Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day

I heard it sucked... Anybody else seen it, I need an actual second opinion before I go watch it for myself.

A review I wrote for the paper I work for:

The Boondock Saints was an independent action/comedy film released in 1999 written and directed by newcomer Troy Duffy that grossed $50 million in video sales and acquired a cult-like status. The movie follows two devout Catholic, Irish brothers Conner and Murphy MacManus living in Boston as they survive an encounter with the Russian mafia to go on to become vigilantes known as the Saints that smite evil while turning a healthy profit. During the course of the film, they're hunted by a seeming bogeyman of the Italian underworld known as Il Duce whom they discover they share an eerie connection with towards film's end. The sequel opens as a mysterious killer has come to Boston that slays a Catholic priest in a fashion similar to the Saints when they killed criminals. Having retired in Ireland, the Saints return to their home city and seek this killer with the help of newest recruit to their cause in Mexican underground fighter Romeo.

Much of All Saints Day focuses on paying homage to the previous film, in many instances imitating scenes albeit adding a higher degree of tongue-in-cheek comical content and replacing stereotypical situations of Italian recruit Rocco of the original with newcomer Romeo and his Mexican descent. Even instances from the first movie involving Willem DaFoe as FBI Special Agent Paul Smecker are paralleled by equally eccentric FBI Special Agent Eunice Bloom portrayed by Julie Benz. As such, having seen and greatly admired the original, I was turned off by the decidedly less-sophisticated, perhaps less organic, situations presented in such regard. Fortunately, the film hits its stride towards the middle when the Saints wage an assault on the heads of Boston's Italian crime families in a high-rise. While again throwing back to the first film, the scene matched the chemistry that gave the original such charm. Further, as the film delves into the past of the Il Duce character of the first film, it begins to form a sense of mythology and offers meaning to the sequel that appeals to previous fans while offering a hook for new ones. Not to spoil the ending, but the resolution of Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day sets the stage for what could be an intriguing sequel.

The Boondock Saints was a quirky film with a quiet message regarding the issue of right and wrong while at the same time a popcorn movie that moviegoers could turn their brains off and enjoy for its wit and seeming spontaneity vision of reality with a nod to the concept of destiny of many hero tales of old. Its sequel tries in many ways to cash in on the success of the original, offering little more in regards to the growth of the characters. However, I can't help but to become entranced with the movie when it decides to finally evolve into its own entity, albeit having to sit through an hour of recycled material to get there. For that, I appreciate the film and viewed the outcome as an enjoyable experience. With this in mind, I give it 3 out of 5 stars; good, but could have been better.