Irish stereotypes: They will have us all believing that if our paddy friends aren’t pickling themselves in alcohol, they are furiously thrusting their fists in the general area of any indistinct bystander?s face.
Of course, it's all complete hogwash. The only Irish people we know are singers, and they generally make us drink excessively and punch ourselves in the face.
But if Irish stereotypes are your thing, then you will be right at home in Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. We've got a family of killers (but they do it for good reasons), led by (the very Scottish) Billy Connolly, who travel back to Boston on a revenge trip of inglorious B-movie violence and witless storytelling.
It's a sequel to the 1999 cult movie Boondock Saints, and if you're unfamiliar with that film (which, you probably are) then during the first five minutes, you\’ll instantly start to wonder what all the fuss is about.
In fact, the opening five minutes are just a hodgepodge of bad editing and fantastically absurd beards (and we're not talking about Connolly). It takes about two minutes for the motivation to be setup for the MacManus brothers to forget their vows of peace, tool up and start planning their bloody revenge. It's fairly admirable for writer/director Troy Duffy to dispel of such things as fundamental as plot, choosing to get right down to the gratuitous violence.
The film manages to get to its feet eventually after a stumbling, unsure start, helped, no less, by the appearance of Clifton Collins Jnr?s, Romeo, who proves to be an excellent injection of mad-as-a-bat energy and humour. He actually remains a highlight throughout the film, putting some much needed acting chops into a fairly mixed-bag cast.
As the film carries on between action scenes, it becomes noticeable that many of the films scenes (mainly action) are badly conceived. Often, they unfold in flashback or in some incoherent manner, with another cast member added in as a narrator walking through the surroundings. It stands as a baffling narrative device, taking away much of the blast.
It's not just the action that underwhelms; some of the screenplay really lacks edge, aiming for Tarantino and making its mark several notches below. Julie Benz?s stoic FBI agent is the biggest victim of some truly turgid dialogue, and the camera?s obsession with filming her in slow motion quickly grows overtly pornographic.
But aside from these inconsistencies, it can be a fairly entertaining piece of fluff to past the time. Somewhere between Segal DTV fodder and a testosterone filled Stallone rampage. Just siphoned through some whiskey and extracted from Bono?s bowels after he has been riddled with bullets.
?Spray Rating: 2/5
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