Young Guns II: Blaze of Glory - Shot doooooooooooown in a blaze of glory!

So sings Jon Bon Jovi who was hired to sing the sound track to the original 1988 ‘Young Guns’ film.  Perhaps ‘Blaze of Glory’ shouldn’t really have been mentioned in the title, as it does give more than a clue as to the cast’s fate.

Blaze of Glory is set a few years after the ‘young guns’’ first outing.  Since we last saw them, Billy the Kid has killed yet more people (but they probably deserve d it, so we still like him anyway) and stolen yet more cattle (I guess we have to assume that they deserved in, too).  So, naturally, he’s even more wanted by the law than the last time we saw him.  But it’s not all bad news for him – he’s got a new posse and, in the first third of the film, he’s got his two former pals, Doc Hollywood and Chavez back in tow.

However, just when our little Billy’s happily getting reacquainted with his mates, his former friend Pat Garrett only decides to accept a massive pay-off to bring in the band of outlaws.  So Billy finds himself on the run again (to the grinding guitar sound of Jon Bon Jovi – some might say that makes his situation even worse).

Basically, Young Guns II: Blaze of Glory, is more of the same.  Now, that could have been a bad thing if the first film had been pretty dull, yet, actually it’s no bad thing – assuming you liked the first instalment.  There’s nothing particularly new here.  The plot is almost identical, just with a few new baddies and a few new members of Billy’s gang.  There is a kind of sub-plot involving the (almost) modern day where a man claims he actually was Billy the Kid and a journalist is trying to deduce whether or not he’s telling the truth, but that probably could have been left on the cutting room floor if the producers had been pushed for time.

If you liked the original, you’ll probably like this, too.  It’s definitely more of the same and is a fun *modern* cowboy romp.  If you don’t like cowboy films in general, this one probably won’t win you over.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that