Release Date: March 17th, 2017.
Rating: 18A
“I’ll make it quick for ya.”
I was a fan of the original Goon for me, it was a film that came out of nowhere and I randomly watched on Netflix and eventually ended up picking up the blu ray at Future Shop on a sale I think it was and its been a film I’ll watch routinely once a year. I thought the original film was something special and hilarious. When I found out that there was going to be a sequel I was immediately excited at the thought of it, and my excitement went through the roof when I found out that Jay Baruchel was directing the film as a first time director.
Goon: Last Of The Enforcers is a comedy and sport film about a hockey player plagued by injuries is confronted with the possibility of retirement when a tough new player challenges his status as the league’s top enforcer.
Goon: Last of the Enforcers is directed by Jay Baruchel in his theatrical directorial debut. He directed the episode in season 8 of the Trailer Park Boys entitled “Crawling Through The Shitpipe” in 2014. As someone who watches a lot of films, I would have never thought if I didn’t IMDB Jay Baruchel that Goon 2 was his first film that he’s directed. The way in which he moves the camera, and his choice of cuts and putting his camera in interesting places. You would think that he’s been directing films for years. I’ve been a fan of Jay Baruchel for years as an actor for years and now I can firmly say I’m a fan of his directing style and his script writing skill and I can not wait to see what he gets his hands on next. He adds his own unique flair to each of his films, whether he’s in front of the camera or behind the camera.
Goon: Last of the Enforcers is written by Jay Baruchel and Jesse Chabot. It is also based on a book written by Adam Frattasio and Douglas Smith (I didn’t actually know it was a book, I learned something new writing this) Anyways Jay Baruchel’s writing credits include the original Goon (2011) with Evan Goldberg. This is actually Jesse Chabot’s first film he’s written but wrote 14 episodes of Just For Laughs: All-Access in 2014. I personally liked the script for Goon 2 more than the original Goon, the original Goon was definitely hilarious and well constructed, but Last of the Enforcers I felt was more tightly woven and had a stronger story for me. It was absolutely hilarious and there were moments where my belly hurt from laughing, but there were also some really touching moments in the film, and the underlying theme of family really got to me. Family whether by blood, or friends or teammates is an extremely important bond that will never be broken and although those people may play pranks or joke at your expense, they’ll always love you and you’ll always love them.
Before getting into the cast of the film, I wanted to give special recognition to the soundtrack of the film. From what I heard it was all Canadian music, which made the film more special. There was Matthew Good’s “Weapon,” Alexisonfire’s “Dogs Blood” and another Matthew Good song in instantly recognized the beat of, but I can’t remember the title for whatever reason. I think it was really cool that they used all Canadian Music or if I’m wrong about that, mostly Canadian music. As hockey is Canada’s favourite past time, it only seems fitting to use Canadian music. I felt like it was a brilliant love letter to Canada in more ways than one.
Goon: Last of the Enforcers stars Seann William Scott, Liev Schreiber, Wyatt Russell, Elisha Cuthbert, Alison Pill, Kim Coates and Jay Baruchel among many others that form this great cast.
Seann William Scott’s filmography consists of American Pie (2000), Final Destination (2000), American Pie 2 (2001), Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), American Wedding (2003), The Rundown (2003), Old School (2003), Role Models (2008), Goon (2011), and American Reunion (2012). I always enjoy watching Seann William Scott act, he takes me back to my youth watching the American Pie movies. He is a really funny, underrated and great actor, I love his role as Doug Glatt in these movies, he has the perfect mix of comedy, but can change on a dime and be more serious when needed. He did a great job in this film, and was a lot of fun to watch.
Liev Schreiber’s filmography consists of Ransom (1996), Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), Scream 3 (2000), The Omen (2006), Defiance (2008), Repo Men (2010), Goon (2011), and Spotlight (2015). I really enjoy Schreiber as an actor, seeing his filmography laid out in front of me, its not hard to tell that he can do any type of role, I loved his character in Spotlight, but that film theres so much to love. Its really neat to see him play the role of Ross Rhea again, he plays the role so well and his one liners are hilarious.
Wyatt Russell’s filmography consists of Cowboys & Aliens (2011), This Is 40 (2012), 22 Jump Street (2014), and Everybody Wants Some!! (2016). Honestly, I’m not too caught up on this guys roles, I remember him very well however in 22 Jump Street (2014) and Everybody Wants Some!! (2016). Last of the Enforcers really put his talents at the forefront, he was an asshole, but played the asshole character well, where in the other two films I felt like he was on the more loveable side. I’m intrigued to see what he does next for sure.
Elisha Cuthbert’s filmography consists of Popular Mechanics for Kids {TV Show}, Love Actually (2003), Old School (2003), The Girl Next Door (2004), and 24 {TV Series} (2001-2010). I’ve always really liked Elisha Cuthbert, I also think she’s been the longest celebrity crush I’ve had. I remember watching her and Jay Baruchel everyday when I was younger on Popular Mechanics for Kids. But even as an actor, she always does a good job at whatever I’ve seen her in. She was absolutely brilliant in 24 as Kim Bauer. She was one of my favourite new characters in Goon: Last of the Enforcers; every time she talked I would chuckle, and thinking back about a couple of one liners she had, I still find myself chuckling.
Alison Pill’s filmography consists of Dan In Real Life (2007), Milk (2008), Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010), Midnight In Paris (2011), Goon (2011), and Hail, Caesar! (2016). I think Alison Pill is an underrated actress, everything I’ve seen her in has been good, she is very consistent. It was really cool to see her reprise her role as Eva, and I thought her role in this sequel was great.
Kim Coates filmography consists of Bad Boys (1995), Black Hawk Down (2001), Hostage (2005), Silent Hill (2006), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), and Goon (2011). Kim Coates is hilarious as the coach in both Goon (2011) and Goon: Last Of The Enforcers (2017), he is one of my favourite characters in this movie franchise, his pep talks always make me laugh.
Last but not least Jay Baruchel’s filmography consists of Almost Famous (2000), Undeclared {TV Series} (2001-2003), Million Dollar Baby (2004), Knocked Up (2007), Tropic Thunder (2008), The Trotsky (2009), Fanboys (2009), How To Train Your Dragon (2010), Goon (2011), This Is The End (2013), and Robocop (2014). Jay’s role in Goon: Last Of The Enforcers is more quality over quantity as he had to direct, but when he was on screen there was instant laughs, much like the original. I love him in pretty much any movie he’s been in, but still my favourite film of his has to be This Is The End (2013), so if you haven’t seen that, I highly recommend it.
I thought the cast was really great in this movie, they did a great job casting new faces amongst the cast you already know from the original film. Its also easy to tell that the cast had a lot of fun making this film, it added a lot to their chemistry on screen.
A successful sequel to me is a film that takes ideas and characters from the original film, and puts them in new but similar situations with a tighter story and new jokes. On that scale of successful, I feel like Goon: Last of The Enforcers is a very successful sequel, in fact I would say I enjoyed it more than the original film.
I give Goon: Last of the Enforcers a 4/5, its definitely a love letter to Canada and a really well directed first film from Jay Baruchel, I can’t wait to see what he does next!
Until Next Time,
-Andrew
**NOTE**
This screening was really special because it was actually hosted by Jay Baruchel who got to talk about the film afterwards in a Q & A style format. It was really cool to get an inside look into his mind and to this film. Not only that but I got to briefly meet him and he signed my copy of This Is The End, what a great dude!