Franchise Weekend – Bad Boys II (2003) Movie Review

Director: Michael Bay

Writer: Ron Shelton, Jerry Stahl (Screenplay) Marianne Wibberley, Cormac Wibberley, Ron Shelton (Story)

Starring: Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Jordi Molla, Gabrielle Union, Peter Stormare, Theresa Randle, Joe Pantoliano, Michael Shannon

Plot: Two loose-cannon narcotics cops investigate the flow of Ecstasy into Florida from a Cuban drug cartel.

Runtime: 2 Hours 27 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Bigger, Badder, Ballsier

Story: Bad Boys 2 starts as Marcus (Lawrence) and Mike (Smith) are undercover with their latest job, with Marcus getting shot in the ass, with Marcus recovering, Mike has secretly started to date Marcus’s sister Syd (Union) a fellow officer from New York.

When Mike and Marcus find themselves in the middle of Syd case in Miami, they want to help out, which sees them trying to take down Cuban drug lord Hector Juan Carlos Tapia, known as Johnny (Molla) who has bought a new deadly drug to the streets.

Thoughts on Bad Boys 2

Characters – Marcus is suffering with middle-life crisis problems, he recently got hurt on duty, which has seen him milk the sympathy, he is worried about his sister on her case and will do anything to protect her, while always getting worried about Mike’s actions. Mike is still the smooth loose cannon, he has started dating Marcus’s sister in secret waiting for the chance to tell him, he is still caring about his car more than anything else, usually killing more of the suspects than he needs too. Hector is the Cuban drug lord who is making his major play to take over Miami, he will not take perfection from his men. Syd is the sister of Marcus, she has been working on a case in Miami, giving her a chance to spend more time with Mike, while proving herself as a top-level cop to her brother.

Performances – Will Smith and Martin Lawrence do both continue to show their chemistry, though the characters do seem to have changed and become more exaggerated with Will Smith being more like the player persona his blockbusters have made, while Martin Lawrence does seem to bring us more of a whiny figure. Jordi Molla fills the generic villain without needing to do much more than say threating lines, while Gabrielle Union bought a different dimension to the film.

Story – The story here follows the two narcotics detectives as they get involved with trying to take down the latest drug lord who has been working with Marcus’s undercover sister, bringing the fight to a new personal level for the two men. The story might well follow the same basic idea of the first film, it does make everything feel a lot bigger and making everything more personal only helps, the bigger the characters the two men have is noticeable here too. This one doesn’t really leave too much to the imagination but is sure a hell of a fun watch for the simplistic side to the story.

Action/Comedy/Crime – The action in the film is much bigger than the first film, we have car chases, explosion and massive shoot outs, which become the set pieces. The comedy is all about how the two are always bickering, which does get laughs through the film, while we do dive into the world of drugs once again.

Settings – The film does keep the Miami setting for the most part, while giving us an ending in Cuba for the final action set piece.

Scene of the Movie – The Cuba chase.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We do focus more on the action over the story, unlike the first film.

Final Thoughts – This is a bigger and bolder action film that has massive set pieces, which is a great watch, with great chemistry between the leads.

Overall: Entertaining blitz.