Whiskey and retributions
Grade: B+
As if you needed another reason to love the Irish, Troy Duffy returns to the silver screen with guns a-blazing.
It’s never easy to make a sequel to a cult classic. It is even more extraordinary to make one that can actually hold its own against a timeless original.
Boondock Saints has become one of the most iconic movies of this generation, and because of that, the sequel, Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, has had major buzz around it for years.
Talks of a sequel have flooded Internet forums since it was first announced back in 2002.
Troy Duffy’s only other directing gig is the original Boondock Saints, and he has waited 10 years to put out the sequel.
It was worth the wait.
The movie picks up in the present day on the farms of Ireland, where Connor MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery, Boondock Saints) and Murphy MacManus (Norman Reedus, Pandorum) have taken refuge.
After being framed for murdering a well-respected priest, the brothers decide to stop hiding and return to their murdering roots.
Duffy spent quite a while writing the script, and it was time well spent. The dialogue in the movie is filled with great one-liners and exceptional exchanges between characters.
All Saints Day introduces the audience to a few new characters, most notably Romeo (Clifton Collins Jr., Extract).
Romeo becomes the underground connect, since Rocco was blown away at the end of the first film. It takes no time for the brothers to start treating Romeo exactly the way they treated Rocco.
Collins Jr. shines in this role as he uses his comedic edge – which he showed off in Extract – to give the crowd a laugh right when they need it.
However, not all of the new characters do a great job replacing their predecessors. Special Agent Eunice Bloom (Julie Benz, Dexter) has big shoes to fill taking the reins from Special Agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe, Antichrist).
Duffy did not want to stray too far from Dafoe’s character, as Bloom is just a female version of Smecker. Being far more educated than Boston’s finest and with a mind that can recreate any scene, Bloom is the best at her job.
Throughout the movie, there are a few scenes that seem out of place. For instance, at one point, Bloom dresses up as a cowgirl and randomly dances on screen. It’s nice to look at, but has no business being in BDSII.
Along with bringing new characters into the mix, Duffy also brings back everybody’s three favorite Boston detectives.
Detective Greenly (Bob Marley, Boondock Saints), Detective Duffy (Brian Mahoney, The Express), and Detective Dolly (David Ferry, Boondock Saints) are still on the job after 10 years of keeping their deep dark love for the Saints secret.
These bumbling morons are not the only ones that return to help the Saints. Doc (Gerard Parkes, Boondock Saints), Boston’s beloved, cursing bartender, even comes back to help the brothers.
As the plot begins to unravel, audiences discover a deeper plot that is not as apparent as the initial conflict.
Although the movie starts off as a story about the brothers, by the end of the film, the story changes to how Il Duce (Billy Connolly, X Files: I Want to Believe) became the infamous hit man that laid down the tracks for his sons’ career.
With a budget almost double that of the original, All Saints Day brings back the brothers with a whole new feel.
What was so great about the first installment was the gritty way in which it was shot. All Saints Day has the same low budget feel, but the MacManus brothers use much more artillery.
Duffy’s hard work really shines as the dialogue in All Saints Day makes it entertaining and, more importantly, actually watchable for the die-hard Boondock Saints fans.
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