The odd flash of comic chemistry can still be detected in this uneven sequel.
Sione's 2: Unfinished Business
Can the Duckrockers do it again? Take us on another comedic adventure in the biggest Polynesian city in the world? Well, Grey Lynn, anyway. Five years after the shenanigans of Sione’s Wedding, the lovable dicks are back for Sione’s 2: Unfinished Business, older but not necessarily wiser. In fact, the “unfinished business” refers not to matters unresolved in the first film but to the boys’ continuing failure to grow up.
Nevertheless, there have been changes. Albert (Oscar Kightley) has married workmate Tania (Madeleine Sami) and moved to the North Shore, while Michael (Robbie Magasiva) has moved to Australia – although he’s still being pursued by Palagi women (and their irate men). Bolo (David Fane) has moved further into eccentricity.
But when they’re all together again – because of an event I am not at liberty to divulge – it’s clear they still have a way to go, so the film has the task of devising internal journeys for them to get where they need to go, while sending them off on a quest arising from that event.
The connection between these inner and outer journeys is, at best, tenuous, obscured by the detail of the surface action. The latter is accompanied by dialogue stuffed with banter, argument and running gags that feel repetitious rather than funny, and it takes some time for the film to get going. Even then, the purpose of the quest changes part-way through. It’s as if attention was paid more to the parts than to the whole, resulting in a narrative and thematic flatness.
Still, some of those parts are enjoyable. For example, certain members of the cast have clearly been working out. It’s also nice to see that Tania and Leilani (Teuila Blakely) have, in contrast with the boys, become smarter and more confident. There are welcome returns by minor characters – silent Eugene (Mario Gaoa), and Derek (David van Horn), aka D-Rex, gangsta wannabe – and Don McGlashan adds some Pacific magic to the soundtrack. And although more jokes fall flatter than they should, the odd flash of comic chemistry can still be detected. But have the Duckrockers done it again? Perhaps – if you’re a diehard fan.
SIONE’S 2: UNFINISHED BUSINESS, directed by Simon Bennett.