Review of Bad Boys II (2003) by Martin H — 20 Jan 2014

Bad Boys II, with a budget of $130 million which is $111 more than the budget of Bad Boys, is a significant step up from its low budget predecessor.

The action in Bad Boys II is superior to Bad Boys for two reasons: quality and quantity.

For one thing, there is a lot more action. And while some may consider it to be an overkill, I was pleased with it because the predecessor had a lesser rate of action over its running time while Bad Boys II has a kickass quantity of shootouts and explosions.

Plus, they are superior to the action in Bad Boys because the action is shot with superior cinematography and the action is on a higher scale, and it even makes use of visual effects when it's necessary. It's all edited well, and it doesn't use slow motion too much like Bad Boys did, and when it does the slow motion effects are way better anyway. Bad Boys II works as a powerful visual experience for viewers that can really comprehend all the violence and humour.

And the well matched leads carry Bad Boys II to success once again.

Will Smith receives significantly more screen time in Bad Boys II and it makes a benefit to the film since he exerts an even more powerful performance than he did in the first Bad Boys. He goes more overboard and ends up more hilarious which strongly benefits Bad Boys II since the whole film is one excessive venture. His performance is of the same venture, and it's hilarious to see him so confident and packed with violent energy.

And Martin Lawrence does a powerful job again in the role of Marcus Burnett because he has all the physical and emotional humour for the role and he packs a mean lunch as an action hero. He does a great job teaming up with Will Smith and again they share a powerful comedic chemistry.

Still, Bad Boys II has many flaws to it.

First of all, it lacks originality. The story isn't creative and it's essentially largely a retread of its predecessor only with a larger scale and some more hardcore action sequences. But they still don't mask the fact that the plot is no better than its predecessor, especially since Michael Bay was more focused on spending the $130 Million budget on action without a bit of it going to the story, or to the script which is nothing but extensive periods of witless banter without even giving many chances to the lead actors to have humourous improvisational moments. It should have been expected because it's a Michael Bay film, but considering how much good improvisational humour was in its predecessor it's just a shame there isn't as much this time around which makes it easier to see the poor quality of the script.

And it takes itself a bit too seriously. The story is a lot more dramatic than it needs to be and it prevents the chemistry between Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett from flourishing into a strongly comedic film. The action overkill overshadows the titular Bad Boys, and while the action is entertaining, if it was more positively balanced with the comedic chemistry between Martin Lawrence and Will Smith then it wouldn't have a slight dullness to it. While the quality grows in the second half, since the film is 148 minutes long it takes too long to get to the second half and by then some of the damage has already been done.

That's the other problem. Bad Boys II is way too long. 148 minutes is too much for a film which lacks originality or sufficient humour, so it's not going to be easy for many audiences to sit through unless they can embrace the massive action overkill. It just isn't as fun as it should be, and that's a problem.

So Bad Boys II is an improvement over its predecessor and is packed beyond the brim with action, and if you can tolerate its excessiveness and length then you may enjoy it.