Review of The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009) by Daniel P — 25 Sep 2012

The second installment is a good movie, but it labors under the inevitable comparison to the first. It's by NO means as good as the first, and a lot of the original charm is gone especially with the absence of Rocco and Dafoe. But the biggest problem with this movie is that it feels like any of it's problems can be pinned to poor directing. It could have been so much better if Duffy had simply took it a little more seriously because it feels like he was trying to do too many things at once (I.E. bringing back characters, referencing jokes and moments, trying to be an action film, trying to carry emotional weight, following the plots of many characters, so on so forth).

It falls under the same spell that the Portal 2 videogame, Paranormal Activity 2, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, etc., etc. in that nobody predicted the originals to be as good as they were. The first was a full and complete story that didn't overstay its welcome while packing an emotionally ass-kicking action punch. Now that film-goers have already found the diamond which was the first, the finding of the second just feels like stumbling upon amethyst by comparison.

But it is a good, fun film, and you can sense that the cast and crew had a blast making it. It's always nice to see the characters again and even I have to admit that I was looking forward to the continuation of the story. But this film just lacks the fresh and meaningful elements of BDS1 and falls flat in just as many areas as it succeeds in. See it just so that you can say that you've seen it, but don't expect it to function as a "true" sequel. Treat it more like an expansion pack.