I saw Bad Boys several years ago and enjoyed it. Since then, I have seen it a few more times. A sequel was just released. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see Bad Boys II, but I ended up going to see it. The movie had some flaws, but I did enjoy it.

A huge shipment of Ecstacy was coming into Miami from Amsterdam. The police had information about the shipment coming in, and they had plans to seize the drugs. Detective Marcus Burnett and Detective Mike Lowrey were undercover with a group of the KKK who were somehow involved with the drugs coming in. Things didn’t go like they planned thanks to malfunctioning radios. Things exploded and several people, including Marcus were shot. They only found two bags of the drugs.

Marcus had been having some kind of anger management issue and had been going to therapy for a while. Mike had been sent as well, but he ended up making out with his therapist. Marcus made some plans, but he wasn’t in a hurry to tell Mike. Sydney, Marcus’s younger sister was in town on vacation from New York. She worked for the DEA. Mike had traveled to New York and he and Sydney spent some time together. Mike was waiting to tell Marcus.

Mike received a tip from his snitch and he and Marcus headed out. They found out that Sydney wasn’t in town just for a vacation. She was working undercover on a case. She ended up being chased by men with guns when things went wrong. Mike and Marcus were also involved in the chase that resulted in many wrecked cars. Marcus wasn’t happy about his sister working undercover. He didn’t think she could handle it.

Johnny Tapia was a drug dealer from Cuba. He was bringing large amounts of Ecstacy into the country. He worked with Alexi, the owner of several nightclubs. The Miami police had tried to get Johnny several times before, but they were never able too. Mike and Marcus learned that Johnny was the supplier they were looking for. Captain Howard wasn’t happy with the way the investigation had been going. Mike and Marcus kept ending up in shoot outs and high speed chases. It turned out that Sydney was working to get Johnny as well. Marcus was very upset about his sister being mixed up with Johnny.

Mike was determined to catch Johnny. Marcus wasn’t too thrilled about some of the things Mike did. Marcus was having some major issues with anger at different times. They found some evidence and things seemed to be going well for them. Then Sydney ended up in danger.

CAST

Martin Lawrence - Detective Marcus Burnett
Will Smith - Detective Mike Lowrey
Jordi Molla - Johnny Tapia
Gabrielle Union - Sydney Burnett
Peter Stormare - Alexi
Theresa Randle - Theresa Burnett
Joe Pantoliano - Captain Howard
Jichael Shannon - Floyd Poteet
Jon Seda - Roberto

Michael Bay - Director

Bad Boys II was released on July 18, 2003. The movie was rated R and was 150 minutes long. There was a lot of swearing in the movie. The word that rhymes with luck was used a lot. At times it seemed like every other word some characters said was that word. Some people could be offended by all the swearing. People who don’t like to hear swearing shouldn’t see this movie. This was not a movie that children of any age should see. I did see a woman leaving the movie that was ending as I got to the theater with two young children. The girl looked like she was only about three. The boy was a little older, maybe about eight, but still entirely too young to see this movie. No children should see this movie. There are several other movies that are out now that are aimed at children. There is no reason for them to be in a movie like this.

I did enjoy Bad Boys II. The movie didn’t bore me at all. It grabbed my attention right from the beginning. The movie was full of action and there were a few suspenseful moments, though I didn’t really think the movie was suspenseful overall. It was a mindless action movie, but it was a good mindless action movie. There was enough of a plot to keep things interesting between the action sequences. The plot wasn’t that original, but it was entertaining.

Bad Boys II was an action movie. The movie was full of non stop action. There were several car chases that resulted in many wrecked cars. Mike had another sports car, and it didn’t get away unharmed, though it wasn’t demolished like many other cars were. There was a very impressive chase scene on the freeway that involved cars being dumped off the hauler thing they were on. Some of those cars went flying through the air, and caused a lot of other damage. There were several explosions throughout the movie. At times it seemed like the story was just there to kill some time until the next action scene. The many action scenes did keep my interest. There was always something going on.

Bad Boys II was a very violent movie. It was one of the most violent movies that I have seen in a long time. I think there was more violence in it then there was in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. A lot of people were shot over the course of the movie. It was shown when many of them were shot. Some of the shootings were shown close up. Something very gruesome happened to someone. It wasn’t shown when it happened, but what was left of the character was shown later. It was not pretty. A lot of blood was shown. A funeral home ended up being very important to the plot, and some dead bodies were shown. Some disgusting things were shown related to the dead bodies. I really could have done without seeing some of those things. The movie was gory and graphic at times. This is not a movie for everyone. People who don’t like to see violence or are offended by it should avoid this movie.

There were some funny moments in Bad Boys II, but it wasn’t a comedy movie overall. Several of the funny things tied in with the anger problem Marcus was dealing with. He acted like a wimp at times, which was not good when he was on the job. He would start chanting and rubbing his ears at times. Captain Howard was even doing it at times. I think that most of the narcotics cops had gone in for the therapy, but it seemed like Marcus and Howard were the only ones who were really into the chanting and everything. Mike found it rather funny. Marcus had a bit of an accident while he and Mike were searching somewhere. That lead to Marcus saying and doing some very funny things. Marcus was always having some very bad luck with swimming pools. At one point, close to the end of the movie, a young boy arrived to take Marcus’s daughter out on her first date. Marcus wasn’t dealing with that well and went into over protective father mode, asking all kinds of questions and threatening the boy. Mike even got in on it. That was funny, but it got a bit disturbing when a gun was pulled. No one was harmed, but it was disturbing to see the gun pointed at the boy even though it was meant to be a joke. Guns are not for fun. I don’t want to say anything more specific about the funny moments because I don’t want to reveal too much about the plot.

Bad Boys II wasn’t a serious movie. A lot of unbelievable stuff happened in the movie - especially some of the car chases. Marcus and Mike were searching for a huge shipment of Ecstacy and that tied into other things that happened. Ecstacy is a serious problem right now, but this movie didn’t really explore it in any depth. The search for the drug was just an excuse so that Mike and Marcus could go racing around Miami in high speed chases and getting in the middle of several shootings. Some racial issues were brought up at different times during the movie, but they weren’t really explored either.

Some things from Bad Boys II reminded me the Lethal Weapon movies. The movies aren’t identical, but there were a few similar things. Roger and Martin did argue at times. In this movie, at times it seemed like all Mike and Marcus did was argue. Roger kept saying that he was going to retire and that he didn’t want to work with Martin any more. Roger thought that Martin was a loose cannon. Marcus kept saying how Mike loved to get into dangerous situations. Marcus was thinking about changing some things related to work. Roger was married with a family and Martin was single. Marcus had a family and Mike was single. The interaction between Mike and Marcus was a lot like the interaction between Roger and Martin. Bad Boys II more focused on action and violence with a few funny things thrown in here and there. There was action in the Lethal Weapon movies, but those movies were no where near as violent. They had more of an emphasis on comedy.

A relationship between Mike and Sydney was hinted at in Bad Boys II, but there was no development to the relationship. They had spent some time together in New York and seemed to be interested in each other, but the relationship really didn’t go anywhere. There wasn’t any romance in the movie. There were a few kisses, and some skin shown. There was some nudity. There was one sex scene in the movie, but it was a bit different. It was between two rats. That was a bit bizarre. If seeing that would be offensive or upsetting to anyone, then they shouldn’t see the movie.

There were some strange camera angles used at times in Bad Boys II. There were a few scenes in a nightclub that included some strange flashing lights. The camera focused in on a lot of scantily clad dancing women in that scene, and showed some shots up their skirts. During most of the actions scenes, it was very jerky like the camera was bouncing around when those scenes were shot. That made it very hard to see exactly what was going on at times. This movie was very loud, especially during the one car chase. There was some music that played at different times during the movie, but I have no idea what songs they were. It was just loud and blaring.

Mike and Marcus were the main characters in Bad Boys II like they were in the first movie. Marcus’s family, Captain Howard, and a few other officers also returned. The rest of the characters were new. There was very little character development in this movie. Most of the characters weren’t developed at all. The movie focused in on action and bypassed character development.

The acting in Bad Boys II wasn’t award worthy, but it was fine. I have seen worse acting than this before. Will Smith was good and believable as Mike. Martin Lawrence had some funny scenes as Marcus. I’m used to seeing him in more comedic movies. Joe Pantoliano didn’t have many scenes as Captain Howard, but it was good in the scenes he had. He has been in many movies, including Memento, though he plays supporting characters. Gabrielle Union only had a few scenes as Sydney, but she was fine in them. She looks very familiar to me, but I don’t remember seeing her in any other movies.

CHARACTERS

Mike Lowrey - Narcotics detective on the Miami force. His father left him a lot of money. He liked fast cars and expensive clothes. He was single and dated a lot. He seemed to enjoy dangerous situations. He liked his job.

Marcus Burnett - Mike’s partner. Marcus was more serious. He seemed to be having some sort of breakdown. He was going to therapy and would start chanting. He was feeling very stressed recently.

Sydney Burnett - Marcus’s younger sister from New York. She worked for the DEA. She told her brother she just worked at a desk, but she was in Miami working undercover.

I did enjoy Bad Boys II. It was an entertaining action movie and is worth seeing if you like that type of movie. People who hate action movies shouldn’t bother to see it. I liked it a little more than Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines but not as much as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.


Related Reviews
Men in Black ~ Men in Black II ~ Memento ~

Recommended: Yes