I'm through the first 8 episodes, after I broke a string on my Strat on Friday night and figured I may as well watch the first episode before bed. 6 episodes and way too much gin later... :lol: Johnny makes an unexpectedly good anti-hero, but I think where this really excels is in the way both characters' motivations become increasingly complicated - Johnny is doing a lot of good, but also in some ways being a clearly negative influence, whereas Danny is solidly off the pedestal the first movie places him on, yet at the same time is still the more positive role model. It's a very grey movie, in ways that work surprisingly well.
It's inconsistent. Some characters are very well acted (the kid Johnny takes under his wing, for one, has been pretty good, Danny's mother seemed very natural, Danny's daughter is pretty good, etc), however unless I'm greatly misstaken neither Ralph Macchio nor whoever played Johnny have done much acting since the 80s, and in a few places it shows, probably more so for Johnny than Danny. Not across the board, they both are strong in certain spots or with certain emotions, but they got the job because they were the original two actors, in a movie that probably didn't place much in the way of demands on them as teenagers, so it's probably unavoidable.
I think if you're watching something and find yourself thinking about the acting, that's a bad sign. :lol: But, at the same time, it's not like its really across the board terrible - there are just moments where something jumps out at you as being stiff and awkward and unnatural. :lol: