappointed in. Fonda is one of the greatest actors of all time in my opinion and I found him to be rather miscast in his role. Not only that but his amount of screen time is virtually nonexistent until the final act of the film. Considering how good Fonda is, this is just something that I thought was extremely disappointing.
The story of the film is one that works, but at the same time will have some fans asking for more. It’s really just to set these guys up again in Boston and kicking ass, but besides that is rather thin. Missing this time around is the stunning scenes of police work, although it’s attempted again here it manages to fall a bit short from what made the original so damn cool. A lot of it is completely over the top (from what I understand this was the intent) and that works, but it only gets you so far. Considering the original film was a surprise hit and has managed cult status since it’s release, it’s hard to see that the sequel will hold it’s weight years after it’s released like the original film has.
One thing I have to say is that on Blu-ray the film at least looks and sounds fantastic. Although the movie itself isn’t really anything special it is the film that is nice to show you what your Blu-ray player and television are capable of. The special features include deleted scenes, filmmaker and cast commentary tracks as well as a making of feature called “Unprecedented Access” that I thought was pretty good. There are also Blu-ray exclusive features like “Inside the Vault” which is all about the weapons used in the film, another called “The Cast Confesses” which is about all of the secrets from the set as well as a feature on The Boondock Saints II at Comic-con.
Overall I found the film to be a bit of a disappointment, but that doesn’t mean it’s all bad. I thought as a simple shoot em up, that the film works. I just doubt it’ll be something watched over and over again through the years like I do with the original. It’s a nice follow up, but needed something extra that it didn’t have which hurts it in my opinion. I would say though that if you are a huge fan of the original film then check it out. If you really didn’t dig the first one then there will be nothing here that you will want to concern yourself with.
Blu-Ray rating - ***
Film rating - **1/2
-Ed Demko
