Punk's Dead: SLC Punk 2

The first SLC Punk answered some questions that people might (or might not have) asked. About the 80's midwest HxC Scene, what was going through these suburban white kid's heads.

It did the scene some justice, and while not quite breaking untread ground, it was fun enough.

This one came out of left field. Didnt answer any questions. And while SLC Punk might have been a passion project, I don't really know what this was, or who really wanted it.

I will say, I loved the scenes with Shawn and Matt the Mod, and even Crash when Bob's son wasnt on the screen. Overall, not too bad... Would I recommend it:?

No. There's far, far better. Like Penelope Spheeris' Suburbia.

I was glad when it was over.

I wonder why anyone would make such a listless movie.

The characters each seem indulgent yet none are developed to the point where they provide any interest.

The usefulness of a car ride as a sort of journey device is marginalized by the redundant and boring settings.

The production value is mix and match mediocre.

The narrator's bad acting is creepier than the creepiness of employing a dead narrator character.

The climax of the story is not even anti climatic, but at least you know the end is near.

Slc Punk was one of the greatest films about the social commentary of the punk rock scene in the mid 80's. So when I heard this film was getting a sequel I was intrigued. It was great seeing SOME of the original cast return. Devon Sawa saved this movie. I was disappointed with the overall story of this film. It was a road trip film. Penny was behind the wheel most of the movie. The dialogue so bland I couldn't invest myself in the new characters. MGK was fine but was in the shadow of StevO, so he was fighting an up hill Battle. Ross was bland, over emotional with little explanation or character development of the relationship he was grieving over. Many returning characters were misused. At the end of the day, this film suffered from poor writing. Not really having anything groundbreaking to say unlike the first one. Very disappointing.

It was 50/50, half good, half rotten. If the creator of this sequel just focused on the three main characters, Ross, Penny and Crash, and their road adventure, while relegating the adult characters to background players, this could have been a very good movie. The three kids were great in their roles, especially the actress who was Penny.. very genuine performance. When the focus was on those guys the movie took off. But when the scene shifted to Trish and the Goth girl in the shop, the whole thing crashed with a dull thud. Trish was AWFIL, and Devon Sawa's character was poorly written too. Of course it was awesome seeing James Duvall as John, the Norwegian Black Metal guy.. I liked him since "Doom Generation," and he's always good. I can't believe how ripped he looks here! Unfortunately his character is only seen interacting with the ones who bring the movie down. Anyway there was a good movie in there, but it's been diluted with too many scenes that just don't work. They really screwed it up!

I don't know what happened to the writer/director between this and the original, maybe just age? Either way after having watched both back to back it is insane that they came from the same mind.

The first is both poignant and satirical, dripping with irony and original takes. The sequel is, bar some interesting ideas thrown in but never realised, simply a celebration of Punk and escapism. It lacks almost everything that made the original great. Even in the first 5 minutes you can tell the difference. Everything in the sequel is glamorised, there are touches of struggle, but mostly it's something to aspire to. The original starts off showing how crappy the lifestyle is and how false a lot of the philosophy is. There is a real sense of hopelessness and anarchy, whereas this film is basically saying "yay, it's cool to be yourself!"

Overall there are things to like here and it works for a 12 year old to watch and want to emulate, but somehow the original is much more advanced despite being over 20 years old. It makes no sense, maybe it is supposed to be ironic. The original message seemed to be that everyone sells out in the end, and this could act as a meta proof of that, if so it is genius!