There are films that negate themselves in their final twist, or during the credits. The Usual Suspects is a classic example of a film in which the final five minutes negate the entire rest of the feature. Young Guns II, on the other hand, negates itself right in the opening sequence. Of course, the teenage girl market that it was aimed at wouldn't notice at first, but once one does a little research into who Billy The Kid was, holes start appearing faster than adolescent females used to appear at Emilio Estevez films in the early to mid 1980s.
In the 1950s, a man by the name of Brushy Bill Roberts (who had already tried to claim he was once a member of Jesse James' gang) contracted a lawyer and went before Governor Thomas Mabry. The film claims in its closing credits that Roberts was discredited in spite of "identification by surviving friends of the notorious outlaw". In reality, the only people with any real connection to Billy The Kid in attendance were sons of Pat Garrett, Kip McKinney and William Brady. Oscar Garrett, when asked if he had any questions to ask of Roberts, simply stated that he did not wish to dignify the claim. Which is understandable when you compare Roberts' story with the facts. Or a photo of Roberts to the singular known authentic photo of Billy The Kid.
There is, in fact, a site at www.aboutbillythekid.com, which I recommend to all those who want to know the truth of the Kid's life story. One page there documents the Brushy Bill case a lot more thoroughly than the writers of this film obviously did. Photos are shown of Brushy Bill and William Antrim, side by side.
Once you've read this page and seen the photos, you'll no doubt agree that Emilio Estevez has a better chance of passing for Billy The Kid than Bill Roberts ever did. Estevez is the right height, eye colour, and hair colour to impersonate Billy, although the aforementioned photo makes it appear that even Estevez might be too heavily built. Still, Estevez gets the physical and verbal performance right, so we can let minor details like that go.
What we cannot let go is that the Brushy Bill Roberts story is not the only area where major errors of fact are made. Young Guns II is clearly based upon Pat Garrett's account of the gunfighter's life. The reality is that Garrett was a coward, and the moment where Tom O'Folliard (who, incidentally, was actually older than Billy The Kid) is killed was much more consistent with his style. There is a quote about Garrett that sums it up: "You know what they say about Pat Garrett. He killed men like he killed buffalos, but at least he didn't ambush the animals in the dark." Garrett was also very much a nobody before he shot Billy The Kid, unlike what is shown here.
In essence, this is not even an inaccurate retelling of someone's life. This is an attempt to cash in on someone else's inaccurate retelling of a life they never led. What Young Guns II does have going for it is some of the best Western gunfights outside a Sergio Leone film, sumptuous cinematography from one of the few people whose name deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Leone, a scenery-chewing performance from Emilio Estevez, and an equally scenery-chewing performance from Christian Slater. On that basis, I gave Young Guns II a four out of ten. Just don't see it before you have read the real story - you'll be able to take it for what it is that way.
In the 1950s, a man by the name of Brushy Bill Roberts (who had already tried to claim he was once a member of Jesse James' gang) contracted a lawyer and went before Governor Thomas Mabry. The film claims in its closing credits that Roberts was discredited in spite of "identification by surviving friends of the notorious outlaw". In reality, the only people with any real connection to Billy The Kid in attendance were sons of Pat Garrett, Kip McKinney and William Brady. Oscar Garrett, when asked if he had any questions to ask of Roberts, simply stated that he did not wish to dignify the claim. Which is understandable when you compare Roberts' story with the facts. Or a photo of Roberts to the singular known authentic photo of Billy The Kid.
There is, in fact, a site at www.aboutbillythekid.com, which I recommend to all those who want to know the truth of the Kid's life story. One page there documents the Brushy Bill case a lot more thoroughly than the writers of this film obviously did. Photos are shown of Brushy Bill and William Antrim, side by side.
Once you've read this page and seen the photos, you'll no doubt agree that Emilio Estevez has a better chance of passing for Billy The Kid than Bill Roberts ever did. Estevez is the right height, eye colour, and hair colour to impersonate Billy, although the aforementioned photo makes it appear that even Estevez might be too heavily built. Still, Estevez gets the physical and verbal performance right, so we can let minor details like that go.
What we cannot let go is that the Brushy Bill Roberts story is not the only area where major errors of fact are made. Young Guns II is clearly based upon Pat Garrett's account of the gunfighter's life. The reality is that Garrett was a coward, and the moment where Tom O'Folliard (who, incidentally, was actually older than Billy The Kid) is killed was much more consistent with his style. There is a quote about Garrett that sums it up: "You know what they say about Pat Garrett. He killed men like he killed buffalos, but at least he didn't ambush the animals in the dark." Garrett was also very much a nobody before he shot Billy The Kid, unlike what is shown here.
In essence, this is not even an inaccurate retelling of someone's life. This is an attempt to cash in on someone else's inaccurate retelling of a life they never led. What Young Guns II does have going for it is some of the best Western gunfights outside a Sergio Leone film, sumptuous cinematography from one of the few people whose name deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Leone, a scenery-chewing performance from Emilio Estevez, and an equally scenery-chewing performance from Christian Slater. On that basis, I gave Young Guns II a four out of ten. Just don't see it before you have read the real story - you'll be able to take it for what it is that way.