FILM REVIEW OF ''THE BOONDOCK SAINTS 2: ALL SAINTS DAY (2010)

Sophomore scenarist & director Troy Duffy has revived Connor and Murphy MacManus for his ultra-violent but often riotous sequel “The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day.” If you missed the original , these two Irish-American brothers who worked in a meat packing factory decided to arm themselves with a pair of silenced automatic pistols and imitate Charles Bronson’s “Death Wish” antics. In their case, the MacManus twins believed God had summoned them to serve as his avengers. Moreover, a rogue FBI agent pulled strings on their behalf so Connor and Murphy with their sidekick Rocco could terminate 22 of Boston’s finest criminals. According to Duffy, this 118-minute sequel materialized only because the cult status of the original convinced Hollywood that a second opus was inevitable. Happily, most of the original cast have returned and Duffy’s pro-vigilante message remains intact. Everything that made the first film engaging recurs in “The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day” (**** OUT OF ****), within the constraints of minimal realism. The controversial history of the original movie has something to do with the ten years that it took for Duffy to helm the sequel. Between the release of the original and sequel, a 2003 documentary about “The Boondock Saints” entitled “Overnight” showed what Duffy did to alienate Hollywood. Otherwise, “The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day” qualifies as both an ambitious and entertaining sequel that springs several surprises. Two of the cherished original characters bite the dust. This time around nobody accidentally shoots a cat. If you liked the original, you may enjoy the sequel.

Duffy has the “Boondock” formula down to the bullet holes, but he has made a number of changes. Many involve the replacements for the original characters who don’t return. First, FBI Agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) doesn't reprise his role. Second, super sexy, southern-drawling, FBI Special Agent Eunice Bloom (Julie Benz of "Rambo") replaces Smecker and struts around stiletto high heels. Make no mistake, Bloom ranks as Smecker’s rival when she analyzes a crime scene. Third, although Rocco makes a cameo appearance, Dully replaces Rocco with a goon every bit as hilarious as Rocco. Indeed, Romeo (Clifton Collins, Jr., of "Crank 2") replicates Rocco in most respects, but he exhibits more discipline. Our heroes encounter this outlandish Mexican aboard the freighter that they take to cross the Atlantic. Fourth, Mafioso chieftain Concezio Yakavetta (Judd Nelson of “The Breakfast Club”) serves as the chief adversary this time, and Yakavetta commands an army of trigger-happy hoodlums. Audiences that saw the first “Saints” saga know that our heroes executed Concezio’s father in a courtroom.

Meantime, Duffy preserves other plotlines. The three Boston detectives play a more integral part in this sequel’s shenanigans. They fear that their role in aiding and abetting the MacManus twins in the last courtroom scene will come back to haunt them. Peripheral characters, such as the arms dealer and Doc, the barman with Tourette's syndrome who runs McGinty’s bar, reappear along with the Boston Chief of Police. Not only does Duffy recycle the best parts of the original, but he has also gone in and fleshed out the most enigmatic character for the original, II Duce (Billy Connolly), and furnished him with a back story. The back story concerns how II Duce as a youth named Noah who grew up to become a serial executioner after he saw his father murdered before his eyes. This subplot adds a whole new dimension to “The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day.”

Our Irish Catholic vigilante heroes have been living in a self-imposed exile in Ireland herding sheep and rolling their own cigarettes with their long-haired, bearded father (Billy Connolly) with whom they were reunited during the final quarter hour of “The Boondock Saints.” A beloved Catholic priest, Father Douglas McKinney (Dwayne McLean of “Charlie Bartlett”), has been brutally murdered in his own church, and the killer has framed the MacManus twins. Specifically, he imitated their ritual of shooting their victim in the back of the head and placing pennies on the eyes. Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery of “Powder”) and Murphy (Norman Reedus of “Hero Wanted”) cut off their shoulder-length locks and excavate their hardware. They return to their old stomping grounds and vow to kill anybody who had anything to do with the priest’s demise.

Initially, Bostonians are divided over the priest’s homicide. Half of Boston believes the MacManus twins iced the poor cleric, while the other half refuse to believe that their heroes would stoop to such sacrilege. Duffy uses the scenes involving the media to recap the Saints’ exploits from the first movie and their sudden disappearance after the courtroom shoot-out eight years ago. Meanwhile, Eunice wants to feed the hysteria and keep the MacManus twins on the front page until they can find who is at the bottom of the murder. Naturally, Eunice knows Connor and Murphy had nothing to do with the priest’s slaying. At the same time, the mob is incensed about the killing of the priest because it means that somebody wants the Saints back in town. The resolution of this mystery, which involves an enigmatic character called ‘the Roman’(Peter Fonda of “Easy Rider”) fame makes the final half-hour absorbing stuff.

“The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day” bears all the earmarks of the original: audacious gunfights, profanity galore, oddball characters, fractured time lines, and witty but politically incorrect dialogue. Duffy enjoys reversing the chronological order of events. An excellent example of his fractured time line occurs in the Chinese heroin massacre—about 35 minutes into the action--when the cops first investigate the slaughter at a heroin factory and then everything shifts into flashback mode before the massacre. The difference here is Duffy gives us a look at it from the perspective of an exploitation picture. In other words, he stages the shoot-out as if it were part of a 1970s era movie. Our cigarette smoking heroes are riding in a crate atop a fork-lift driven by Romeo. They perform incredible acrobatic feats as they plummet from the crate and then wield two guns a piece like Buffalo Bill to annihilate their adversaries. The film looks old and lacerated. The actual scene with our heroes experiencing a more realistic encounter with the villains ensues after their parody scene. Not surprisingly, the ending leaves everything open for another sequel. Altogether, anybody who calls Duffy a Tarantino clone doesn't have a clue about cinematic artistry and the depth of "The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day."

FILM REVIEW OF ''A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS'' (ITALIAN-1964)

Sergio Leone’s “Per un pugno di dollari” (***1/2 out of ****) ranks not only as a landmark horse opera in the history of the western but also in evolution of the spaghetti western. Hollywood had been churning out westerns since “The Great Train Robbery” in 1903, and the Italians had been cloning those westerns before Leone revolutionized them with this Clint Eastwood epic. Indeed, mainly on the plains of Spain, Leone would reinvent the western and make it more violent than it had been until Sam Peckinpah broke new ground with his controversial 1969 western “The Wild Bunch.” “Per un pugno di dollari” altered everything and forged a new hero who was for all practical purposes an anti-hero. Joe (Clint Eastwood) shoots first in a duel, wears stubble on his jaws, and seems motivated largely by money. At one point, he behaves like a guardian angel, but for the most part, he is in it for what he can get out of it. Leone had to pare this sagebrusher down to its quintessential components because of a shoestring budget. Nevertheless, despite its financial shortcomings, this Italian-German-Spanish co-production looks fantastic in its 2.35.1 letterbox format and the Spanish and Roman locale double more or less invisibly to the simple but exciting plot. Most die-hand “Dollar” fans know that Leone and producers Arrigo Colombo and Giorgio Papi had to settle a copyright infringement suit with Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo” before they could release the film outside of Italy. Leone maintained that eighteenth Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni’s play “A Servant with Two Masters” inspired “Per un pugno di dollari,” but the courts ruled in Kurosawa’s favor.

The action unfolds as our anti-heroic protagonist rides up to a well located near two white-washed, single-storied dwellings in the middle of a parched desert. While he quenches his thirst, Joe watches as an ugly, gigantic Mexican gunman, Chico (Mario Brega of “Death Rides A Horse”), bangs off shots at the heels of a tiny boy, Jesus (Nino Del Arco), and chases him between the two houses. When Chico reaches the other house, he brutalizes the father, Julián (Daniel Martin of “The Last Tomahawk”), for letting the lad run loose. Little Jesus was only trying to see his mother, Marisol (Marianne Koch of “Clint, the Nevada's Loner”), who has been abducted by the gunmen for their boss. This unforgettable opening scene represents the first instance that we’re watching a different kind of western. Spaghetti westerns were notoriously violent yet seldom as sanguine as Sam Peckinpah’s oaters. The chief reason “A Fistful of Dollars” is not three times as bloody is that Leone was working on a low-budget and couldn’t afford such luxuries. Joe watches all of this transpire with mild curiosity. Unlike an American western hero, he doesn’t intervene, at least until later.

Joe rides into the arid hamlet of San Miguel near the Mexican border on his mule and a corpse astride a horse with the sign ‘Adios, Amigo’ passes him. No sooner has Joe gotten into town than four trigger-happy cowboys spook his mule with their gunfire. Joe grabs an overhanging pole and swings crucifixion style on it as Silvanito (José Calvo of “Twice a Judas”) steps out of his tavern to watch. Silvanito prepares food and drink for him and talks about San Miguel and its reputation for death. "Never saw a town as dead as this one," Joe observes. He explains that the town has two bosses, the Rojos and the Baxters. Joe surveys San Miguel from the second-story balcony. Silvanito explains the presence of all the gunmen in town. "They've enlisted all the scum that hangs around both sides of the frontier and they pay in dollars." Joe concocts a plan after Silvanito tells him that the Rojos are stronger than the Baxters. He ambles back down the street and kills all four of them. What differs here is that Joe draws first and faster and kills them all. The entire shoot-out is captured in a long shot with Joe fanning his revolver in the foreground.

Afterward, Joe plays both ends against the middle. The Rojos, lead by Gian Maria Volontè as Ramón Rojo, sell liquor to the Indians, while with the Baxters, led by Consuelo Baxter (Margarita Lozano), are "big gun merchants." Their respective houses face each other at either end of the street. Ramón wields a Winchester repeating rifle with devastating accuracy and always shoots for the heart. He boasts that “When a man with a .45 meets a man with a rifle, the man with the rifle wins.” Initially, Ramón is not in town when Joe goes to work for his older brother Don Miguel Rojo (Antonio Prieto of “The Sword of Zorro”) and moves in with their gunmen until he hears Ramón’s murderous younger brother Esteban (Sieghardt Rupp of “The Killer Likes Candy”) talk about killing him and retrieving the money. Meanwhile, a Mexican calvary escort passes through San Miguel with a mysterious wagon. Joe tries to peek into the stagecoach and finds a six-shooter pointed at his face.

Joe and Silvanito follow the Mexican cavalry to the river. "It's like playing cowboys and Indians," the tavern owner remarks. The Mexican Army escort arrives at their rendezvous with the U.S. Calvary at the Rio Bravo. The Mexicans have brought gold to pay for guns. They are in for a rude awakening. The Americans have been killed, and coyote-faced Ramón and his men are impersonating them. Ramón wipes out the Mexican soldiers to the last man with a machine gun. The machine gun is all wrong for the time period as well as the fact that it houses no ammunition drum on it to feed it bullets. Ramón displays his accuracy with a Winchester when one lone Mexican tries to escape on horseback and he knocks him out of the saddle with one shot. When Ramón returns from the massacre, he meets Joe. Curiously, Joe decides to hand back what is left of the money that Don Miguel gave him. "I don't like to take money unless I feel I've earned it," Joe explains. This is unusual for a Spaghetti western where refunds weren't standard. Ramón scares Joe off because he wants to call a truce with the Baxters. When Ramón asks Joe if he doesn't prefer peace to violence, Joe shrugs and replies that he has little knowledge of peace. After Joe leaves, Don Miguel reiterates his respect for the American. "At shooting a pistol no one can touch him." Ramón remains suspicious about Joe: "When someone with that face works with his gun, you may counton two things. He's fast on the trigger, but he's also intelligent."

Later, Joe returns to the scene of the massacre and appropriates two Mexican bodies and deposits them in the local graveyard. He earns $500 from each the Rojos and the Baxters when he tells them about the surviving soldiers. While the two clans are shooting at each in the graveyard, Joe finds Ramón’s gold and runs into Marisol. He punches her in the face quite by accident and then hands her over to the Baxters who engineer a trade for their son.

Sergio Leone displays a splendid flair for visuals as well as storytelling in “A Fistful of Dollars.” Ramón qualifies as the best kind of villain because he is dangerous, but Ramón’s pride at “aiming for the heart” is what leads to his destruction. Ennio Morricone’s distinctive music sets “A Fistful of Dollars” apart from all Spaghetti westerns and established new conventions for the genre. Clint Eastwood plays the anti-heroic Joe with glacial calm and Gian Maria Volontè is simply brilliant as Ramón. A number of people collaborated on the screenplay, among them Sergio Leone, Fernando Di Leo of “Wipe Out!,” Duccio Tessari of “A Pistol for Ringo,” Víctor Andrés Catena of “Three Sergeants of Bengal,” Jaime Comas Gil of “Danger! Death Ray," and even Clint Eastwood. Despite all these scribes, “A Fistful of Dollars” boasts several memorable lines.

"A Fistful of Dollars" is not without flaws. Of course,Ramón should have put a bullet in Joe's head instead of repeatedly shooting him in the heart in the final duel. Clearly, however, the villain must have his own flaws and Ramón's incredulity at his failure to kill Joe with his first shots undermined him. Chico should have smashed up Joe's right hand--his gun hand--instead of stomping on his left hand. Curiously, nobody ever gets the gold that Ramón stole from the Mexicans and concealed in his warehouse. Did the Baxters have to pour out of the front door of their headquarters during the massacre? Couldn't they have exited by the back doors. Presumably, the low budget prevented this alternative from being staged. Esteban could have shot Joe down from ambush when Joe empties his gun before the final duel with Ramón.

FILM REVIEW OF ''THE WAR WAGON'' (1967)

 "Return of the Seven" director Burt Kennedy helmed the most imaginative John Wayne western of the 1960s with "The War Wagon." This improbable but entertaining horse opera co-starred a trim Kirk Douglas at his acrobatic best as well as Howard Keel, Bruce Cabot, and Robert Walker Jr. Novelist Claire Huffaker adapted the screenplay from his novel and remains faithful to it for the most part. Huffaker penned paperback westerns so he was no stranger to the genre. He later wrote "The Deserter," "The Valdez Horses," "100 Rifles," "The Hellfighters," "The Comancheros," and "Tarzan and the Valley of Gold." Of course, a seasoned western movie scenarist like Burt Kennedy, whose writing credits include four Randolph Scott westerns "Seven Men from Now," "The Tall T," "Comanche Station," and "Ride Lonesome," brought his sensibility to the subject matter. Kennedy has said that he lightened up Huffaker's dark script. Remember, Kennedy later helmed the classic James Garner western comedy "Support Your Local Sheriff" and its lesser sequel "Support Your Local Gunfighter."  One of the weapons that all Spaghetti westerns featured prominently was the Gatling Gun, and Kennedy makes good use of a Gatling gun.

In "The War Wagon" (***1/2 out of ****), Taw Jackson (John Wayne) rides into Emmett, New Mexico, to report to Sheriff Strike. Initially, Strike (Terry Wilson of "Westworld") is surprised by Taw's arrival and believes that he has broken out of prison. No, Taw explains that he behaved himself so well for three years that he received a pardon with the stipulation that he check in every Monday with the local authority. Deputy Hoag (Gene Evans of "Fixed Bayonets!") observes critically, "Maybe prison took some of the starch out of you." Taw leaves the jail and finds Wes Fletcher (Keenan Wynn of "Point Blank") stealing sugar from Pierce and forces him to put it back. Wes plans to participate in a robbery that Taw has put together. Wes is a harsh, abrasive old man that drives a supply wagon for Pierce and has a beautiful young wife, Felicia (Ann McCrea of "River of No Return"), that he bought for $20 and a horse from her poor parents. Our protagonist sets out to find a flamboyant, temperamental gunfighter named Lomax (Kirk Douglas of "Seven Days in May") because he can crack safes and he is extremely handy with a six-gun. Taw finds him easily enough, but Lomax holds a grudge against him. "You're the only man I ever shot," he snarls with venom, "didn't kill."  We learn from Lomax that Frank Pierce paid him to kill Taw Jackson. "Sure, so he (Pierce) could legally steal your land once he found gold on it. You were a hard-working rancher defending your property yet it was you who got shot, framed, and sent to jail." Taw shares his far-fetched plan with Lomax to rob Pierce. Of course, Lomax points out Pierce transports his gold dust 43 miles between Emmett and the railhead at El Paso in an iron-plated stagecoach and with plans to add a rapid-firing Gatling gun to the roof. Taw knows that they will be pitted against 28 horsemen each armed with Henry repeating rifles, two Colt .45 revolvers, and 200 rounds of ammunition. Five men including Pierce ride in the armor-plated coach. Taw explains, however, that he has assembled five men to pull the job off... Lomax will handle the gunplay and the safe cracking. Billy Hyatt (Robert Walker Jr. of "Young Bill Young") is a teenage alcoholic but an expert with explosives. Levi Walking Bear (Howard Keel of "Kismet") will recruit an army of Native Americans to serve as their cavalry, while Wes Fletcher will be in charge of concealing the loot for six months after the robbery. Predictably, Lomax objects to Taw's grand scheme, despite the $100-thousand pay per man, because of the danger. Taw sweetens the pot. Pierce plans to haul a half-million dollars in gold dust in four days as soon as he installs the Gatling gun.

Meanwhile, when Frank Pierce (Bruce Cabot of "King Kong") learns about Taw being in town, he summons two gunmen, Hammond (Bruce Dern of "The Cowboys") and Brown (Chuck Robertson of "McLintock!"), and orders them to find Lomax. Pierce is prepared to pay Lomax up to $10-thousand for him to kill Taw. Another example of Kennedy's sense of humor occurs when Hammond and Brown find Lomax, discover that Taw is with Lomax, and try to blast them on their own. Our heroes have no trouble killing them. "Might fell first," Lomax chides Taw. "Mine was taller," Taw retorts. Our heroes rescue Levi Walking Bear from an evil band of Mexican outlaws, steal nitroglycerin from Pierce's own supplies and set about arranging their scheme to take the war wagon. At the same time, the conspirators don't like each other. (Kennedy's gunmen in "Return of the Seven" didn't get along with each other either.) Lomax detests Billy because he doesn't trust a drunkard handling explosives and Wes hates Billy because he mistakes Felicia as Wes' daughter not his wife.

The success of "The War Wagon" hinges largely on Kennedy's helming as well as his abundant sense of humor. He covers all bases in this western in 101 minutes without wearing out his welcome. There's a funny barroom brawl and the actual robbery of the war wagon is exciting stuff. The only flaw in this wonderful western adventure is the ending. The heroes are punished as if they were villains. They wind up with only a fifth of the loot. The John Wayne character here is one of the few who was convicted of a crime and had to do the time. A corrupt society enables Pierce to gain control of Taw's land and the fortune underneath it and there is no hope that Taw will ever get his ranch back or clear his name. These are events that would have been reckoned with in his Lone Star B-movie westerns. "The War Wagon" is a postmodern oater because everything is flipped upside down. Just for the record, too, the villains kill themselves so that our heroes need not dirty their hands.