FANFIC. FANFIC ON MY SCREEN.

The whole beginning was like Brokeback Mountain, Boondocks style. With the gratuitous nakedness and the new tattoos and the hair cutting and the tattooing each other. Oh, boys.

There were the bones of what could have been a truly magnificent film in here, in the beginning and in the end, with a whole load of retreaded rubbish in the middle that was only redeemed by the powerhouse performance of Julie Benz as Smecker's protege.

So much screentime was squandered on supporting actors, when the true strength and charisma of these films has, and always will lie in the unique chemistry and boyishness of Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flannery, even ten years on.

Speaking of, the age definitely shows in their faces, but by god if it wasn't in a good way, I'll eat my hat. And their bodies were just phenomenal for actors of their age.

If only they had focused on that compelling origin story, on the dark notion of whether the violence comes from God or from their blood, if only they hadn't wasted that good hour in the middle on a plot essentially identical to that of the first film, only with a lesser quality of humour and verve.

Which is not to say there were not awesome moments threaded throughout, but every single on of those redeeming moments came from the boys, or Julie Benz, and I just hate that there was apparently this need to go balls out on the humour that made its mark by being more subtle and dark in the first movie.

God. That set-up for a third film looks amazing though. GOD, PLEASE GIVE ME THIS THING, FOR I MAY DIE A LIFE UNLIVED UNTIL I SEE WILLEM DAFOE AND JULIE BENZ MASTERMIND A JAILBREAK WHILE THE BOONDOCK BOYS RUN THE PRISON AND LIVE RAPEY HURT/COMFORT FANFIC ON MY SCREEN.

Apparently there is a third film in mind, but it hasn't really gotten off the ground.

All through the film - and I know this is sacrilege - I just kept thinking wishfully of what someone like Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino could have done with this film. I adored how Duffy did the original, but it seems like he's reached his limit here, with all the retreading and whatnot.

Overall, I loved it - how could I not, with the boys doing their thing on my screen again after all this time? I just wished the film could have fully lived up to its potential.