Insert "Bad" Joke Here
MOVIE REVIEW: Bad Boys II
Rich cop Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and family cop Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) return to action. Now they're part of the Tactical Narcotics Team, which appears to be the paramilitary division of the Miami police department. Their mission is to defeat ludicrously evil Cuban villain Johnny Tapia (Jordi Mollà ). Marcus's DEA agent sister (Gabrielle Union) is involved. Stuff happens. I really want to coherently recap the plot; unfortunately that's not possible. It involved drugs. I remember that. I can also tell you some guns are fired, a few things blow up. In the end, they invade Cuba. Fortunately Cuba has no police or military so the good guys get away with this.
Bad Boys II is a bad movie for a number of reasons. First, there's the plot. It's not that tough to make a good action cop movie plot. There are bad guys who want to do something bad. They are pursued by good guys who want to do something good. Driving, jumping, and shooting ensue. Unfortunately while we know who the bad guys are, we aren't quite sure what badness they are up or why we should care.
Bad Boys II is also supposed to be a comedy. Unfortunately, it isn't funny. Martin Lawrence's is out of control, and not in a Zany Robin Williams Fashion (tm). He seems to be just acting weird. Will Smith is left with the thankless job of carrying Martin Lawrence and the movie. It is a job he is incapable of performing. It's the wrong role for Smith, and it's an impossible task anyway. Smith was in the same situation in Wild Wild West, where he was also expected to save the movie; He failed there as well. Additionally, the comedy sequences break up the pacing of the movie, causing the film to drag in the last half hour when you're already really tired of the film and wish it would end. A scene near the end features a boy coming to pick up Burnett's daughter for a date. It's ill placed, unfunny, and unnecessary; I don't understand why it wasn't edited out.
The best thing that can be said about the action is that it works sometimes. There's a car chase in the middle of the film that is fun. It's the one you've seen in the trailers where the cars are falling off of the truck. Otherwise, it's generally average to poor. The cinematography in the film is over the top, and not in a fun way. For every exciting action scene effect, there are three unneeded trick camera shots. The camera almost never stops moving. The final action sequences are impossible to swallow. At least everything is pretty.
In conclusion: It's dumb but not Godzilla dumb. It's unfunny but not Freddy Got Fingered unfunny. If you were forced to watch it, you would live. One and a Half Stars. It could be worse.