Goon: Last of the Enforcers

Starring: Seann William Scott, Alison Pill, Liev Schreiber, Marc-Andre Grondin. Wyatt Russell, Kim Coates, Elisha Cuthbert, Jay Baruchel, Jason Jones, T.J. Miller
Directed by: Jay Baruchel
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Doug (Seann William Scott) contemplates retirement when a young hockey star (Wyatt Russell) steals his limelight and his role on the team.

Review:

Tim: I really didn't care for Goon- that movie felt horribly disappointing to me. But, there were some worthwhile elements, even if the film as a whole was a bit of a mess. So, I went into Goon: Last of the Enforcers reluctantly, expecting more of the same (and very likely, a worse movie). Luckily, that's not the case here. This is that rare sequel that actually improves on the original. Now, to be clear- this isn't a good movie. It's far from a good movie. That part is very unfortunate. Still, you should celebrate small wins and this movie is better than the first one.

The five years between films actually made a big difference. This movie is about tired men, clinging onto the last bits of their hockey careers. The five years age increase in Seann William Scott and Liev Schreiber makes a big difference. I really liked where this film took the characters. It felt like not only a natural progression, but an evolution of those characters that we'd actually want to see. This film offered a better script and a more interesting story than the first film.

I did enjoy a number of aspects about this film. The relationship between Doug and Ross was so great. I loved the scenes between Seann William Scott and Liev Schreiber. Seeing them interact was such a big plus for this film. Even though I don't really like the character of Doug, Scott is such a likeable guy that's he is fun to watch on screen. I hated how obnoxiously stupid Doug was in the first film. He's still dumb here, but those scenes are minimized (which was so great). Schreiber is fantastic- he was by far the best part of the original film and he again gives such a wonderfully strong performance here. I loved seeing these two get time together. I also liked the addition of Wyatt Russell. He seems to be everywhere these days, but he just has this arrogance to him that allows him to be a good antagonist (he might be a good guy in real life, but there's just something about him that rubs me the wrong way). He made the film better by offering our characters a big obstacle. We want to root against him- so he was invaluable in that aspect. Alison Pill was fine, although she didn't have much to do here. It was fun seeing Elisha Cuthbert, but I almost didn't recognize her. Jay Baruchel has a much smaller role, which was a huge benefit (and I give Baruchel the director credit for minimizing his in front of the camera time).

Now, I'm handing out compliments left and right here, and some of that is absolutely deserved. I expected to hate this movie as much as I did the first one, but I was surprised I liked it more. However, I need to be clear that this is all relative. While this film corrects many of the biggest mistakes in the first film, it's not like this is a good movie. It's a far cry from a good movie. Jay Baruchel made his feature film directorial debut here and his inexperience shows. While he certainly did a better job than Michael Dowse did with the first film, this is still a stupid, bad movie. There's too many jokes that aren't funny, scenes that don't really go anywhere. This is still a movie that's a bit hard to sit through and hold your attention. While this movie improves on the first one, it still has so many flaws to fix if it was ever going to hope to be a good movie. While I'm pleased with the quality reversal, I certainly don't hope there is a third movie. It's shocking that this film existed. Still, while Goon: Last of the Enforcers is a bad movie, it's a better film that expected.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 5.5


If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Goon, Slapshot