remindmeofthe | (no subject)

So, I suppose it would be remiss of me not to share some thoughts on a movie I've been dreading for almost a decade.

So . . . yeah. In some ways it was pretty good (lots of funny dialogue, for example, and you'd never have known a decade had passed since the last film by the way Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery clicked right back together with their wonderful chemistry), in some ways it was . . . about what I expected. A lot of it felt like a retread of the first movie - wacky hijinks of plans gone awry, a bunch of religious symbolism that I'm sure Troy Duffy thought was So Deep but actually didn't make any damn sense, a sidekick who was basically an annoying Hispanic version of Rocco - although there was also some good stuff worked into the tired old sequel clichés. Like, it digs back into the past for a random storyline with Il Duce's origins, which is typical sequel fodder and really starts dragging toward the end, but on the other hand, man, it was really nice to learn some history for the guy. He just comes out of fucking nowhere in the first movie with some barebones explanation slotted in, so you can't really argue with getting to learn more about him.

There was also the inevitable return of popular characters from before, like Doc ("Fuck! Ass!"), and our trio of cops. Which was awesome, because a) Bob Marley's presence convinced my mother to go see the movie, which is not playing at any theaters I can easily get to by myself, and b) we got to see a little more of them on their own as they flipped their shit over the murders bringing attention back to the Saints. Which could have gotten them in some serious shit if the FBI agent assigned to the case hadn't been Smecker's protege, Eunice Bloom.

(I don't want to deal with Eunice. Troy Duffy has some fucking issues about women and they're on full and creepy display here, in everything from Eunice's Southern belle accent to the five-inch fucking stilettos that of COURSE she wears to investigate a crime scene, wouldn't you? Yuk. All of which is too bad, because Julie Benz was fabulous as always.)

But anyway. Most of the shoutouts to the first film were pretty solid; right off the top of my head, my favorite was Dolly painstakingly going out of his way to use the word "symbolism" correctly. You can just tell he'd wanted to do that for years, and since he couldn't do it with Smecker (what with Smecker's death from unspecified causes and all; we'll get back to that), then by damn, he'd try it on Eunice instead. Sadly, she has not seen the first movie, so she had no idea wtf he was doing, which was pretty funny.

Also: Greenly gets a first name! It's David. I heart Greenly; not only is he a fun character, but he's played by a Maine celebrity, Bob Marley, who I liked before I'd ever been heard of the first movie.

So, naturally, he fucking got killed off.

Maaaaan. I wasn't surprised about Smecker, okay? We've known for years that he was being replaced with Eunice because Willem Dafoe couldn't/wouldn't do the sequel, so I've figured for a while now that he'd get killed to explain his absence. I was not happy - I love Smecker, he's one of my all-time favorite characters and has been for about seven years now - but I was ready.

But fucking killing off Greenly, that's just MEAN. He got a good exit, and a cameo in the brothers' shared dream of wtfery involving Rocco and a whole lot of off-putting celebration of stereotypical masculine traits ("Men don't show their true feelings! Men don't cry!" Not even making that up), but GODDAMMIT. With that plus Smecker's death (and the annoying lack of information regarding it), I lost all interest in the rest of the movie. Greenly is a popular character among fans and that's very obviously the reason why Troy Duffy chose him to kill off, and I HATE shit like that. As a Whedon fan, you'd think I'd be used to it, but Whedon never gave me seven years of loving a character first. That's a long damn time! Argh.

Hey, Greenly: Thanks for comin' out.

So after that, I stopped caring; if I'd been alone, I might have left.

IT IS A GOOD FUCKING THING I WASN'T ALONE THEN LET ME TELL YOU. (Hee, anyone reading this who has seen the movie has been going, "Did you see the ending, dumbass?" for the last few paragraphs.)

Because guess what, you guys? Paul Smecker lives. He faked his death and joined up with some gigantic multimillion-dollar vigilante operation of I don't even fucking know because I was too busy going HOLY SHIT IT'S SMECKER HE'S ALIVE HOLY FUCKING SHIT to listen, and the whole thing was a total sequel hook, but he was ALIVE and still AWESOME and okay Troy Duffy I forgive you for killing Greenly. They were really clever about keeping the secret, too - Dafoe's name doesn't appear once in the credits, so it couldn't have leaked prior to the movie's debut. And I haven't been into the fandom for years and years, so I haven't been anywhere I might have come across the information in the last month and a half.

So, yeah. The sequel was about as extraneous as I thought it would be, with a lot of fucked-up gender stuff (and don't forget the constant homophobia, this time not ameliorated by the presence of a badass gay character; it may be authentic to the kind of people the movie is dealing with, but that didn't make it any less tiresome), and it wasn't worth waiting a decade, and they fucking killed Greenly . . . but every last bit of that was made more than worth it for that electrifying moment when I first heard Paul Smecker's voice and realized that one of my favorite characters was still alive.

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I willingly read this because I have no idea when I will ever see the movie (am UK based), and I couldn't wait! I want to see it! I..never ever expect a sequel to be as good as the original first film. I don't think I have ever seen one, really. But it's more, and the last bit...makes it worth it :D

Thanks!

Sequels are tricky. Especially sequels to stories that are, you know, finished. Which is why I was convinced this would suck - it just wasn't necessary. The Saints' story had been told. It was over.

But it was what it was, and OMG SMECKER, and now I don't have to go "I seriously can't fucking believe they're actually going to do this" anymore.

I read this because I'm not likely to actually see the movie, at least not in theaters (I hardly ever go see movies), but I wanted to know if it was irredeemably awful or whatever. Kind of wish I'd stopped before the last couple paragraphs! because if I ever do see it, the surprise will be ruined. But I guess that means if I do see it, I can tune out the gender!fail with "PAUL SMECKER COMES BACK AT THE END, LA LA LA."

I know! I briefly considered not talking about it, since I firmly believe that not knowing is half the fun when it comes to fandom. I hate spoilers, and there are some spoilers that are so big that being spoiled for them can really deflate something. This would be one of them. I'm really, really glad I had no idea it was coming.

. . . oooon the other hand, you're not wrong about needing a shield against the genderfail. I like that women are peripheral in the first movie, because what little you do see - well. I had a bad feeling about Eunice even before I saw the trailer with those ridiculous shoes. Although, thank god, the movie does not go the agonizing route of having her fall for either of the boys; the closest it gets to a romantic story of any kind is a thing with Greenly where he's hot for her and she doesn't seem entirely disinterested. So it at LEAST does not reduce her to a love interest like 99% of testosterone-laden flicks do to the female characters, which is . . . something, at least. It doesn't make up for the shoes or the leering camera or a billion other things that I probably would have picked up on if I were film student, but it is one less thing the movie fails at.

BUT PAUL SMECKER COMES BACK AT THE END. SO IT'S ALL GOOD.

Did you get your X-mas card? I had your address from last year so if you moved, it's probably lost to the wilds of the US postal service, never to be seen again. :P

I haven't gotten anything yet, but I also haven't moved recently, so I'll let you know when I do!

Aaand it came in the mail today. Thank you! ♥

Yaaay, I don't have to kill the Postal Service! And you're welcome. :D