Review: 7 out of 10
Chicago, IL -
"Bad Boys, Bad Boys…whatcha gonna do…whatcha gonna do when they come for you…szhneeba dweeba…" Like most people I don't really know the song's lyrics past the main chorus. Neither it turns out, do Miami narcotics agents Marcus Burnett [Lawrence] and Mike Lowrey [Smith]. But that doesn't stop them from using it as their mantra.
In this sequel to the 1995 hit Bad Boys, Burnett and Lowrey are working a case involving huge shipments of the illegal "E"-Ecstasy-that has been filtering through the clubs. They keep getting close, but the brass ring keeps evading their grasp. Rising tensions between the partners are capped off by a visit from Burnett's sister Sydney [Union], a DEA agent from New York City. She and Lowrey began dating when he had to transport a prisoner to NYC, but neither has told Burnett about the situation yet. As Burnett and Lowrey are following a hot lead, they discover that Syd hasn't been totally upfront about her reasons for being in Miami. This isn't just a social visit. She's working undercover on what turns out to be the same case.
All roads start leading to Cuban drug lord Johnny Tapia [Mollà] and those roads start getting very bloody. But the Captain of the Narcotics division [Pantoliano] warns Burnett and Lowrey to tread carefully, not only for their own safety, but because Tapia has a history of suing the city for wrongful arrest, resulting in millions of dollars in damage.
Tapia is also very shrewd and manages to piece together a connection between Sydney and the two Bad Boys. This leads the two officers to go outside the law, and the country, to get her back before she is killed.
Clocking in at almost two and a half hours, this movie has just about everything but the kitchen sink thrown in. It also operates on the bigger is better belief, as the action scenes often involve multiple explosions and flying debris. There's also a high level of gore, on par with most slasher Horror flicks. Close-ups of bullets splattering through heads, bodies blown in half, body pieces fresh from slaughter-it's all there in glorious Technicolor. Oh and let's not forget all the corpses-corpses being disemboweled, run over and brains falling out. Some it is played for laughs but it's hard to laugh when you're fighting the urge to hurl.
The strength of the original movie was the friendship and partnership of Lowrey and Burnett, but it seems that for round two, director Michael Bay forgot this. The wonderful comic chemistry between Smith and Lawrence is almost buried under the machoness Bay tries to impart in the film with all the huge action sequences filled with violence and gore. But when the scene relies on that chemisty, the results are brilliant, as in the scene where a young man comes to court Burnett's daughter on her first date. Burnett and Lowrey do their best to intimidate the poor kid until Mrs. Burnett comes to his rescue.
One of the films strongest sequences comes late in the film, as Burnett finds out his sister is being held prisoner by Tapia. Lowrey shares a personal moment with his longtime friend when he says "We ride together, we die together…Bad Boys for life." But it says volumes of the close-knit bond between the two.
Bad Boys II is a fun action-packed film capped by the great chemistry between Smith and Lawrence. But it's marred by the excessive violence and gore. There are also quite a few sexual situation scenes that may be inappropriate for a younger audience. And while I'm sure the success of this film means the Bad Boys will indeed ride again, I only hope they focus more on the strengths the actors bring to the film and less on trying to shock us.
7 out of 10
Synopsis: Miami narcotics agents Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey are heading up a task force investigating large shipments of Ecstasy flowing into the city when Burnett's sister, an undercover DEA agent from New York City, somehow ends up in the mix. Once the Cuban drug lord realizes the connection, the Bad Boys must ride to the rescue again.
Director: Michael Bay
Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Gabrielle Union, Joe Pantoliano and Jordi Mollà
In this sequel to the 1995 hit Bad Boys, Burnett and Lowrey are working a case involving huge shipments of the illegal "E"-Ecstasy-that has been filtering through the clubs. They keep getting close, but the brass ring keeps evading their grasp. Rising tensions between the partners are capped off by a visit from Burnett's sister Sydney [Union], a DEA agent from New York City. She and Lowrey began dating when he had to transport a prisoner to NYC, but neither has told Burnett about the situation yet. As Burnett and Lowrey are following a hot lead, they discover that Syd hasn't been totally upfront about her reasons for being in Miami. This isn't just a social visit. She's working undercover on what turns out to be the same case.
All roads start leading to Cuban drug lord Johnny Tapia [Mollà] and those roads start getting very bloody. But the Captain of the Narcotics division [Pantoliano] warns Burnett and Lowrey to tread carefully, not only for their own safety, but because Tapia has a history of suing the city for wrongful arrest, resulting in millions of dollars in damage.
Tapia is also very shrewd and manages to piece together a connection between Sydney and the two Bad Boys. This leads the two officers to go outside the law, and the country, to get her back before she is killed.
Clocking in at almost two and a half hours, this movie has just about everything but the kitchen sink thrown in. It also operates on the bigger is better belief, as the action scenes often involve multiple explosions and flying debris. There's also a high level of gore, on par with most slasher Horror flicks. Close-ups of bullets splattering through heads, bodies blown in half, body pieces fresh from slaughter-it's all there in glorious Technicolor. Oh and let's not forget all the corpses-corpses being disemboweled, run over and brains falling out. Some it is played for laughs but it's hard to laugh when you're fighting the urge to hurl.
The strength of the original movie was the friendship and partnership of Lowrey and Burnett, but it seems that for round two, director Michael Bay forgot this. The wonderful comic chemistry between Smith and Lawrence is almost buried under the machoness Bay tries to impart in the film with all the huge action sequences filled with violence and gore. But when the scene relies on that chemisty, the results are brilliant, as in the scene where a young man comes to court Burnett's daughter on her first date. Burnett and Lowrey do their best to intimidate the poor kid until Mrs. Burnett comes to his rescue.
One of the films strongest sequences comes late in the film, as Burnett finds out his sister is being held prisoner by Tapia. Lowrey shares a personal moment with his longtime friend when he says "We ride together, we die together…Bad Boys for life." But it says volumes of the close-knit bond between the two.
Bad Boys II is a fun action-packed film capped by the great chemistry between Smith and Lawrence. But it's marred by the excessive violence and gore. There are also quite a few sexual situation scenes that may be inappropriate for a younger audience. And while I'm sure the success of this film means the Bad Boys will indeed ride again, I only hope they focus more on the strengths the actors bring to the film and less on trying to shock us.
7 out of 10
Synopsis: Miami narcotics agents Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey are heading up a task force investigating large shipments of Ecstasy flowing into the city when Burnett's sister, an undercover DEA agent from New York City, somehow ends up in the mix. Once the Cuban drug lord realizes the connection, the Bad Boys must ride to the rescue again.
Director: Michael Bay
Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Gabrielle Union, Joe Pantoliano and Jordi Mollà
