Goon was a brilliant sports comedy. And it was just a matter of time they would make this sequel. The trailer looked real promising and I was incredibly psyched about it. Now after having seen it I am a little underwhelmed. It still is a decent comedy but somehow more crude and less sharp.
And who can be blamed for this? Jay Baruchel. He was tied to Goon as writer, producer and actor. This time around he also came on as director. It is exactly this fact that has made Goon: Last of the Enforcers somewhat of a mess. Problem is that Baruchel wants to do too many things. He wants to address the issue some people are facing which is life after a sports career. When do change your priorities? When do you quit? When you are ready for it or will you go on until your body gives up on you? For Doug it was all this and with added anxiety towards family life. While it is admirable and quite ambitious this exploration didn't work well in the film. It detracted from the comedic antics and the action considerably. Let's face it that was one of the main attractions the original had to offer. But it didn't stop there. Baruchel also injected a troubled father son relationship that never went anywhere and again detracted from the main story. Then Baruchel is preaching about friendship and comradery which was essential in the original as well but was done better since it did not allow itself to be distracted by other topics too much. Goon was more subtle about certain themes but never forgot what it should focus on. Jay Baruchel loses focus too many times and injects too much juvenile nonsense in this flick that made me want to look away. Not that Goon wasn't crude but it was far more balanced.
Sean William Scott as Doug and Liev Schreiber as Ross again had very good chemistry. Only it's underused. Even Doug who is the main character seems to have a much more passive role in this sequel. It was Sean who rocked Goon big time and Jay Baruchel seems to have forgotten that. Not using actors like these to their full potential is also bad directing.
I still managed to enjoy myself but if you were hoping for bigger and better than you will be disappointed. Especially since all the ingredients were right there to be used. Unfortunately they weren't blended properly. Shame on you Jay Baruchel. To be fair you will feel good at the end but not as strongly as with the original.
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