Roger Ebert said it best, "BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINTS DAY is an idiotic ode to macho horseshite." The original was an entertaining edition to the stylistic actioners of the late '90s such as EL MARIACHI and John Woo's flicks. The film did poorly in a very small release, but gained cult status on DVD. Director Troy Duffy's quick rise to a production deal at Miramax was unflatteringly captured in the doc OVERNIGHT from his former friends Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith. He comes off as a drunken egotist. Kind of explains this film.
Following the events of the first film, Conner, Murphy and Noah MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus and Billy Connolly, respectively) fled to Ireland to hide out. Good idea after being part of bloody massacres. Then a priest is murdered in Boston in the style of the MacManuses. So the brothers Conner and Murphy head back to the States to see what's up. On their way they meet Mexican fighter Romeo (Clifton Collins Jr., CAPOTE) who recognizes them as the infamous Saints and is desperate to be their new partner. They become convinced that the son of their target in the first film, Concezio Yakavetta (Judd Nelson, BREAKFAST CLUB), is behind the killing as a way to lure them out.
Meanwhile, a trio of interchangeable detectives investigates the priest's murder, as well as a new slaughter at a warehouse. Secret agent Eunice Bloom (Julie Benz, TV's DEXTER) shows up and has a psychic-like ability to recreate what happened at a crime scene. She believes The Saints are back and knows that the mysterious Roman (Peter Fonda, EASY RIDER) hired the assassin Ottilio Panza (Daniel DeSanto, MEAN GIRLS) to murder the priest.
The action is of the outlandish variety. Good thing The Saints are devoted Catholics because they certainly need divine intervention every time they go blazing into a gunfight. The story's thirst for bloody revenge is just one element of its macho horseshite. In a completely pointless dream sequence, Connor and Murphy reunite with their dead sidekick The Funny Man (David Della Rocco) to rant about being a man. You have the right to smoke and drink and never share your feelings because it's no one's f-ing business. As one can expect the film is homophobic too. The MacManus brothers' obsession with the size of their guns makes one wonder though.
While the brothers are trying to infiltrate Concezio Yakavetta's heavily fortified safe house in a high rise, the audience is treated to flashbacks to when their father Noah, aka Poppa, was a teen. Could this all be linked to the film's plot? But I thought this was the brothers' film? Why is this about Poppa's past and he's sitting back in Ireland looking all stoic? Because the film has no clue what it's about. My description of the film has made it clearer than it is presented in the film. If you haven't seen the original film recently, you might be completely lost. Actually, the film is about Duffy drawing attention to how cool he is.
I'm being a little kinder than Ebert and giving it a half star more than he did. This is because the acting is far better than the film deserves. Billy Connolly is badass even if wearing leather and walking in slow mo is so 1994. If you don't want anything spoiled stop here.
So at the end Connolly is shot and his sons cry over him. All I have to say to that is suck it up pussies and be men. Hypocrites.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
