THE BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINTS DAY Review

After a decade of waiting, the saints have returned to do what they do best. Say a prayer and put two bullets in the back of the heads of those… who are worthy of receiving such a glorious execution. Many sequels out there would disappoint you, this one on the other hand would take you on a joyride. BOONDOCK SAINTS II is everything the fans of the first movie are expecting and so much more. BOONDOCK SAINTS II is one of the finest examples of spiritual guidance you’ll ever have the good fortune to witness.

“The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” is the highly-anticipated sequel to indie cult classic, “The Boondock Saints.” The film is the continuation of writer & director Troy Duffy’s tough, stylized cutting edge saga of fraternal twins, the MacManus brothers (Norman Reedus, Sean Patrick Flanery). The two have been in deep hiding in the quiet valleys of Ireland, far removed from their former lives or modern technologies. When word comes that a priest has been killed by sinister forces in the tough underworld of Boston, they return to mount a violent and bloody crusade to bring justice to those who must now suffer the consequences, with a new partner in crime (Clifton Collins) and a sexy FBI operative (Julie Benz) hot on their trail!

The boys are back, writer/director Troy Duffy is back and his fast talk, foul mouthed, smartass lines are back as well. If you’re not taken by the hardcore sweet silencer action, you’ll definitely enjoy all the comical situations and conversations between characters. Even little snippets like having porno music as the brothers behold the greatest lookin’ guns ever. BOONDOCK SAINTS II is a movie for the fans of the cult classic and Duffy makes damn sure of that. The story connects but if you haven’t seen the first movie, watching this sequel is going to make you want to get on board and become a fan. What I appreciate about BOONDOCK SAINTS II is that it takes its time to develop the new characters. The only concern I have is that it sets itself up for a third installment and I don’t know if I like the direction in which it’s going. The McManus brothers are cool because they do their own thing, I don’t like the idea of having a secret organization or a bigger conspiracy plot going on in the background.

I can’t help but get the vibe that Troy Duffy’s sequel is somewhat inspired by The Godfather Part II, at least the whole sins of the father and showing us the past, an immigrant avenging the death of a parent, from a simple life of a manual labor to mobsters and killer for hire, not to mention the Italian connection. I have no complaints, those who’d catch the same observation would think it’s a great homage, plus that’s usually the way sequels tend to work in order to expand the story from the first movie, by resenting us with a vengeance from somebody in the past that’s close to the family. The runtime is slightly longer, and you can definitely tell from the many sequences we go through to see how the brothers try to trace everything back to the mastermind only to find that poppa already figured it out halfway through.

I can’t say enough how sexy and alluring Julie Benz is in this movie as Special Agent Bloom, her investigative method may not be as fun to watch as Willem Defoe’s eccentric character but by God, Benz does not look and act like Dexter‘s wife at all and that is hot.

Both Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus can probably do this gig until the day they die. Being the saints is probably the best thing that’s ever happened to their careers, it’s the only thing they’re really good at, and they compliment each others charm. Duffy likes to make these boys appear like they have received the trophy for the badass action stars of the year. But Duffy doesn’t make them perfect, he doesn’t eliminate the aspect of Irish brothers quarreling or arguing about the empty box spaces that they always have to seem to hide themselves in or which would be the best way to enter a gunfight in style.
The new recruit played by the under-appreciated, the talented Clifton Collins Jr. is hilarious, an amusing addition to the team that’s already got enough coolness to spare.

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