Review of Young Guns II (1990) by Matty S — 19 Feb 2017

This definitive modern western sequel far exceeds the scope and dramatic depth of the original. Very few cowboy films allow the modern viewer to so easily relate to this thoroughly mythified era of 19th century american history as this artistic and stylized gunslinger. In the second installment of the Young Guns duo-logy, we revisit the thoroughly flawed hero Billy The Kid, who despite successfully avenging his mentor, finds himself trapped eternally in a world where wild eyed youths adore him, yet New Mexico could never allow him to live.

This fantastical downward journey is both melancholy, and absurdly comical.The real Billy The Kid rode with a gang of 30 or more, and his partner Chavez Y Chavez was in reality a sociopathic murderer, as opposed to a Navajo savant. Yet, given the confines of hollywood films, here we expose in all of his possible guises, one of the most alluring wild west figures. We ride along with Billy the jokester, as he shows us the humanity and humor that might still exist in the rough and tumble, take no prisoners world of the Santa Fe ring.