More Fun with Guns and God!
Story: The story is very similar to the first movie. In fact, I'm going to say that this is the Evil Dead 2 of the series in that it borders on being a remake of the first movie with a higher budget, better special effects, larger cast, etc. This isn't a bad thing, we're not in Ghostbusters 2 territory. In many ways, they fixed some problems I had with the first movie, specifically the fact that [SEMI-SPOILER ALERT] the cops in the first movie weren't really penalized for assisting the Saints. Whether I agree with the morality of what they were doing or not, there needed to be a price for breaking the law and this time there was a price. The script doesn't really address the morality of what the Saints are doing. It's very much saying, “These are the good guys, like them or leave them.” It's even more cut and dry than the first movie. In fact, the only character who questions the morality of the Saints is the Roman who, for the record, is the big bad in this movie. C
Acting: Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus are Connor and Murphy. The instant they appeared on camera, they were in character. I applaud. Billy Connolly is one the most versatile actors of our day and plays Il Duce completely different than Fido or Father Joseph Crissman or any of the other characters he's played in his extensive career, and he brings the goods this time too, adding an extra layer to the dark, quiet man of mystery that he played in the first movie. Clifton Collins Jr. has some of the funniest moments in this movie and they all work. Now... about Julie Benz... she's hot, which she was supposed to be, and she has great lines, but I didn't like her accent in this movie. I wish she would have done the lines normally, I think it would have been a stronger performance. I was glad to see David Della Rocco appear in a way that maintained the fact that [SPOILER... IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FIRST ONE YET, IN WHICH CASE I MUST ASK WHY YOU'RE READING THIS?] he's dead, and again his lines are some of the most quotable in the movie. B
Visuals: The visuals are a lot of fun in this movie. Some of the best parts are when we get to see how the Saints imagine one of their raids going down (in a smooth, Matrix style take down where their hairs never gets messed up) versus reality (it hits the fan). Gun aficionados will love the weaponry that gets brought to the table. Did I already mention that Julie Benz was hot? B
Direction: The mood remains fairly light hearted up until the end of the movie, like the first one. I have to say that if Troy Duffy really was the jerk that Overnight made him out to be, I really don't think that as many cast members from the first movie would have returned as they did, because this was never destined to be a huge payday. The only reason they could have possibly come back was because they had fun making the first one and wanted to meet up with those guys again. Now, Troy Duffy won't be completely vindicated in my eyes until he makes a different movie that's not a remake of the first Boondock Saints, which oddly may be the third in this series as the ending of this one teased “sequel” very hard. Hey, Army of Darkness was way different from Evil Deads 1 and 2, but Sam Raimi also made other movies in between those ones, so we'll see what happens. B
Overall: This movie isn't going to win any major awards. The critics have certainly hate it, the kindest review I've seen being A.O. Scott inventing a new category of “see it drunk.” The story is the weakest link in this chain, but fans of the first movie will love this movie. I think you should watch it, but make sure to watch the first one before you see this one. And watch out for the return of the cat. B
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