JJBrent

So very poorly written that it's painful to see all the fine actors and production value go to waste.

Very good acting performances. Good cinematography.

Obviously the filmmakers wanted to drive home May economic and racial injustices but the brow beating makes it less a social commentary and more an eye rolling after school special.

Dialog comes off like a junior high student wrote it and there is ZERO understanding of police procedure or even how a body camera works.

Literally every bit of dialog is a statement of exposition and nobody talks the way people in this movie do. NOBODY.

This movie wishes it was Training Day 16 Blocks or End Of Watch. Sorry. Not even close.

I really hate seeing good money and fine actors being thrown down the toilet. That's what greenlighting this film with this writer and director did. Good premise. Awful execution.

WOW! I absolutely loved the original. This one is so bad, I almost hate the first movie. Seriously awful. It's full of terrible acting performances from actors who put in a good turn first time around. I hate when a character knows what's quirky about themselves. I can't believe in them when everyone appears as though they know they're in a movie and are IN on the joke. They're not supposed to be, only the audience is. The movie is filled with forced references to what came off in the first film as spontaneous but simply now fall flat. Reedus and Flanery are slumming here. Also slumming is Julie Benz who is basically playing Kyra Sedgwick as The Closer (2005 TV Series). I understand the draw to be in this film, knowing the cult following of the original but this was a big mistake for everyone involved from top to bottom. I don't want to blame the actors totally, there's hardly a good performance to be seen, but with what they had to work with, good lord.

I wanted to love this so bad. I even lowered my expectations in order to have a buffer to allow me to think it was better than expected. Impossible. Boondock Saints one was lightning in a bottle. Perhaps even a fluke. Sure, I saw "Overnight" and bore witness to the train wreck that was Troy Duffy but I always felt saddened by the fact that the original movie showed that he actually had talent and that his demise meant never seeing what he could do if given all of the right ingredients to make more films. If they are anything like this one, I would say that BS1 was indeed a fluke not to be repeated. Furthermore, it makes me wonder if he actually directed BS1.

Unless your character's are Ferris Bueller, they shouldn't be so self aware. It takes them and your audience out of the movie. We need to discover the path WITH our heroes, not have it all drawn out like Wyle E. Coyote's moronic designs. Repeatedly in this film a character will say something and, as the audience member you think, "I knew he was going to say that. And I wish he hadn't"

By the way, I sure wish Judd Nelson would could land some major films. Given the right script and director, we could get some great performances out of him. Right when he seemed to be channeling Pacino, he was derailed with asinine dialog injected to sound witty , profound or even just profane but landed like a thud. I hearken back to Saints 1 where Carlo Rota as Yakavetta is yelling at someone on the phone as he gets his sandwich. That exchange is confusing and out of contexts but feels so real. It was either his brilliant acting or a combination of that, script and direction. That movie was filled with that brilliance. BSII had NONE of it. I'd say the best part of this movie is the tease we get of Rocco and his voice over at the opening of the film. The rest goes downhill so fast it's almost a free fall.

I will forever try to forget that this movie exists so I can still enjoy the raw energy and relentless pace of the first film. This movie is the second Boondock Saints film, yes, that's right, it's NUMBER TWO!

Yes, I said masterpiece. What an out-of-the-park home run this film is. Frame one to the appearance of the film's title after the fade to black. The FILM, not movie, went far beyond any expectations I'd had. A fan of the TV show, I admit that I'm guilty of what so many others are guilty of. That being a complete and utter misconception of what I remember the 80's series to be. Admit it, we think of the wardrobes and the 80's lifestyles and don't even remember the story lines. It almost as if we just can't get past Don Johnson's singing career to remember what Miami Vice really was. Trust me, pick it up on DVD and you'll see from the get-go how raw and hard the TV show really was.

This film will not make the money it deserves to make. Too many nay-sayers and those fed up with TV-Show-To-Movie projects. That's too bad because Michael Mann is only getting better. An amazing accomplishment here is that the story (what's up with all the critics finding it hard to follow?) is so engrossing and involved that not even the celebrity of it's two stars can distract. Credit the director, the writing and the actors to be sure. Collin and Jamie become all new people of flesh and blood. I, for one, appreciate the subtlety displayed by all of the players. One of my favorite movies of all time is Scarface, but even it has it's moments where suspension of disbelief is shaken by and actor here or there that just doesn't get the line out or seems overzealous. Not here. From stars to bit parts to extras this film bleeds authenticity. I felt as though I was taken into this world and literally experiencing it with the characters.

All too often "bad guys" are played out in such a stereotypical way that it's hard to be fearful for the heroes. Not here. Much care was put into making them HUMAN. A much darker way to approach the subject matter. Avoiding stereotypes, we watch our villains in everyday settings and having conversations that feel like real people conversing, not simply spoting off lines that drive the plotting of their evil schemes. These are businessmen who's business is crime and they do it well.

I was emotionally involved and concerned. This is a brutal film. I don't say that to infer that there's an excess of violence but to illustrate that even beyond the violence displayed is another dynamic altogether where it's understood that the unknown is far more frightening than what's right in front of your eyes.

Watching JAWS, we all know that the shark is a fake yet we were scared out of our minds. What was ultimately more frightening than seeing the shark itself was watching those barrels move around the water, disappear and the re-surface and just bob there a bit. I felt that same anxiety here. I'm reluctant to go into plot points but we all know that the film involved drug dealers and undercover officers. What makes this film truly stand out is the insider's view to both sides of the conflict. I love HEAT but wanted so much more of the investigative and criminal sides of the story. I understand now why it was made the way it was but Miami Vice delivers all of what I would have wanted and more from a film of this genre.

I love where this film took the characters. I want more. Really, this film is the "hang your balls out there" film of the year. Probably won't get nominated (by virtue of name only) but it certainly deserves to be. Look out for another outstanding performance from Barry Shabaka Henley. Stellar acting all around. I want this entire cast and crew when I make my films.