Bad Boys II (2003)

Never saw either of the Bad Boys movies until relatively recently. A few years ago my curiosity was ~slightly~ piqued when I saw Hot Fuzz and one of the characters kept asking "You ain't seen Bad Boys II???" Soon afterward I ended up buying the blu-ray double pack, watched the first Bad Boys, and enjoyed it well enough I suppose. I had every intention of following up with Bad Boys II, but somehow the motivation to sit down and watch it simply never manifested and it's been collecting dust ever since. The other day I saw a video of Henry Rollins telling a long, rambling and hilarious story about him going to a disastrous movie audition, with the surprise twist that he actually somehow managed to land the part... revealing at the very end of the story that the movie in question was in fact Bad Boys II. For whatever reason, that made me go to my backlog bin of un- watched (often unopened) DVDs and blu-rays and rummaged through it until I found Bad Boys II, and I finally watched it last night. Not a whole lot to say, really. I generally don't buy into the Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer bashing that's been going on for the last 15 years or so, and I guess I expected more. I thought it was a painfully unoriginal and dull movie, despite all of the car chases, shootouts, and explosions. Why did I think it would be more than a retread of countless cop/buddy movies that had preceded it for 20 years (e.g. 24 Hrs.)? It did have a few genuinely hilarious moments, but at this point I'm assuming that the "fawning homage" in Hot Fuzz was purely sarcastic and I was an idiot for not realizing that until now.

This is my all time favorite excellent sequel buddy cop gunplay action flick I love it to death. It is Michael Bay's underrated excellent sequel! This is a prototypical "good" action movie -- intense, perfectly executed, it is original action, shown to the tune of a unforgettable following story from the first movie with a gunplay's fanatic dreams. The score to this movie I would give (for you) for Bad-Boys II a 6.6. To action junkies, this movie is an easy 9, because the only thing that really matters is that the action is superb and the other elements, if not stellar, don't detract enough from the action to really make a difference.Splitting the difference, I am giving an 8/10 -- a good score.Bad Boys II (2003) is Michael Bay second installment in the Bad Boys franchise that first movie from the 90's become a classic buddy cop action flick. I went to see this movie in the movie theater in 2003 when it come out. I loved the first movie so much, that I hoped so much that there would be a sequel to this awesome movie flick and 8 years later my hopes were answered. I got this movie on Blu-ray and re watching this movie again I still absolutely love it, since the first time I watched it in the movie theater. There is action violence, some drug content, and some tiny bit of sexuality but still this movie got 8 awards and was the best action movie in 2003. This is one of Michael Bay's best action films. So in conclusion if anybody like teenagers, or adults want to see this movie then I think this a great movie for them if their interested in action movie. Plot: Narcotics cops Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) head up a task force investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami. Their search leads to a dangerous kingpin Johnny Tapia (Jordi Mollà), whose plan to control the city's drug traffic has touched off an underground war. Meanwhile, things get sexy between Mike and Syd (Gabrielle Union), Marcus's sister.Michael Bay returns as director and the film finds Miami detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) battling Haitian and Cuban drug runners. The film's cast includes Joe Pantoliano and Gabrielle Union. It may have taken 8 years to reunite the Bad Boys, but it was well worth it as Martin Lawrence and Will Smith go balls to the walls in this roller coaster ride of a sequel. Director Michael Bay leaves nothing unearthed as the bullets fly and bodies fall. The chase sequence on the Miami bridge is worth the price of admission alone.Gabrielle Union as Special DEA Agent Sydney "Syd" Burnett, did a wonderful, brilliant and outstanding job portraying Marcus sister. I am happy that we see Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) in relationship with Syd and that we meet Marcus (Martin Lawrence) sister for the first time. She was never mentioned before in the first movie and we never know about his family. Mike Lorey was an only child and his parents were rich. Watch out for the scene where Marcus accidentally drinks two pills of ecstasy and get's high in Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano)'s house and does a funny scenes, it is hilarious. The sequel is one of the most technically perfect action movies of all time. The set-pieces are jaw dropping and the freeway chase is one of greatest car chases in cinema history. Real stunts, real explosions and arguably the most over the top casual brutality in a mainstream action movie. Bodies flying out of trucks, then being decapitated, it's all right here.There are the wildest car chase scenes put all over the film, there isn't only one scene there are more car scenes. There are cars crashes, explosions and destroyed motor vehicles, you see them a lot in a perfect stunt vehicle. There is a rescue mission when Marcus's sister (Gabrielle Union) is kidnapped Mike (Will Smith) and Marcus (Martin Lawrence), along with their voluntary S.W.A.T. team and Syd's DEA co-workers, prepare a military assault to rescue Syd from Tapia's home.There are a lot of handguns and automatic weapons used in this movie and they are used well, we see a lot of shootouts, watch out for slo- motion on the end of scene where Syd throws Lowrey's other Glock 17, yet Burnett appears with a Glock, he makes a flip from the mine filed, the mine is a decoy and shoots Tapia right in the head between the eyes, the ending is very climatic action perfectly executed on a mine field. The problem: movie is way too long but the action is so spectacular and pace so relentless that you'll be caught up until the end credits. The movie is about 30 minutes too long, clocking in at a whopping 2 and a half hours which is definitely overkill. You'll never be bored though as it rockets along at a great pace. I love Bad Boys I and II to death! Technically speaking, the movie is not perfect. I would give it a 9. As it stands, I give it: 8/10.Bad Boys II is a 2003 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. A sequel to the 1995 film Bad Boys and the second installment in the Bad Boys series.8/10 Score: B Studio: Columbia Pictures Starring: Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Jordi Mollà, Gabrielle Union, Peter Stormare, Theresa Randle, Joe Pantoliano, Otto Sanchez, Jon Seda Director: Michael Bay Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer Screenplay: Ron Shelton, Jerry Stahl Story by Ron Shelton, Cormac Wibberley, Marianne Wibberley Rated: R Running Time: 2 Hr. 27 Mins. Budget: $130.000.000 Box Office: $273,339,556

If any other actors played the leads in this movie, it would probably be just another style-over- substance, buddy cop action film to waste time on during the summer or on a night when you're bored. However, the chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence and their skills in playing off of each other elevate this film into a fun adventure. If you don't believe me, watch the scene when Reggie shows up to take Marcus's daughter out on a first date and he and Mike mess with him. I honestly can't tell if it was scripted or if it was just Martin and Will playing off of each other and ad-libbing, but these two make the Bad Boys films.Outside of this, it's your typical Michael Bay film: lots of action, stylized camera shots, sexy girls, some refreshingly non-PC racial humor, and some of the strangest editing you'll ever see when it comes to dialogue. It seems like the scenes cut right when there was supposed to be more said between two characters and the result is this odd, unfinished feeling during certain scenes. It's unnerving in some places!A fun film to watch, but not exactly "Citizen Kane" (nor is it meant to be).

The titular pair head up a task force investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami. Their search leads to a dangerous kingpin, whose plan to control the city's drug traffic has touched off an underground war. Meanwhile, things get a little heated between Mike and Syd, Marcus's sister, which causes a little hostility between the two, and lots of explosions......When this film first came out eleven years ago I thought it was wonderful, loud, and very exciting. But back then, I was 26, and in the demographic for Bay's type of movie.Seeing it again now, it still has some great elements to it, the car chase with the boat explosion is still a thrilling piece of cinema, and the scenes with Marcus under the influence of Ecstasy, and the scene with Mikes daughter's date are still laugh out loud, but there are so many flaws to the movie.Firstly, its way, way too long, by a good forty five minutes, and no matter how many flashy edits, or speeding cars you have, there is a lot of pointless drivel in this movie, and most of it is sexist, and xenophobic humour, that you get in his films now.Still, Smith and Lawrence are great together, and they are clearly enjoying themselves.But just way too long and sexist.