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Year: 2003
Rating: R
Running Time: 2 hours, 27 minutes
Detectives Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey are working a new case trying to uncover the identity of an ecstasy smuggler who has been using a morgue as a cover for his operation.
Bab Boys, Bad Boys, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do in "Bad Boys II." This sequel is once again directed by Michael Bay, who besides making the original "Bad Boys" has also directed films like "Pearl Harbor" and "The Rock." This story picks up eight years or so after the original. Detectives Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) are back, and this time, they are trying to uncover an ecstasy smuggling ring. Crazy ol' Florida, right?! While all of this is going on, on the side, Mike falls for Marcus's sister Syd (Gabrielle Union) and is trying to figure out how to break that news to his partner gently. It's a wonder how a film with such a simple plot managed to clock in at nearly two and a half hours long, but knowing Michael Bay, he just fills the gaps in the story with action scenes and explosions. Such is life.
As some of our readers may know, we weren't big fans of the original "Bad Boys." The story was terrible, and we thought it took itself way too seriously. Despite a veritable crap-ton of action, it managed to be painfully long and boring. Luckily, "Bad Boys II" is a bit more tongue-in-cheek in its tone. It tries to have a lot more fun by utilizing the comedic strengths of its lead performers. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence look like they are having a much better time making this movie, and each of them gets to riff a lot more this go around. Even though it is a half hour longer than the original, this sequel manages to be more exciting, so we don't feel its length quite as much, though we think everyone can agree that 2 hours, 27 minutes is still far too long. Much like the original, there are still a lot of tangents and filler that could have easily been left on the cutting room floor. Fortunately, Gabrielle Union and the character of Syd is a much better and much more interesting female lead character than Téa Leoni's Julie Mott from part one.
That being said, "Bad Boys II" does fall into some pretty bad tropes and is a mixed bag for us come movie's end. It contains one of our biggest pet peeves, which is when a criminal kidnaps someone, threatens to kill them if the heroes don't comply, and when the heroes inevitably don't do what the criminal wants them to do, they still never even come close to acting on their threat. It's annoying, and it almost always takes us out of the movie because of our annoyance. On the other hand, there are some great action scenes in this film, many of which are very entertaining for the sheer spectacle of them. The explosions also feel much more grandiose this time around (and they should be considering this sequel had $111 million more dollars in its budget). Some scenes are a bit over-bloated, but it wouldn't be a Michael Bay film without the unneeded chaos.
We mostly had a good time watching "Bad Boys II," but it's still just a bit much in its excess.
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| "If you want to fuck with me, you can find another chump." (Image Source) |
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| "This has got to be the worst, most emotional cop week of my life." (Image Source) |
That being said, "Bad Boys II" does fall into some pretty bad tropes and is a mixed bag for us come movie's end. It contains one of our biggest pet peeves, which is when a criminal kidnaps someone, threatens to kill them if the heroes don't comply, and when the heroes inevitably don't do what the criminal wants them to do, they still never even come close to acting on their threat. It's annoying, and it almost always takes us out of the movie because of our annoyance. On the other hand, there are some great action scenes in this film, many of which are very entertaining for the sheer spectacle of them. The explosions also feel much more grandiose this time around (and they should be considering this sequel had $111 million more dollars in its budget). Some scenes are a bit over-bloated, but it wouldn't be a Michael Bay film without the unneeded chaos.
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| "They were dead before we ran 'em over!" (Image Source) |
My Rating: 6.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 5.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.6/10
RT Rating: 42%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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