Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day GRADE: A-
When Troy Duffy first wrote the script for “The Boondock Saints” back in 1996, he probably had no idea that girls and boys across America would come to idolize the cult film for years to come. After its minimal indie theater release in 1999, its popularity surged through word of mouth. Now, in 2009, the Saints are back with a new movie, a new mission and a new sidekick. But don’t worry, they still go on the same relentless killing streaks and recite the same classic family prayer.
In “Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day,” fraternal twins Connor and Murphy MacManus, (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus) are hidden deep in Ireland with their father (Billy Connolly), having narrowly escaped capture in the last movie. But when a murderer in Boston kills a priest and frames the Saints, they cut their hair and beards and leave the sheep farm to clear their name in Boston. On the way they meet Romeo (Clifton Collins Jr.), who seems like a dangerous fighter with a flowing black mohawk, huge, crazy eyes and a deep pride in his Mexican heritage. But after the Saints take him on as their new sidekick, he has to earn his stripes, proving that he’s more than just a foolhardy tagalong.
As the Saints go on their search to find out who is framing them, they pile up bodies on the way and meet their new FBI opponent, Special Agent Eunice Bloom, played by a ginger-haired Julie Benz. Bloom is a genius, trained specially by Agent Paul Smecker (portrayed by the fantastic Willem Dafoe from the first “Boondock Saints”). With her brains and body, she gets exactly what she wants and is soon hot on the trails of the Saints. She is accompanied by three foolish detectives, Greenly, Duffy and Dolly — some fans may recognize them from the first film as the detectives who helped the Saints in the courtroom scene.
“Boondock Saints II” takes a closer look at their father’s past. How did he become a killing machine? Many questions that fans had and many that they didn’t think of are answered in this film. In this way, it adds a depth to the storyline that the first film did not have.
In comparison to the first, “Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” is bigger, badder and certainly funnier. With Romeo cracking jokes and often being the butt of the majority of them, the film had the audience rolling with laughter. Bob Marley is hilarious as the dimwitted but ever-persistent Detective Greenley. One of the funnier scenes involves Romeo trying to come up with his own catchphrase after being a tad jealous of the Saints and their family prayer. “Maybe, who ordered the whoop-ass fajitas!” shouts Romeo, with an ever-present crazy glint in his eyes.
But it’s not just Romeo; everyone has a moment of perfect comedy. Often, even the Saints crack jokes, from making fun of Romeo to messing around with Doc, the McGinty’s bartender with Tourette Syndrome, another familiar face from the first film. But be warned — if you don’t have a dirty sense of humor, you might not find the film all that funny.
In “Boondock Saints” fashion, despite humorous undertones, the film is dark and dangerous all the way through. With the killer on the loose and the Yakavetta mob on high alert for the return of the Saints, there are twists, turns and surprises throughout the film. There is, as Murphy puts it, “a gratuitous amount of violence” in this movie. There are the classic slow motion gun scenes and vomit-inducing puddles of blood. One of the more heart racing gun fights in the film is a chilling game of Russian roulette that had the audience holding their breath.
If you haven’t seen the first film, you might not get the a few parts of the new one. However, the film has many flashbacks to the first film to help freshen the audience’s memory.
This film is certainly not the dark indie flick that the first one was, but it still has the spirit, violence and storyline that the fans love. If you like action, comedy or drama, this film presents each of these attributes in spades.
“Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” is out now in select theaters.
You can reach this staff writer at ydesta@theeagleonline.com.
