Nick Danger What seems obvious to me is that this movie was definitely written with the return of the Matthew Lillard "Stevo" character in mind. All the secondary characters from the first movie who returned for this one claim an uncle-type relationship with Ross, the son of Bob, who is the main character in this movie. But none of those guys had particularly close relationships with Bob, or Trish, the mother, in the first movie. The only character who did was Stevo. So yeah, the subtext here is, the movie was written for Lillard but he decided not to do it.My guess is, Lillard wouldn't do it because he read the script, which is...unreliable. I enjoyed the random elements of the first movie. For example, when the character Mark (played by a young Til Schweiger - later Hugo Stiglitz), the independently wealthy European drug dealer, left town and never came back, even though he was one of the more well-developed and interesting characters. I loved that. People actually do sometimes leave town and never come back. James Merendino just gave Mark up to the void. He could have kept him around for the whole movie and thereby kept the door open on all kinds of interesting antics, but he had a real story to tell and Mark's part was over. I like it when a writer's not afraid to leave a good character behind for the sake of the story.No such artistry here. The only character who really gets left behind is Lillith, Ross's first love, who was not developed at all. So when she ended up making out with some other guy in some dark corner of a bar and obviously breaking Ross's little heart, I for one felt nothing, even though this was supposed to be the seminal moment in the movie that sent Ross off on an entirely new path in life. By the way, it's pretty obvious that at some point in his real life, Merendino had a girlfriend and caught her making out with another guy, because the same scene happened to Stevo in the first movie. Does this happen that often in reality?Also missing from this movie was any kind of counterpoint to the youthful rebellion that is punk. Christopher McDonald as Stevo's father in the first movie was a vital (not to mention hilarious) representation of the kind of vapid, money-motivated society that punk kids want no part of. But what are the kids rebelling against here? There's one nonsensical scene in which the female lead Penny runs into her father at a gas station and he slugs her in the nose for drinking and carousing. But how the hell did that happen? They were taking back roads all over Utah and they just happened to pull up at a gas station where her redneck father was getting gas? Very contrived. There were a lot of parts of this movie that were obviously contrived, which is, again, disappointing.Still, I enjoyed the movie for nostalgia's sake. It was good to see Bob narrating from the afterlife. Unfortunately it kept reminding me that the first movie contained some real substance. I actually cried when Bob died in the first one.Overall, I'd recommend it for people who loved the first SLC Punk. I can't imagine, though, the boredom that would probably be felt by someone viewing this movie as a stand-alone comedy-drama, with no frame of reference from the original. It really isn't even in the same category. The original SLC Punk was a very insightful commentary on the conflict between youthful idealism and the reality of transitioning to adulthood. This movie? Just a road trip to nowhere.I'm giving it 5 stars. I don't want to encourage or discourage anyone about seeing it. Those who saw the first one won't need any encouragement, and those who didn't should probably stay away.

Jace Bitton SLC Punk is a great coming of age movie focused on after college life, through the eyes of modern day rebels. This movie is focused on parenthood punks and high school punks, it does the original movie justice. Cinematography and editing are off different from original, not that classic feel. In any case, really good movie and dialog touches and goes to interesting places. A good sequel for the budget.

jitterbugduchess I loved this movie! I saw the Orlando release on opening night and I wasn't really sure what expect. I adored the first one so much and sequels aren't usually known for being as good as the original, but like Heroin Bob would've recommended, I gave it a chance. **SPOILERS** If you grew up thinking that being a punk or a mod or whatever was just a phase and once you hit a certain point, you have to grow out of it, this movie is for you. Why can't you still give in to your passions and just adjust them to your adult life? The film follows Heroin Bob's goth offspring soon after his first heartbreak, on a road trip with his friends, Crash and Penny, to a punk show. Meanwhile, his still odd mom, Trish, is calling her old friends to find out where her son is and why he'd suddenly dropped his straight edge sensibilities and gone AWOL. a lot of your old favorites are back and there all plenty of call backs to the original to give you a nice laugh and let you feel that nostalgia. Its really just a day of self discovery, and even though bob is dead, his narration is almost like he's watching over Ross. it wasn't the original with new characters, it was something different, which is part of its appeal. the old characters i loved are older and different, but they still enjoy their eccentricities, they didn't turn their backs on them, and i think its what i love most. it makes the idea of growing out of something feel ridiculous. punk has no age limit. don't go in expecting slc punk. that time is over. punk's dead is what happens when the scene has changed and you're the older statesman of it, relaying the history to the younguns, OR the new kid just coming out to experience your own scene. just one piece of advice: GIVE IT A CHANCE. its new.

Occult_Detective I like many other misfits gravitated towards a film like SLC Punk! in the late 90's because it was a great coming of age tale. It was a movie for anyone and everyone who had ever felt like they just didn't belong, especially from a small town where most all forms of personal expression made you some kind of a pariah. So to find a film like James Merendino's original really spoke to the majority of us. It's sequel, however, falls short of delivering anything beyond a few tiny chuckles.SLC Punk! had and continues to have a huge following, of which this sequel couldn't have even been possible without all the fan support. But like many cult classics, it's follow up is overall redundant and doesn't really go anywhere we haven't already been before. After a couple quick feelings of nostalgia for seeing some familiar faces, Punk's Dead is pretty much just a less interesting rehash of the original. The drama is absent in this one, and the important points are ignored in order to make a quick joke that no one will really be laughing about. It pretty much is the polar opposite of SLC Punk! in the worst way possible. The characters, new and old, could have easily been replaced by cardboard cutouts and it really wouldn't have made that much of a difference.It's worth watching once to say you've seen it, but it looks and feels like a much more amateurish film that the original. It spends so much time giving us commentary on how so much has changed and frankly, there isn't much that's interesting to say about this generation. If there's something to take away from the film, it's that simply, some stories are better left untold, even if the characters have moved on and changed since then. Where they end up is just disappointing and it feels as if they just go around in circles for the entirety of this movie. As for me, I'll stick with the first film and having seen this once, I never need to watch it again.