The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day Blu-ray Review

Back in 1999 Troy Duffy directed The Boondock Saints not knowing that it would become an instant cult classic for many and I bet he never thought that his creation would leave the fans wanting more. I can attest to that, for years I had neglected to watch the first, why? I don’t have a clue, but along the years I have met people who consistently told me how great the first was. Sure, it’s a hate it or love it film and it won’t appeal to everyone out there, but in my case I loved the original film. Lucky for me my wait for the sequel was only 3 months. So the question remains the same, is the sequel as good as the original The Boondock Saints? Personally all I can say is the wait was well worth it…

Eight long years have passed since the MacManus brothers, Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus), and their dad Noah (Billy Connolly) killed Joe Yakavetta in front of terrified witnesses in a court, since then they have disappeared in Ireland. When the brothers are informed that a priest in Boston has been assassinated, the boys decide it is time to return. During their return back to the U.S., the brothers meet an interesting character and soon to be a part of the crew, Romeo. Back in Boston, the trio of detectives Dolly, Duffy, and Greenly meet the new FBI assignee to the case, Special Agent Eunice Bloom. The boys must now face a new Yakavetta boss and find new revelations about Noah’s past that appears to still haunt him.

So first things first, it would not have been the same if the original cast would not have comeback. Well they did. Flanery and Reedus are back to reprise their roles as Connor and Murphy, Connolly returns as Noah, and David Della Rocco also makes a quite cameo, which by the way his rant is filled with inspiration and filled with testosterone it’s simply epic in my books. One of the new faces in this sequel is Clifton Collins Jr. who plays Romeo. I got to admit that at first I just felt that his character was somewhat odd like it didn’t quite fit in the grand scheme of the film, but as story moved along it started to remind me of Rocco as the obnoxious one in the bunch. Julie Benz plays Eunice Bloom who was the partner of Smecker and at the beginning this was the role that made me weary of this film. Let me explain, her character resembles that of Smecker, her way of proceeding and explaining the crime scene was very similar so obviously your first question probably is, will she pull off what Dafoe did? She did a decent job with the character she was given and I think it’s unfair to judge her in comparison to Dafoe. I happen to have enjoyed everyones overall performances.

During the announcement in Comic Con, Troy Duffy said that The Boondock Saints 2 had everything the first did and more. Well I don’t entirely agree with him. While I do feel the essence of the first film is retained on the sequel, the story is not as great as the first was. After several views of the film I feel like pieces might have been rushed, I could be wrong, but something just didn’t click. On the other hand, Duffy does a great job in telling the past of Noah, which gives a much depth to the character. I suppose this answers some questions left from the first film, at least that I had. Sadly, the film isn’t quite as good as the first, but it will appease the fans. One last thing Troy has given us a nice surprise I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day arrives on Blu-ray with a MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 2.35:1. If you remember the first film you will probably remember the blue tint and the pale look of the skintones, well this film looks very alike. Several scenes feature that blue tint and the pale skintones, however, several characters have a very healthy color. The black colors appear to be deep, bold and well reproduced throughout. The colors like red, yellow, pink, etc. shine only when called upon from the shiny guns Romeo is carrying to the pink speedos Gorgeous George is wearing. The fine details are well reproduced the signs of aging on some characters is very noticeable; you can also take a look at Eunice’s facial skin and be able to see the texture. This is a very nice looking Blu-ray.

The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day arrives on Blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track that is more than satisfying, but it’s not quite on par with the visual quality of the film. The audio is very front heavy and only occasionally makes use of any surround sound effects. Other than that, the dialogue is crisp and the music of the film perfectly captures the Irish bagpipes and rock & roll to get your blood pumping. I would have expected the shootouts to have a great sound all around, but these scenes are usually taken over by the background music.

This release comes with a nice set of supplements and some of them have some nice reminiscing from the actors, but let’s get to the breakdown of the extras shall we?

Audio Commentary – featuring Writer/Director Troy Duffy, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus and Billy Conolly talk about the film scene by scene, this is a commentary while the movie is playing. Very informative commentary and worth at least one play through.

Audio Commentary – featuring Writer/Director Troy Duffy and Williem Dafoe. This is a good audio commentary; both men offer some nice insights and talk about various things as the movie progresses. Highly recommended.

Deleted Scenes – two deleted scenes have been included; “Detectives Mourn Greenly’s Death” and “Romeo Plays Chess”

Unprecedented Access: Behind the Scenes – This is self-explanatory, just takes a look at behind the scenes of the film.

Billy Connolly and Troy Duffy: Unedited – This is a rather entertaining featurette. Both men talk about the films and what it represents to each other, how it came to be, the kind of persons they are, etc. I recommend you make some time to watch this.

The Cast Confesses: Secrets From The Set – The cast talk about their colleagues, the movie, the shooting locations, what they went through to get the roles, and more.

Inside the Vault: The Weapons – This feature deals with all the weapons used throughout the film.

The Boondock Saints Hit Comic-Con – The filmmakers and cast go to Comic Con to announced the release of the long awaited sequel.

Movie Trailers – Black Dynamite, Universal Soldier, The Damned United, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, H2: Halloween II, Breaking Bad, Snatch, Moon, Zombieland and The Da Vinci Code.

The long awaited sequel is finally here, The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day, but while the hardcore may overlook the few flaws of the film others might realize their high expectations might be let down. The movie is entertaining without a doubt and personally the wait for me was well worth it. The Blu-ray packs a nice transfer with a good amount of supplements so I find it very difficult for those that loved the first film to skip this. If you have seen the first film I highly recommend this release, if not then I suggest you rent it and then get the sequel because is well worth it as a whole.