Sequels tend to be inferior to original films, especially when someone tries to compensate the lack of originality with bigger budgets. And such outcome becomes more likely when the films happen to be directed by Michael Bay, film maker whose work became progressively worse following his 1995 feature debut Bad Boys, action comedy that looked like chamber piece compared with his later films, made with large budget and little sense. However, its 2003 sequel Bad Boys II evaded such fate and almost became better than the first film.
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return as the protagonists – Miami PD detectives, partners and best friends Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett. The plot deals with their attempts to deal with major drug smuggling operation which is flooding streets of Miami with ecstasy. Their investigation is going to involve encounters with Haitian street gangs, Russian mobster Alexei (played by Peter Stormare) and Sidney “Sid” Burnett (played by Gabrielle Union), Marcus’ younger sister who secretly works as undercover DEA agent and pretends to be money launderer. Situation gets further complicated because Sid is secretly dating Mike. But the greatest challenge for two detectives is vicious Cuban drug kingpin Hector Juan Carlos “Johnny” Tapia (played by Jordi Molla).
Bad Boys II maintaining the same quality as its predecessor wasn’t a great achievement because the first film, although generally satisfactory as piece of 1990s popcorn cinema, wasn’t anything to write home about. Michael Bay in his new film doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel and generally tries to use the same formula – spectacular action with plenty of gunfire and explosion which is combined with comical “buddy buddy” dynamics between two characters. What has changed that is that Bay could enjoy larger budgets so explosions get bigger, shootouts longer and bodycount even more impressive. What looks even more impressive is that Bay, together with scriptwriters Ron Shelton and Jerry Stahl, appears to have his mindset firmly anchored in 1980s action cinema. Because of that Bad Boys II features very graphic violence, some nudity and humour that is definitely not “politically correct”, which includes jokes some of the more sensitive viewers could call homophobic.
What sinks the film is the ending, which looks too much like an attempt to shove political agenda down audience’s throats and/or pander to American chauvinistic sentiments that were at their zenith at the time of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The protagonists, in their attempt to bring down main villain, stage mini-invasion of Castro’s Cuba, which is portrayed as the similar place as Saddam’s Iraq, thus suggesting that the democracy to that island can be brought through same ultra-violent means with which Americans were bringing democracy to Mesopotamia. The film was brought to theatres shortly after the invasion of Iraq, but even at that time some began to question whether that endeavour had been a good idea. Scenes that feature US base at Guantanamo Bay as some beacon of freedom, democracy and human rights at that island are also likely to look ironic in rather disturbing way, because most people today would associate that location with torture and abuse. However, in the end, this didn’t mean much at the box office, just as the filmgoers ignored the hostile critics. For those who accept Michael Bay’s Hollywood as it is, Bad Boys II can, despite its silliness and excess, work as satisfying piece of entertainment. *The film later received some sort of homage in form of British comedy Hot Fuzz. In 2019 it was followed by spin off TV series L. A. Finest featuring Gabrielle Union and 2020 sequel Bad Boys for Life.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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