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The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
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Wikipedia article
'The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day' is a 2009 American film written and directed by Troy Duffy. The film serves as a sequel to the 1999 film 'The Boondock Saints'. The film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus, who return to their roles, as well as several of the other actors from the first film.
The film takes place eight years after the events of the original 'Boondock Saints', as fraternal twin brother vigilantes Connor (Flanery) and Murphy (Reedus) are living a quiet life in Ireland with their father, the former assassin known as "Il Duce". However, they are drawn back into action after someone attempts to frame the twin brothers for the murder of a priest in Boston. Connor and Murphy travel back to the United States, where they meet some old friends and are pursued by Eunice Bloom (Julie Benz), an FBI agent and former protge of Agent Smecker.
Plot
After the MacManus twin brothers, Connor and Murphy, and their father, Noah (Il Duce), assassinated Joe Yakavetta, they fled to Ireland. Eight years later, Noah's cousin and Connor and Murphy's uncle Father Sibeal MacManus arrives to inform them that a renowned Boston priest was murdered by a mysterious assassin who attempted to frame the Saints by using their ritual assassination style. In response, the twin brothers dig up their old gear and weapons and depart for the United States.
En route to Boston aboard a container ship, the twin brothers meet a Mexican underground fighter named Romeo, who recognizes them as the Saints and he convinces the twin brothers to let him join them as their new partner. Hearing a radio broadcast regarding Joe's son, Concezio Yakavetta, the twin brothers deduce that he must have been the one who hired the hitman who killed the priest in order to draw them out of hiding.
Meanwhile, Detectives Greenly, Dolly, and Duffy are at the scene of the priest's murder and worry that their involvement with the assassination of Joe Yakavetta will be discovered. They are greeted by Special Agent Eunice Bloom, the protge of the now-deceased Paul Smecker who has been assigned to investigate the murder and determine whether or not the Saints are responsible. She comes to the conclusion that the Saints were not who murdered the cleric, and begins an investigation to find the real assassin and she and the other officers find out the assassin is Ottilio Panza, a man who appears to be working for a mysterious man known only as "The Old Man".
Connor, Murphy, and Romeo hit a warehouse that is being used by an Chinese Triad gang to process heroin for Yakavetta. After killing everyone at the warehouse, Connor and Murphy reunite with their old bartender friend, Doc. They learn that the assassin was an independent contractor and that Yakavetta himself is hiding in the Prudential Tower. Later at the warehouse, now a crime scene, Bloom confirms that the Saints have returned. Bloom interrupts a massage in progress and hits a mob boss with a paddle, displaying her identity.
The twin brothers and Romeo have one of Yakavetta's caporegimes named Gorgeous George set up a meeting with a group of mobsters at a bar, where they kill them. Panza arrives shortly after and attempts to ambush the twin brothers, but Bloom arrives in time to save them by wounding Panza, who then flees. Bloom introduces herself, revealing her intentions to help the Saints in Smecker's place. The group then cleans up the crime scene to make it look as if the mobsters had turned on each other. Later, Bloom reunites the other detectives with the Saints, thus bringing them in on their plans.
Yakavetta calls a meeting with his crew, during which the Saints arrive and kill everyone, including Yakavetta. Bloom interrogates Yakavetta's 'consigliere' Jimmy and learns of the Old Man's involvement with Panza. The crime scene is visited by FBI Special Agent John Kuntsler, who takes over the gang murder case after suspending Bloom. Later at the bar, Greenly arrives to celebrate the twin brothers' victory, but is shot and mortally wounded by Panza. Noah, earlier having decided to help his twin sons, unexpectedly arrives and demands that Panza tell him the Old Man's location. They engage in a type of "Russian roulette" stand-off, and after Panza still refuses to answer, Noah angrily shoots and kills him.
Noah reveals to the group that in 1958 New York, he watched a trio of mobsters brutally murder his father. Consumed with rage and anger and wanting revenge, Noah hunted down and killed the mobsters with the help of his best friend Louie, who is revealed to be the Old Man. Noah still felt unsatisfied, so Louie helped him pick out mobsters to kill. They continued this until 1975, when Louie gave Noah up to the police.
Bloom illegally obtains a file regarding Louie's location and gives it to Noah. Louie, anticipating the Saints' arrival at his mansion, has several hitmen stationed on the grounds. When the MacManus family arrives, Louie reveals that he had only used Noah to eliminate the competition in the Mafia, afterwards giving him up to the police when he was no longer useful. After this, however, the Mafia cast Louie himself out for the same reason. He then helped rebuild the Yakavetta family after Joe's murder at the hands of Noah, Connor, and Murphy and let the Saints take out the rest of the organization so that he could take control. Louie signals the hitmen waiting to take out the Saints to make their move, but the Saints shoot and kill every last one of them. Noah is shot and mortally wounded during the exchange of gunfire, but shoots and kills Louie before succumbing to his gunshot wounds and dying in Connor and Murphy's arms. The police arrive and arrest the wounded Connor, Murphy, and Romeo (who has been left comatose).
Bloom meets with Father Sibeal, who has arranged to take her to a safe place out of the country to flee FBI prosecution. She is shocked to discover that Sibeal has been working with Smecker, who has faked his own death and developed a network of support for the Saints and their work. Smecker tells Bloom his plans to break the Saints out of prison.
As protesters outside of the prison shout for the freedom of the Saints, Connor and Murphy stare out of their window at the sea of prisoners in the yard, finding that they will have plenty of work while they wait to be freed.
Cast
* Sean Patrick Flanery as Connor MacManus, one-half of the MacManus twin brothers. In addition to the "Veritas" tattoo on his left hand, he now has a tattoo of Christ's upper torso and face on his back.
* Norman Reedus as Murphy MacManus, the other half of the MacManus twin brothers. In addition to the "Aequitas" tattoo on his right hand, he now has a tattoo of Christ's nailed feet on his back.
* Clifton Collins Jr. as Romeo, a Mexican fighter who becomes the twin brothers' new sidekick.
* Billy Connolly as Noah 'Il Duce' MacManus, the father of the MacManus twin brothers.
**Matthew Lemche as Young Noah MacManus
* Mairtin O'Carrigan as Father Sibeal MacManus, he is the cousin of Noah, Connor, and Murphy MacManus.
* Julie Benz as FBI Special Agent Eunice Bloom, the agent assigned to the gang murders connected to the Saints. She is a former apprentice of Paul Smecker.
* Willem Dafoe as FBI Special Agent Paul Smecker, an ally of the MacManus twin brothers in the first film. He fakes his own death and reveals at the end that he has started an agency funded by the Catholic Church that will help the Saints escape from jail and continue their work as vigilantes.
* Judd Nelson as Concezio 'Little Yaka' Yakavetta, the son of Don 'Papa' Joe Yakavetta, who was executed by the Saints in court eight years ago. He hires a hitman to execute a priest to call out the Saints.
* Bob Marley as Detective David Greenly, a detective partnered with 'Dolly' and Duffy.
* David Ferry as Detective 'Dolly' Alapopskalius, a detective partnered with Duffy and Greenly.
* Brian Mahoney as Detective Duffy, a detective partnered with 'Dolly' and Greenly.
* Richard Fitzpatrick as The Chief, Chief of the Boston Police Department.
* Daniel DeSanto as Ottilio 'The Little Man' Panza, a hitman of short stature hired by Yakavetta to kill a priest.
* Bob Rubin as George 'Gorgeous George', Yakavetta's underboss from Brooklyn. He is forced by Special Agent Bloom and the twin brothers to give information on the Yakavetta clan.
* Aaron Berg as Joe 'Jo-Jo' Rhama, one Yakavetta's top lieutenants.
* David Della Rocco as David 'The Funny Man' Della Rocco, the twin brothers' former sidekick, who was shot and killed by Joe Yakavetta in the first film. He appears in flashbacks and dream sequences.
* Paulino Nunes as Yakavetta's Capo #1
* A. Frank Ruffo as Yakavetta's Capo #2
* Stefano DiMatteo as Yakavetta's Capo #3
* Marco Bianco as Yakavetta's Capo #4
* Paul Rapovski as Yakavetta's Capo #5
* Santino Buda as Yakavetta's Capo #6
* Louis Di Bianco as Patronazzi, an old mobster and friend of Louie's.
* Tig Fong as Asian Gangster, leader of the Chinese Triads who is struggling drugs for Yakavetta.
* Paul Johansson as FBI Special Agent Bill Kuntsler, the agent who suspends Special Agent Bloom and takes over the gang murder case.
* Gerard Parkes as 'Doc' McGinty, the owner of an Irish pub and a friend of the twin brothers. He has a stutter and Tourette syndrome.
* Pedro Salvin as Uncle Cesar, Romeo's uncle and an alley of the Saints.
* Peter Fonda as Louie 'The Roman' Romano, Noah's former friend, who had him sent to prison in 1975.
**Robert Mauriell as Young Louie Romano
* Sweeney MacArthur as Jacob MacManus, Noah's father and Connor and Murphy's paternal grandfather who was brutally murdered by a trio of mobsters in the 1950's, before Connor and Murphy were born.
* Robb Wells as Jimmy 'The Gofer' Green, Concezio Yakavetta's 'consigliere'
* Dwayne McLean as Father Douglas McKinney, a priest who was killed in attempt to frame the Saints.
Production
After years in development hell, the success of the first film's DVD release spurred 20th Century Fox to finance a sequel. In March 2008, Troy Duffy confirmed the film was greenlit.
Pre-production on the film started in early September 2008. Principal photography took place in Ontario from October 20, 2008 to December 10, 2008.
Duffy kept a video diary of the film's progress on YouTube, with some of the shooting sequences, and "question and answer" segments from fans answered by the film's stars.
Marketing and release
The film's first trailer was officially released online on September 2, 2009, via IGN. The film was initially released in 67 theaters in the Northeastern and Western areas of the continental US, and was gradually released into more theaters in the following weeks.
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 23% approval rating based on 43 reviews, with a weighted average of 4.12/10. The site's consensus reads: "This sequel to the cult favorite 'The Boondock Saints' is more of the same -- unoriginal, absurd, violent, over-the-top, and occasionally mean-spirited". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 24 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".Home media
On March 9, 2010 the film was released on single disc DVD and 2-Disc Steelbook Special Edition DVD, as well as Blu-ray with special features including deleted scenes, audio commentary, and a behind the scenes featurette.[https://www.amazon.com/Boondock-Saints-II-All-Day/dp/B002UNMW7O DVD listing with release date at Amazon.com] As of June 2012, the film had a limited release and it has grossed $50 million in DVD sales.
On July 16, 2013, the film was released in a new Director's Cut as a Best Buy Exclusive release.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack became available for preorder in late March on the official Boondock Saints Store website and became available for purchase and digital download at other retailers April 7, 2010.
Books
A six-issue comic book series, made up of 3 2-issue chapters written by Troy Duffy and published by 12 Gauge Comics, was released in May 2010 as a companion to the film. The story is a more in-depth version of Il Duce's backstory together with the story of a hit the twin brothers performed that does not appear in the film.
There was also a mini-book available from the official Boondock Saints website which told a story that took place prior to the strip club scene from the first film. Both will eventually be released in a single graphic novel.
Sequel
Director Troy Duffy spoke about a potential sequel in an interview on June 13, 2011. He said that "Weve been approached to do a possible 'Boondock Saints' TV series. So the fans may be getting a part 3 as a television show. We might be able to pull that off.I actually called both Sean and Norman and they both said hell yeah, well drop everything. On March 21, 2012 it was indicated by Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus that 'Boondock Saints 3' is being written, tentatively titled "The Boondock Saints III: Saints Preserve Us."[http://www.iconvsicon.com/?s=boondock+saints+III&x=0&y=0&=Go Boondock Saints III at Icon Vision][http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/troy-duffy-bringing-boondock-saints-tv/ Troy Duffy Bringing The Boondock Saints To TV] However, on September 14, Norman Reedus stated that there would be no third film.[http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/09/15/boondock-saints-3-happening Boondock Saints 3 Happening?], IGN. Published September 14, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
Again, on February 26, 2013, Troy Duffy stated that he was getting together with Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery to resume talks about 'Boondock Saints 3', in hopes that they could make the film a reality for fans. Later in 2013 at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, Sean Patrick Flanery confirmed that 'The Boondock Saints 3' is being worked on by Troy Duffy by saying "After the recent tragedies hit Boston I texted (director) Troy Duffy to ask him about when he would work on the third one and he replied on it". On July 16, 2013, Troy Duffy stated in an interview with CraveOnline that he was halfway finished with the script for 'The Boondock Saints III'.
On May 6, 2017, Sean Patrick Flannery announced on Twitter that he and Norman Reedus had walked away from production of Boondock Saints III with no further explanation, leading the future of the series in doubt.
In November 2021, a third Boondock Saints film was officially announced, with Reedus and Flanery reprising their roles as Connor and Murphy MacManus and Duffy returning to direct. Production is slated to begin in May 2022.
References
Buy The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day now from Amazon
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