Bad Boys II Buy Bad Boys II from my web shop

(- 2003 -)

Original Title Bad Boys II Director Michael Bay Genre Action, Comedy, Thriller Released 2003-07-18 MPAA Rating Rated R for strong violence and action, pervasive language, sexuality and drug content. Rated 6.1

Plot Summary

Narcotics cops Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Bennett (Lawrence) 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 sexy between Mike and Syd (Union), Marcus's sister.

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Actors / Character

Martin Lawrence as Detective Marcus Burnett , Will Smith as Detective Mike Lowrey , Jordi Mollà as Hector Juan Carlos 'Johnny' Tapia , Gabrielle Union as Sydney Burnett , Peter Stormare as Alexei , Theresa Randle as Theresa Burnett , Joe Pantoliano as Captain Howard , Michael Shannon as Floyd Poteet , Jon Seda as Roberto , Yul Vazquez as Detective Mateo Reyes , Jason Manuel Olazabal as Detective Marco Vargas , Otto Sanchez as Carlos , Henry Rollins as TNT Leader , Antoni Corone as DEA Tony Dodd , Oleg Taktarov as Josef

IMDB User Comments

Actually quite fun despite it's many weaknesses Years after their last major adventure, Mike and Marcus are still both drug officers, Mike is still a player and Marcus is considering asking for a new partner after getting shot again on a bust gone sour. A shipment of E offers the chance for the duo to get to a new drug lord muscling in on the area, however they find themselves up against undercover DEA agent Sydney Burnett (also Marcus's sister and Mike's casual lover) as well as various gang members, in their quest to take him down and get the drugs off the streets. Of all the big summer blockbusters and sequels this year, Bad Boys 2 was the one that most surprised me by it's existence. It had been so long since the first film that I wondered why they bothered but I was actually interested in seeing it – I like action, like Lawrence (although I know I shouldn't) and like Union. Seeing the film I must admit to mixed feelings – I know that the film is silly and very weak in many areas but I still found it enjoyable. The energy it brings is almost enough to carry it off. The action scenes are pretty enjoyable, the highs being the 360 gun battle and the freeway chase. However the film seems to want to shock us with it's violence and the chase with the coroner's van is in really poor taste. Likewise some of the deaths are unnecessarily bloody and unpleasant and were real turnoffs to me. The plot is the film's main weakness. Thinking back I still find it difficult to see how it all flows together (it doesn't) and much of the plot stands out as either being a real stretch or being totally illogical. The action and noise pretty much covers this, but it is a real weakness. I could just about cope with this for the majority of the film but then it has a 20 minute climax in Cuba which is so ludicrous and overblown that I couldn't believe it. Trust me – if you are enjoying the film, leave when it has it's first low key conclusion and don't let it get spoilt by this silly action man stuff. At over 2 hours the film is too generous and really could have done with a more vicious edit (some of the banter could have gone, along with that ending), and it does try to do too much at times, wandering away from the plot for some (albeit funny) side comedy scenes (the funniest being the duo confronting a boy who has come to take Marcus' daughter out on a date). The end result is that it all feels very overblown, but still manages to be surprisingly enjoyable. Why Smith returned for this I don't know – maybe he didn't want to be seen to be going too serious with his roles and thus wanted to keep his hand in. He is average here and is just slumming it, reprising his lines from the first movie. Lawrence is better but also gives his usual performance – he is not great but I always enjoy him when he is allowed to act out. Although he looks a little chubby and worse for wear he still gets enough laughs to hold the film together. Mollà's bad guy is enjoyably over the top, a throwback to Scarface but also a mother's boy with a plump daughter! Union is underused and only seems to exist to set up the horrid climax. She looks sexy in every scene and I like her, but removing her character would not have hurt the film and would have allowed a needed but in running time of about 30 minutes. Pantoliano comes back to his old role and is amusing with his new age stuff (although it does get a bit old) and Randle also returns but has even less to do than in the first film – plus side though is that she looks amazing in the swimsuit they stick her in! Rollins just looks happy to be getting his face in a blockbuster regardless of how much screen time he gets. Overall I felt that this was a very weak and absurd action film that still managed to be enjoyable despite it's many, many weaknesses. The long running time, disjointed plot and overblown nature all work against it but the cast, good action and some funny scenes all help make it worth seeing if not an altogether enriching experience.

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