Review by Justin Bateman
Stars Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Clifton Collins Jr, Julie Benz, Judd Nelson, Peter Fonda, Billy Connolly
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £19.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 113minutes | Written and directed by Troy Duffy
After publicly executing a mafia boss, vigilantes Connor (Flanery) and Murphy (Reedus), known as the Boondock Saints, disappear from the face of the planet. Living the quiet life in Ireland with their father, their old priest in Boston is executed in the same style as their own killings in an attempt to frame them. The Saints duly return to the US to clear their names.
Having not seen the original, it’s impossible to say whether this is a worthy successor or a disappointing follow-up. All I can say is that this is truly terrible. Pitched somewhere between a tough, violent crime thriller and a jokey comic book world, it manages to be entirely unconvincing on both counts. The biggest problem is the screenplay which is so full of over-the-top profanities and mind-numbing clichés that for most of the overlong running time it’s positively painful to watch. Literally every character is a caricature, from the old man with a ‘hilarious’ case of Tourette’s to the bumbling cops who swoon over the attractive special agent.
As well as the dreadful dialogue, the film is dogged by some atrocious overacting. Even people you’d hope would know better – Julie Benz from TV’s Dexter sporting a horrible southern accent, and Peter Fonda, Judd Nelson and Billy Connolly in overwrought cameos – don’t come out with any credit. The leads deliver their lines in ropey Irish accents and can’t carry the movie between them never mind on their own. A convoluted plot doesn’t help and it’s unforgivably dull for what is ostensibly a thriller.
If slo-mo gunfights accompanied by a pumping soundtrack, death and destruction on a massive scale are your thing then this may well be your idea of heaven. But for the more sentient human beings who like at least a hint of intelligence in a film, this is to be avoided at all costs.
EXTRAS Deleted scenes; Film-maker and cast commentaries; Unprecedented access: Behind the scenes featurette; Billy Connolly and Troy Duffy: Unedited.