The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day ***

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
*** out of ****

Fans rejoice: the sequel to the cult DVD hit is finally here, ten years after the original first came out. Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus return as vigilante brothers who believe they're on a mission from God, known to the Boston public as the Saints, as they built up a reputation for killing hardened criminals. They are living in self-exile in Ireland with their father (Billy Connolly) when they hear that a priest has been killed in Boston and the Saints have been framed for the murder. The Saints always cross their victim's arms and place pennies over their eyes, letting everyone know it was them. Thus they are spurred back to action and return to Boston to seek revenge. Along the way they join forces with a crazy Mexican named Romeo (Clifton Collins, Jr. in a wonderfully over-the-top performance) who idolizes the brothers and is desperate to kill somebody.
On the other side of the law, the police are trying to find out if the Saints are actually involved, and they get help from a sexy FBI agent, played by Julie Benz with a polite Southern drawl. In the same fashion as the crazy agent from the first movie, she assesses crime scenes with impeccable clarity and is hiding a secret.
The movie is filled with crude language and humor and lots of violence and blood, which is to be expected. It's pretty similar to the first movie, although builds on the humor in all the violence and tones down the racial slurs, combined with an awesome pounding rock soundtrack, ultimately making this the better film. (I was not a big fan of the first film.) Like the first film, some parts are told out of chronological order to let the viewer guess how some kills went down. Writer/director Troy Duffy manages to reunite almost the complete original cast for the sequel, which greatly helps in the film's success and appeal to fans. Even dearly departed Rocco returns for a funny spirtual cameo. No spoilers here, but there's also a couple surprise cameos at the end from big stars. Fans will notice the many winks to the original, and to other popular films.
I would recommend this film to fans of the original, and to anyone who likes dark comedy and violent cult films.

You can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjMBd9XSLgI