Review: The Boondock Saints- All Saints Day

I, like many folks, first saw The Boondock Saints thanks to a college “You haven’t seen this movie!?” moment. It’s one of those films nobody just happens upon at the local movie store. Someone always mentions it then freaks out when someone else admits they had, until then, never heard of it. Thusly, the virus spreads.

I’ve watched the original a dozen or so times in the past seven or so years and I feel comfortable saying it is, quite simply, one of my favorites.
Great characters, fun writing and loads of gratuitous, pious violence by a couple of Irish brothers spouting a kickass family prayer before offing seedy criminals and placing pennies over their eyes. Good fun.

Years ago, the first rumblings hinting at an unneeded sequel started circulating and I immediately cried foul. Few films actually need a follow-up and Boondock Saints goes at the top of the list for films that most certainly do not.

However, the geeky fan of the first that I am, I simply had to head out to see this latest offering. Thankfully, it was only marginally terrible. And I say this as someone who, for all intents and purposes, can say I enjoyed All Saints Day. If you’re one of those people who can ignore the bad and let yourself just enjoy a cookie cutter copy film, then you should be just fine here.

Though in a different order, many (and I mean MANY) of the first Boondock’s trademark scenes have been recreated under slightly different circumstances for All Saints Day. The saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” comes to mind here, even if Boondock 2 did manage to break many things that were fine the way they were.

A tale of vengeance, the boys find themselves back in the states when a mock “Saint” calls them out with the murder of a priest. Violence ensues.

Other than the terrible acting, nothing else about the film was so bad I couldn’t forgive it, even if there was little point and minimal charm. The boys get some new guns and starts shooting folks while making some decently clever quips, the end.

The final shootout was actually a pretty decent scene and the conversation leading up to it (I don’t want to give too much away) features acting so good if feels out of place in this film.
If you’re a fan of the original and don’t tend to treat things you really like as though they were holy artifacts, you should get enough enjoyment out of Boondock Saints: All Saints Day to warrant a watch.

If you are some kind of psycho-fan or don’t really understand what all the fuss is about when it comes to the original, stay far, far away.