“Bad Boys II” (Columbia Pictures)
It has been eight years since Will Smith and Martin Lawrence thundered on to the screen in “Bad Boys.” Now in 2003 the “boys” are back in town and ready to rock. In the eight years since the original Smith has perfected his leading man charm and Lawrence has become a more accomplished comic.
“Bad Boys II” is bigger, boomier and even better than the original. The setting is still Miami, but this is not Miami nice. This is a town where bullets fly in the streets and drugs are on every corner. In other words a great place to visit but you wouldn’t want to live there. I am sure the Miami Chamber of Commerce is not happy with this depiction.
Marcus (Lawrence) and Mike (Smith) are still on the police force and fighting crime. Lately though Marcus has been wondering if he and Mike should stay partners. Marcus is a family man and doesn’t like running the risks that Mike thrives on. But before he can voice any concerns about this to Mike they are off and running to try and capture Johnny Tapia (Jordi Molla), a drug kingpin who is bringing the drug Ecstasy into the city by the boatload.
To complicate the plot Marcus’ sister Syd (Gabrielle Union) is in town and working undercover as a DEA agent. Marcus fears for her safety while Mike fears Marcus will learn he and Syd have become a twosome. Marcus does not feel Mike is proper boyfriend material for his baby sister.
Of course the safety of Syd, the capture of Johnny, and the conflicts between Marcus and Mike all come together in a bombastic battle that leaves a mansion demolished and the three leads in jeopardy.
The movie certainly delivers on its promise of more bang for the buck. The budget for the film seems to have gone mostly for special action sequences and a lot of explosives. A car chase through Miami is one of the most spectacular stunts of this sort you have ever seen.
The only thing going against the movie is its hard R rating. This is the most profane, crude, graphically violent movie that the summer has produced. Both Smith and Lawrence toss off four letter words with ease while causing cars to explode along with bodies. This is definitely not a movie for the kids.
The movie is also just a tad too long. If they had trimmed maybe twenty minutes off the running time of two hours and fifteen minutes it would have been a tighter, better movie. But this is a mild complaint as the movie races from scene to scene, crash to crash, bomb to bomb.
Smith and Lawrence are the perfect buddy team and Union matches them in the action department. She is one bad girl!
The language and the violence are excessive, but the thrills are better than ever. Smith and Lawrence provide the laughs and charm while director Michael Bay delivers the firepower. This sequel can truly be said to be one bad boy of a movie.
I scored “Bad Boys II” a bad to the bone 7 out of 10.
