When I first sat down to watch the first movie in this series, The Boondock Saints, I really wasn't expecting much. I was greatly surprised by the fantasy scene insertions and the way that some characters could step outside of reality in order to reenact history for both the audience and the other characters in the scene. It was a unique way of telling a story that I've seen done before (kind of), but never quite as smoothly.
Boondock II takes this little cinematic trick to another level by not only stepping outside of reality, but also inserting a fantasy element into the scenes (dressing up the head FBI investigator as a cowgirl was both hilarious and... titilating -- yeah, Julie Benz is attractive, but good night!) and lying to both the audience and the characters about what really happened. While this made for good eye candy, it did force the director to use flashbacks in order to show the audience what really went down, which is what I thought these scenes were actually created to avoid in the first movie. That was kind of clumsy and created a confusing bit of exposition within the exposition that felt kind of lazy. But overall it was still entertaining to watch.
The real strength of this movie, like the first, is the characters. Yeah, the main characters are bloody vigilantes, but they're also good Catholic boys at heart. That's got to count for something, right? Like the first movie, the lead FBI investigator is also an oddball (although mercifully not a cross dressing homosexual Willem Dafoe like the first one), and the bad guys are gritty and deserving of their fates. The good/bad sons still look up to their invincible father, everybody still feels bad for cracking down on the only people crazy/brave enough to go after the bad guys, and the whole movie still has a good sense of humor with a palpable sense of style that doesn't have to borrow from Pulp Fiction to feel authentic. All around, this is a film for good fun with just enough intelligence and creativity to satisfy your inner film snob.
The good stuff aside, it wasn't perfect (see the part about the flashbacks above). I thought the Mexican character was unnecessary and a little too 'JarJar Binks' for my taste. I also felt Benz had too many quirks in common with Dafoe's character -- I know why it was done this way, but it was unnecessary. The historical centerpiece of this story was a bit of a stretch, and the evil hit man's motivation was suspect, but frankly I let all of this stuff roll off my back given the solid quality of the good elements of the movie. With a little work, I think this movie could have been a five star work, but I have to cut it a little short... unfortunately.
Boondocks II is a violent film, so it's not for the kiddies or the squeamish, but otherwise I recommended this movie to anyone that likes their action films to be more than mindless violence, and to anyone that gets a kick of of Tarantino. I liked it, and if you're bothering to read all of this, you just might too.
Movie to Skip: Borderland
Although labeled a horror film, I don't feel that's really the most appropriate genre. Gory thriller? Occult drama? I don't know, but it didn't quite feel like a horror movie. Violent? Absolutely, but that doesn't make it a horror film -- the latest Rambo flick was MUCH more violent than this one -- by far! The movie is interesting and it has fairly decent acting overall. The production quality is pretty good, and the storyline isn't bad, if not compelling. I rated this one about a half star higher right after I watched it, but now that I've had time to think about it, I've taken it away. I can't explain why, exactly, except that this film just isn't very memorable. It's not a terrible way to spend and hour and a half, but I doubt you're going to want to buy it when you're done. In fact, it's not one of those films that you'll likely ever watch again. So, perhaps this film's worst crime is that it's just really forgettable. Beyond that, not a bad film. You won't hate it if you watch it, but you won't be missing too much if you never see it... unless you're a fan of Sean Astin. This is, without a doubt, the darkest role he may ever play (and such a far cry from his hobbit days that Golum might want to watch his back when picking on him...).
