In a sentenceMiami’s car insurers should have top billing
In Miami, Detective Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) and Detective Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) pursue a drug-crime investigation. A highway chase is among the confrontations facing the pair, who trade wisecracks between bursts of violence. Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) is the police captain, while Syd (Gabrielle Union) and Hector Juan Carlos ‘Johnny’ Tapia (Jordi Mollà) also figure in the case. The detectives work together through a succession of chases and confrontations as their efforts to tackle the drug trade bring destruction onto Miami’s roads.
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Michael Bay’s sequel has a fine highway chase and far too little reason to run for 146 minutes. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence supply a few decent wisecracks, but the repetitive destruction makes this a wearying evening.
Bad Boys II is a poor buddy-cop sequel with enough skill in its action to make the rest more irritating. Michael Bay wants the pleasure of fast cars, violent collisions and two detectives who can talk over the commotion, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that. But at 146 minutes, the film keeps demanding fresh excitement from much the same combination of destruction and wisecracks. The detectives need time to become interesting company, and the script struggles to give them anything beyond another argument.
The first Miami highway chase shows what the director can do when movement is the main attraction. We were thrilled by it, because the stunts and the camera’s restless movement make the road itself feel unsafe. Cinematographer Amir Mokri gives the action considerable force, although the swirling camerawork becomes tiring when applied so persistently. The chase earns its length more convincingly than the film around it, and deserves credit even from viewers who have little patience for the rest.
Editors Tom Muldoon, Mark Goldblatt and Roger Barton cut rapidly, but the film still feels slow because its action scenes repeat their effects. There is little time to register a stunt before another demand is made on our attention. After a while, another chase means waiting for the film to return to its detectives, and another conversation means waiting for the action to resume. We were bored by that alternation, particularly once the destruction stopped making the thin story feel any more urgent.
Will Smith’s Detective Mike Lowrey and Martin Lawrence’s Detective Marcus Burnett have some decent wisecracks, and the performers understand how to put them across. Those exchanges are welcome because they briefly give us something to follow besides movement. The screenplay by Jerry Stahl and Ron Shelton does too little to make the pair interesting beyond their next remark, while the juvenile humour soon becomes wearing. In a buddy-cop comedy, the company should be a reason to stay between action scenes; here, the dialogue often makes the wait harder.
The noisy action gives Trevor Rabin’s music little room to change the mood. The score cannot make repeated destruction feel fresh, though that is a great deal to ask of a composer. Dominic Watkins’s production design fares similarly: the places matter chiefly as things that can be damaged. After the first highway chase, the film gives us few reasons to care where the detectives go next, provided there is something there to wreck.
The nastier humour is a further problem, particularly the homophobia and misogyny. Neither makes the detectives more interesting, and both make it harder to enjoy their company when the shooting stops. The film is also too pleased with its violence to give the damage much human weight. These choices make the weak dialogue harder to forgive, even allowing for the broad and abrasive comedy being attempted.
Measured against the buddy-cop film’s modest requirements, this is an exhausting way to spend time with two stars who can be amusing together. A shorter version might have preserved that pleasure, rather than repeatedly testing how long it can survive without better material. Even viewers who mainly want cars wrecked may find 146 minutes more than they bargained for.
Most critics find Bad Boys II overlong, repetitive and exhausting, with action that overwhelms a thin cop-buddy story. The limited praise centres on the stunt work and visual invention: individual shots and chases impress even reviewers who dislike the film. Empire singles out the first Miami highway chase, while finding the surrounding material too weak to sustain it. Across the reviews, the recurring complaint is that the sheer quantity of destruction makes the spectacle less effective.
The differences concern how much pleasure survives the excess, and how objectionable the excess becomes. Total Film offers a comparatively forgiving assessment, enjoying the leads’ wisecracks despite the stale plotting. Others find the humour juvenile or the central partnership unpersuasive. The harshest objections go beyond pacing and noise: The Guardian condemns the film’s homophobia, xenophobia and misogyny, while Slant Magazine attacks its jingoism and disregard for human life.
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Read the full review →The review finds the sequel overlong, overblown and underwritten, but still entertaining enough to qualify as big, dumb fun. It praises the leads’ wisecracks while faulting the repetitive action and stale plot.
Read the full review →Caro finds the sequel overlong and overindulgent, despite its energetic action spectacle. He singles out Bay’s swirling camerawork and rapid editing as nearly nauseating, alongside juvenile, thin dialogue.
Read the full review →The review presents the sequel as a brash ode to excess, with an impliedly critical view of its unrestrained style. It singles out the violence, bloodshed, car chases and destruction as unmediated.
Read the full review →Ebert’s verdict is negative, faulting the film as excessively long and over-the-top. He particularly objects to its relentless violence and noisy action spectacle.
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Police Story · not reviewed yetVehicle stunts and police chaos, with physical comedy that earns its bruises.
Hot FuzzExplosive police action with a partnership worth following between the shoot-outs.
The Nice Guys · not reviewed yetTwo mismatched investigators whose arguments are as carefully built as the action.
Taxi · not reviewed yetFor more reckless driving, with a lighter touch and a shorter journey.
The Last Boy ScoutAbrasive banter and bruising action, held together by a more economical script.
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