Have you ever sat down to watch the sequel to a movie and been left wondering, why the hell did they make this movie? It happens, and could be because of many reasons. I don't know the exact motivation behind director James Merendino returning to pen a follow up to 1998'a SLC Punk, and that unfortunately shows throughout the film.
It is difficult to not think of an original property and what it was when you are viewing a sequel. The film that you are watching should be a stand alone experience and judged on its own merits. This was very hard to do while watching Punk's Dead: SLC Punk 2. The first film was about the battle for personal identity and self discovery, and the tone of the directing matched it well. It had a unique feel to it, and it was lead by the outstanding performance of Matthew Lillard as Stevo, a punk living in Salt Lake City who had to come to terms with everything he believed about anarchy and life.
Punk's Dead misses out on harnessing an identity of it's own. It does try through various methods, although most of them rely on brining back characters from the original film. It can be tiring watching a movie that is just focusing first and foremost on fan service, as the story suffers just to fill in as many call backs as possible. The worst such offender is the fact that the film is narrated by Heroin Bob, who passed away in the first film. He is our guide from behind the grave, and, although actor Michael Goorjian tries hard, he is a very sterile and word spewing guide, the very kind that makes us ask for our money back at the end of the tour.
Perhaps that is the best way to describe this film. It is not an actual experience that the audience feels, but a tour that has been arranged with points to stop at along the way. The narrative focuses on the straight laced goth offspring of Bob, Ross (Ben Schnetzer). Even though he never met his father, we are shown from our seats on the tour bus that he has father issues, although it is never adequately on display. More so just like animatronics on a Disney Land journey.
What I suppose the movie is to teach us is that sometimes we need to step outside of ourselves and grasp onto a new experience in life to understand what else may reside on the dark edges of our comfort zones. If this is indeed the message, it is muddled through a bland script that lacks the upbeat tempo of the first film. We don't necessarily feel for Ross, but rather want him to be punched in the face a few times. It worked for Edward Norton in Fight Club, and I would have loved to see that self involved brat get a slug to the old kisser. We eventually do get that, and it is finally a moment to pay attention to the screen.
There are times when I can say that while I didn't like a sequel, die hard fans of the original will find joy in it. That's not the case here, though. I doubt that anyone will enjoy this herding of former cast members in for the sake of it will appeal to anyone. It is a complete shame that a movie about inner and outer identity is followed up by a movie that has neither.
Rating - 1 out of 4 stars
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