DVD
Review | Bad Boys II
Written by: Kage
Alan
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Director Michael
Bay seem to enjoy delivering mindless, overblown, hollow films that
are all glory and no guts. Fortunately, depending on who’s been cast,
the actors will somehow make the final product worthwhile, which is
what happened here. It’s been eight years since Will Smith and Martin
Lawrence paired up in the first “Bad Boys,” so why a sequel now?
Smith obviously didn’t need a career boost, but Lawrence? Come on,
after “Black Knight,” any little bit would help. The answer is
obvious; they didn’t need to. They wanted to and that makes all the
difference in the world.
Detectives Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) and Mike
Lowrey (Smith) are still protecting and the streets of Miami and doing
what they do best; destroying things. Fortunately, they also manage to
bring down the bad guys, so that’s a good thing (usually). They’re also
fresh with the wisecracks, only there’s still a little tension there
between the partners. Marcus has to work his butt off to keep his
family living well and Mike doesn’t (he still has his inheritance or
whatnot). When a bust ends with Marcus getting shot in the rear, he
decides to request a transfer. Fortunately, fate has other plans.
A drug lord named Hector Juan Carlos Tapia (Jordi
Molla) is at the top of the bad guy food chain and our bad boys are soon
bound and determined to bring the man down. With the help of Marcus’
sister, a lovely DEA agent (Gabrielle Union), they pursue our villains
from one car chase and shootout to another. Heck, they even take the
heat to Cuba. When they aren’t shooting their guns or proving how big
their equipment is to each other and everybody around them, they’re
making us laugh. Watching a date stop in to pick up Marcus’ daughter
and have to deal with the two men had me falling out of my chair with
laughter. And a discussion the two have in an electronics store had my
sides hurting because I was laughing that hard.
Director Bay pushes so much action in front of our
faces that it doesn’t feel very special after a while. In fact, it’s
numbing and the only bright stop is indeed the two leads. Without their
chemistry and comedic talent (Lawrence absolutely has talent, just not
as much luck with decent film projects), the film would easily be
dismissed as another Hollywood/Jerry Bruckheimer product. That’s what
they turn out. Fortunately, this one is a little bit better than the
others. If there is one very noticeable drawback, it’s that the film
overstays its welcome. At well over 2 hours, the action and story (such
as it is) begin to drag.
Sony has released “Bad Boys II” in a gorgeous
looking Widescreen transfer. Picture quality is almost better than the
movie and the audio is incredibly dynamic. Both areas truly excel
here. As for extras, we’re given a whole second disc for them. Oddly
enough, I thought it was strange that the only thing missing from Disc 1
was an audio commentary. Knowing the way the studios work, they’ll
probably save that for the Special Edition. In any case, what we do
have (on Disc 2) are 7 Deleted Scenes (some of which are quite
humorous), “Stunts” (9 ½ min) and “Visual Effects” (18 ½ min)
featurettes, a music video for “La-La-La” by Jay Z, 6 “Sequence
Breakdowns” (includes the sequence from the film, on-the-set footage,
storyboards and that the script for that section) and 19 “Production
Diary” segments (each lasts a few minutes) and, finally, some trailers
(on Disc 1).
Okay, it comes down to this. I’m not a huge fan of
Bruckheimer or Bay, but I really did enjoy “Bad Boys II.” How could
someone like me who enjoys so many b-movies possibly complain about a
big-budgeted Hollywood action film? Easy. I’m opinionated. Well, with
a little luck, perhaps we’ll come up with a “Bad Boys III” one day.
After all, “Lethal Weapon” lasted 3 sequels. In the immortal words of
Judy Tenuta, “It could happen!”
Film Rating:
B
DVD Special Features: C+
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