So in case you didn’t read my review about The Boondock Saints II, I was so pumped for this movie! My biggest problem, though? Not knowing when, where, or how to get a ticket. The State Theater website said, “Passes are available all over campus,” but that’s so vague! I literally skipped on doing a lot of homework (which, thank God, turned out wasn’t actually due that day) to look for this pass, calling every organization I could think of. Once, a lady actually called me out on being annoying since I was apparently the twentieth person who called about it. I finally resolved to show up thirty minutes early and use any excuse at all to get in. Instead, I just showed up and asked if they had any extra passes, and was handed one of probably 30 extras! I really wasn’t expecting it to be that easy and actually didn’t have anything to do for those thirty minutes then. I looked at the ticket, though, and noticed it was actually a ticket for two, so I began to call all my friends to come check out the movie. Turns out nobody can spare two hours on Thursdays before Accounting 271 exams and the IASA show. *sad face*
I went in on my own and found one of the best seats in the theater, only a couple seats away from what I would’ve picked if it wasn’t already packed. The guy actually sitting there brought to mind the awesome Irish jig theme song (below), which I completely forgot that I absolutely love! I basically wasted thirty minutes just whistling that song until, all of a sudden, the movie was on!
“When they said sneak preview, I thought they meant the whole movie.” “That’s it?!” “Rewind it!” Major fail. They accidentally played about 5 seconds of a random scene. And then they did it again. It didn’t really bother me, but when the movie began, the scene again seemed quite random, and it made me wonder if there was a mistake and we missed part of the movie. Hopefully not!
I have to admit, just like many sequels (especially those that are made ten years after the first film), jumping back into the story was kind of cheesy. They reused some film from the previous movie: super cheesy. I also thought it was kind of lame when they used some creative filming styles from the previous film, which were cool at the time, but seemed overdone the second time around. And then there were legacy connections to the previous film that I thought would have been better left out, or maybe just integrated better. For example, they had a “Spiritu Sancti” song. Yeah. Cheesy to the max.
Having said that, it was just straight up bad a**!! One thing that I really liked was that State Theater left the lights dimmed in the beginning, and only shut them off fully when the title was displayed, making it uber intense. Also, some of the connections to the previous film were actually kind of cool. It was nice that there were fans of the original there, who laughed and cheered at the right parts when they brought back parts of the first film: the comically lame cops, the flabbergasted mob bosses, and the amateur-but-awesome Saints. I was kind of disappointed that William Dafoe wasn’t the main FBI agent this time, but I guess it couldn’t have worked with him.
I would give the move a 7/10. I tried to be as critical as I could, knowing that I was a fan and therefore biased, but there really were some great lines, and I definitely laughed more than I ever have in a theater, including comedy films. At the same time, they just made everything so dramatic and intense, like the murders and some of the more emotional scenes in the movie. And then? PARTAY! I loved seeing their drinking scenes, and I literally would have fallen out of my chair laughing at some of those scenes if I were watching the movie on DVD at home.
In terms of the acting, the mob boss was definitely my favorite actor. The rage in his face was perfectly intense at just the right times. I’m glad they choose him as the actor instead of using someone from the old film; I really don’t think anyone in the previous film could have taken this role on as well as him.
My last thought as the movie finished was, “Um, yeah, DEFS not forgetting to watch the sequel!” It was such an awesome ending and gripping cliffhanger, though I’ll admit it was kind of ridiculous. But in the same way that the entire movie was ridiculous yet intense. I definitely suggest seeing this movie if you hear it’s playing nearby and have a chance; I know I’ll personally watch it on DVD about forty times.
-Bhaj, [art]seen Reviewer and Boondock Saints Enthusiast
Theme song for The Boondock Saints–I just love this song!
