Punk's Dead: SLC Punk 2

I don't know what happened to the writer/director between this and the original, maybe just age? Either way after having watched both back to back it is insane that they came from the same mind.

The first is both poignant and satirical, dripping with irony and original takes. The sequel is, bar some interesting ideas thrown in but never realised, simply a celebration of Punk and escapism. It lacks almost everything that made the original great. Even in the first 5 minutes you can tell the difference. Everything in the sequel is glamorised, there are touches of struggle, but mostly it's something to aspire to. The original starts off showing how crappy the lifestyle is and how false a lot of the philosophy is. There is a real sense of hopelessness and anarchy, whereas this film is basically saying "yay, it's cool to be yourself!"

Overall there are things to like here and it works for a 12 year old to watch and want to emulate, but somehow the original is much more advanced despite being over 20 years old. It makes no sense, maybe it is supposed to be ironic. The original message seemed to be that everyone sells out in the end, and this could act as a meta proof of that, if so it is genius!

The first SLC Punk answered some questions that people might (or might not have) asked. About the 80's midwest HxC Scene, what was going through these suburban white kid's heads.

It did the scene some justice, and while not quite breaking untread ground, it was fun enough.

This one came out of left field. Didnt answer any questions. And while SLC Punk might have been a passion project, I don't really know what this was, or who really wanted it.

I will say, I loved the scenes with Shawn and Matt the Mod, and even Crash when Bob's son wasnt on the screen. Overall, not too bad... Would I recommend it:?

No. There's far, far better. Like Penelope Spheeris' Suburbia.

To be honest, this movie isn't a sequel to the first film in any relatable sense. Some characters appear with the same names as some in the first film, there is some narration that happens, a goth kid goes to a punk show, gets hammered, has a revelation while getting the hell beat out of him, and end show? SLC Punk! was a surprisingly great film. This one? Not so much. The production values weren't good, the acting was uninspired, and the direction was horrible. The original was one of those films better left on its own. It was like they were pressured to make it at gunpoint and this was the post-mortem product.

This is what happens when you try to recapture lightning in a bottle while standing in a half-full kiddy pool.

I like many other misfits gravitated towards a film like SLC Punk! in the late 90's because it was a great coming of age tale. It was a movie for anyone and everyone who had ever felt like they just didn't belong, especially from a small town where most all forms of personal expression made you some kind of a pariah. So to find a film like James Merendino's original really spoke to the majority of us. It's sequel, however, falls short of delivering anything beyond a few tiny chuckles.

SLC Punk! had and continues to have a huge following, of which this sequel couldn't have even been possible without all the fan support. But like many cult classics, it's follow up is overall redundant and doesn't really go anywhere we haven't already been before. After a couple quick feelings of nostalgia for seeing some familiar faces, Punk's Dead is pretty much just a less interesting rehash of the original. The drama is absent in this one, and the important points are ignored in order to make a quick joke that no one will really be laughing about. It pretty much is the polar opposite of SLC Punk! in the worst way possible. The characters, new and old, could have easily been replaced by cardboard cutouts and it really wouldn't have made that much of a difference.

It's worth watching once to say you've seen it, but it looks and feels like a much more amateurish film that the original. It spends so much time giving us commentary on how so much has changed and frankly, there isn't much that's interesting to say about this generation. If there's something to take away from the film, it's that simply, some stories are better left untold, even if the characters have moved on and changed since then. Where they end up is just disappointing and it feels as if they just go around in circles for the entirety of this movie. As for me, I'll stick with the first film and having seen this once, I never need to watch it again.

It was 50/50, half good, half rotten. If the creator of this sequel just focused on the three main characters, Ross, Penny and Crash, and their road adventure, while relegating the adult characters to background players, this could have been a very good movie. The three kids were great in their roles, especially the actress who was Penny.. very genuine performance. When the focus was on those guys the movie took off. But when the scene shifted to Trish and the Goth girl in the shop, the whole thing crashed with a dull thud. Trish was AWFIL, and Devon Sawa's character was poorly written too. Of course it was awesome seeing James Duvall as John, the Norwegian Black Metal guy.. I liked him since "Doom Generation," and he's always good. I can't believe how ripped he looks here! Unfortunately his character is only seen interacting with the ones who bring the movie down. Anyway there was a good movie in there, but it's been diluted with too many scenes that just don't work. They really screwed it up!