‘Goon: Last Of The Enforcers’ Movie Review Roundup: Sequel Gets Mixed Reviews

Goon sequel, Goon: Last of the Enforcers, hits theaters today, and has received mediocre reviews. The film earned a 48% on Rottentomatoes. Goon 2 follows Sean William Scott as Doug “the Thug” Glatt after he is dismissed from his hockey team after too many injuries. His wife pregnant wife insists he find a stable job, and he soon takes one as an insurance salesman, but the call back to hockey is too strong for him to ignore.

Written and directed by Jay Baruchel, Goon 2 has critics split down the middle with some saying it was disappointing, and others enjoying rooting for the goon. Liev Schreiber returns, as well as Kim Coates, Marc-André Grondin, and Alison Pill.

GOON: LAST OF THE ENFORCERS REVIEW ROUNDUP

“First-time director Jay Baruchel oversees matters with skill and enthusiasm — even if he is a little too enthusiastic to demonstrate the project’s un-PC bona fides — and Scott is once again amiability incarnate as the good-hearted Glatt. But the film’s real treat is its deep acting bench with franchise veterans Scott, Pill, Liev Schreiber, Kim Coates, and Marc-André Grondin joined by Elisha Cuthbert, TJ Miller, and, of course, Russell, a real-life former hockey pro whose troubled villain is worthy of a redemptive spin-off film. As the film’s routinely foul-mouthed characters would never say, Goon: Last of the Enforcers is, for the most part, a pucking good time.”
–Clark Collis, ew.com

“Baruchel’s a better comic actor than he often gets credit for and a solid writer, but this is a film that doesn’t feel like it has a director. It’s shapeless and lacks the energy of the first movie. You can almost see the actors getting bored. A friend of mine suggested they made the movie because they all just wanted to hang out again, which may be true but even that friendly energy didn’t make it to the screen. It’s a flat, lifeless affair. Part of the problem is that the characters don’t even feel consistent to the first film. They turned Eva into a plot device in the “Pregnant Wife Who Needs a Responsible Husband” role and even Baruchel’s Pat feels like someone doing a bad impression of the first character… Even Doug feels dumber, although Scott does the best he can to breathe life into the character again. Only Schreiber’s character feels interestingly developed—he’s turned from the villain into the guy who knows what it’s like to be an over-the-hill enforcer.”
–Brian Tallerico, rogerebert.com

“As happy as we may be to see these characters again at the start, by the time Doug lays down his hockey stick for good at this comedown’s close, we aren’t sad to see them go. They’ve taken enough abuse, and perhaps deserve to be retired while they still retain at least some of our goodwill… Goon was a keeper. The perhaps prophetically named Last isn’t exactly 101 minutes in the penalty box, but it’s a disappointing throwaway.”
–Dennis Harvey, Variety

“Though not as fresh or funny as its predecessor, this feature directing debut for actor Jay Baruchel stays true to its spirit and will please its most enthusiastic fans.”
–John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter

“Unfortunately, actor Jay Baruchel, who co-wrote both films and makes his directing debut here, hasn’t found the energetic balance between the crude, the slapstick and the sweet that made the previous, Michael Dowse-directed effort an unassuming treat, resulting in an uninspired rematch that’s about as zippy as a Zamboni.”
–Michael Rechtshaffen, Los Angeles Times