Review of The Boondock Saints (1999) by Pamela R — 14 Jun 2014

I'm not going to go ahead and claim this beast as a masterpiece, because it's hardly so, but it's one of those films that you just have to see to believe. It's one of those classic "so bad it's hilariously entertaining" occurrences, and to be honest, I've laughed harder at this than I have at most comedies.

However, I will admit that the movie gets so ridiculous and stupid at points that you can't really laugh as much palm yourself in the face and shake your head. There were areas that could have had serious potential in terms of storytelling and character development, and it all just falls flat. Half of the time, I didn't even know what was going on, it was simply "oh look, gun fight." I'm sorry, I meant, "FIREFIGHT!!!".

Still, I admit, this was entertaining. Maybe not entertaining in the way the Troy Duffy intended... but still entertaining. If you like "so bad it's hilarious" types of action films, you might get a kick out of this one.

UPDATE: This movie seems to get better with each re-watching of it. Every time I do, I like it better than the last time. It makes me laugh every time (though not because it's intentionally funny), and I've become drawn to its characters, especially Connor and Murphy. It's still by far one of the stupidest and silliest films I've ever seen, but it's a treat. It's a riot, despite its writer and director being a jackass. It's one of those films that's best to end a hard week, or when you're in a bad mood.

I did see the second film, and I HATED it. It completely ruined its predecessor, but with a third film on the way, I felt I should give it a shot. I actually shut it off the first time through it and had to continue the second half when I was in a better mood. It didn't help. While in this film I can say that I can definitely tell that the characters meant at least a little something to Troy Duffy, he tossed that concept out the window with the second movie. Whatever shred of care he gave Connor and Murphy the first go around was destroyed. If I were you, I'd only watch this film, and don't wreck the experience by watching the second.