From Entertainment One and director Jay Baruchel comes the highly anticipated sequel Goon Last of The Enforcers. Starring Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Alison Pill, Liev Schreiber, Elisha Cuthbert, Kim Coates and Wyatt Russell, the film is scheduled for theatrical release on September 1, 2017.
A lockout has reunited old teammates and brought a crew of new players to the bench for the Halifax Highlanders. Sidelined after one too many hits and now married with a baby on the way, Doug “The Thug” Glatt hangs up his skates and settles into life as an insurance salesman. But when Doug’s nemesis, Anders Cain, is made captain of the Highlanders and new ownership threatens to tear his team apart, Doug is compelled back into action.
Director Jay Baruchel has done the rare feat of following up the best hockey film of all time (sorry Slapshot) with a worthy sequel that hits all the right notes. Newcomer Wyatt Russell is a BEAST here and delivers what feels like the finest movie villain performance of 2017 so far. The only other show I can recall seeing Russell in lately would be that incredible Black Mirror episode where he enters a VR gaming nightmare while backpacking through Europe. He’s an incredible performer and his role as the villain in Goon: Last of The Enforcers is a scene stealing, movie best in a cast that brings back all of our favourites from the first.
After getting his ass kicked by Anders Cain (Wyatt Russell), Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott) retires as his career-ending nemesis takes his spot on the team. While Doug is trying to adapt to the boring world of insurance (I feel his pain), he begins a quest to try and get back onto the team with the help of former rival Ross Rhea (Liev Schreiber). Doug’s wife is pregnant and even as she finds out that her husband isn’t done with hockey quite yet, she lets him go but urges him not to fight… But… that’s what Doug does — he battles and protects his team. As you can imagine, with Anders Cain on the same team, his inevitable return is a tad uncomfortable.
The comedy is vulgar and the hits land harder than the latest Mortal Kombat videogames — Goon 2 is violent, hilarious and above all else — exactly what fans of the first film needed. Seann William Scott is at his best as the awkward, dimwitted Doug – who kind of just stumbles through day to day life not really knowing what to say. It’s only until he straps on his skates and drops the gloves when he feels normal and you really feel for the man because of this. The first film was the underdog story and the sequel is the glory of the comeback, but both together are the complete tale of a hockey player who isn’t the best skater, the best shooter, he’s only good at one thing – violence and I love that because it shows you just how important having this kind of player is for a hockey team.
Baruchel wrote and directed this one — making this his first feature in the big chair and I think he did an amazing job. Some jokes didn’t hit, which is funny because I think most of them came from the character that Baruchel plays himself in the film — that crude best friend who shows up to say he dropped hot meatball shits in his friend’s bathroom. Most, fortunately do land and they land very well. I loved everything the Russian brothers said as they tormented the goaltender relentlessly. Right from the opening scene where they refuse to let him eat in peace, to the moments where they detail how they both powerfucked this guy’s mother — it’s hysterical.
But what really sets Goon: The Last of The Enforcers apart from other comedic films, is the action. This movie was nasty — when punches land, blood flies… everywhere. Goon is to hockey what Rocky is to boxing, but Goon has better fist-fights — go figure. I loved everything about this sequel and as a massive fan of the first film, I think it definitely lives up to the hype and a huge part of that success is due to Wyatt Russell’s badguy. Russell’s character is the culmination of a crazed parent who forced their child to play hockey and then let that kid grow up to be a serial killer on skates. The scene where he tries to pump up his teammates and just screams “Sports!” at one point during his psychotic rant — is groundbreaking shit. Russell needs to be cast in every movie ever made and I want that same intensity from the guy. Even if you don’t like hockey (and I don’t all that much), Goon and Goon: Last of The Enforcers are an amazing double-header that should be sitting on every comedy fan’s movie shelf.
Rating: [star rating=”4.5″]