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Thread: Bad Boys II

  1. #1
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    Bad Boys II

    I'm not exactly the worlds biggest fan of Michael Bay as he tends to be the proof that the easiest way to succeed is to appeal to the lowest common denominator. He doesn't do what a lot of directors do, by using mainstream movies to make enough money to fund more personal projects, nor does he infuse his mainstream movies with any little personal touches. Rather he comes up with the most overblown spectacles imaginable, cinematic in the extreme but never even remotely thoughtful. Yet I've got to admit that some of the directors films are among my favorite guilty pleasures. Films such as <b>The Rock</b> and the original <b>Bad Boys</b> can hold a strange appeal due to the practice this director has had at trying to make money.

    Bay's latest film, <b>Bad Boys 2</b>, sees the return of detectives Marcus Burnett (<i>Martin Lawrence</i>), Mike Lowrey (<i>Will Smith</i>) and the estranged captain Howard (<i>Joe Pantoliano</i>). It seems that after everything they did in the first film Miami still has a drug problem (<i>who would have guessed?</i>) and the 2 partners are out for another major bust. This time the object of their desire is a Cuban drug lord named Johnny Tapia (<i>Jordi Molla</i>) who is importing large amounts of Ecstasy to the United States clubbing scene. Complications arise when Marcus discovers his sister, who unbeknownst to him is sleeping with Mike, is working undercover in the home of this very same kingpin. (<i>At least it's got an original story then.</i>)

    The main part of the films appeal for me was in the partnership of Smith and Lawrence, they had proven chemistry in the first film and I had heard nothing to indicate that this had changed. Personally I was disappointed with their partnership as it's a simple case of been there, done that, brought the T-Shirt. Smith has proven himself lately as a very talented actor in films such as <b>The Legend Of Bagger Vance</b> and <b>Ali</b>, but he has chosen to return to a pigeon hole he had actually managed to escape. Lawrence on the other hand has been continually playing this same character over the years, and there's been a consistent decline in the impact. Still in <b>Bad Boys 2</b> they play the roles more enthusiastically then they have in years, and their onscreen chemistry is as good as ever.

    <b>Bad Boys 2</b> wasn't a total loss though, it did have one moment that had me practically dancing around the cinema in joy. The films big car chase was a scene that finally gave 2003 a chase to be proud of. After being disappointed by the largely boring car chase of <a href="/content_108011949700">The Matrix Reloaded</a>, and the exciting but nothing new scene of <a href="/content_108155735684">Terminator 3</a>, finally a film has provided 2003 with a car chase that goes to the next level. It's a scene full of fast, shiny cars that appear immune too dents. Sees a hilarious exchange of dialogue between Smith and Lawrence, and then has the villains literally start throwing cars. As Mike and Marcus swerve through traffic trying to avoid being stopped by such mayhem, the films pace reaches such a high octane level that it makes the choppy editing forgivable.

    The rest of the film does the same thing though. There's some very high octane action scenes, (<i>though they never seem to top the opening shoot out with the KKK</i>) but there's no real letup. Smith and Lawrence do their best to keep things funny, and for the most part they succeeded at making me laugh out loud, something few action movies have achieved. In fact I'd even say that as far as the years 3 pure action spectacles go <b>Bad Boys 2</b> is the best of the bunch. It's not pretentious like <b>The Matrix Reloaded</b> and the humour actually works, unlike <b>T3</b>. However <b>Bad Boys 2</b> suffers from the fate of being overlong. 3 hours is a fine running time for a film like <a href="/content_110161202820">Lord Of The Rings</a>, but in a Michael Bay movie you soon grow bored of seeing things blowup. The film could have crammed all of it's good stuff into 90 minutes and it would have worked better, but at 3 hours it tests the endurance of its target audience.

    I usually try to avoid paragraphs like the one I'm about to use. I don't want to appear like the kind of person who reviews for sites like family.org, so rarely give my opinion on violence and things. However <b>Bad Boys 2</b> is a film that needs to be given a warning for those who don't know what to expect. Every scene is full of swearing, like the action there's never a letup from the writers obsession with the stronger language. The violence was over the top and unnecessarily graphic. I don't mind blood in a historical epic, or even in a fist fight, but when a thousand people are being shot I prefer action to violence. Bad Boys 2 though features very graphic shoot outs, and at times even uses slow motion so that you can see a bullet slowly tear through someone's skull. It has frequent sexual references, and while I'm at it obviously features drug use. This kind of thing got the original Bad Boys an 18 rating, but since <b>Bad Boys 2</b> a 15 you may be expecting it to be toned down. It's not it's actually worse than the first one, so anyone offended by <b>Bad Boys</b> should steer well clear of <b>Bad Boys 2</b>!

    <b>Rated 15 for strong violence and action, pervasive language, sexuality and drug content.</b>
    ***

  2. #2
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    It was only rated 15 there? Goddammit, I had to get friends to see it here!
    Are you a Mexi-CAN or a Mexi-CAN'T?

  3. #3
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    my very very short review

    On one hand Good movie thats worth for a laff and good action scenes...but dont b expecting to laff out really loud falling on da floor...and on the other hand....has some of the worst editing i have ever "scene". the relation of will smith n martin lawrence...as carl sed earlier in diff words...feels dragged.....

    Go watch it and decide for urself now

  4. #4
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    Bay's movies are pretty fun to watch like The Rock and Armageddon. They are fast paced with lots of explosions, BBII doesn't live up to its name

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