Bad Boys II is a 2003 action comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. It is a sequel to the 1995 film Bad Boys. The film is about two police detectives investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami. Despite mainly negative reviews from professional critics, the film performed well at the box office, grossing $273,339,556 worldwide.
Plot
Eight years after the events of the first film, Detective Marcus Barnett (Martin Lawrence) and Detective Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) are investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami. Their surveillance of boats coming in from Cuba leads them to a KKK meeting/drug drop in a swamp, Mike accidentally shoots Marcus in the buttocks which leads Marcus to further question if he still wants to partner with Mike.
Meanwhile, a neurotic Cuban kingpin named Johnny Tapia (Jordi Mollà), who supplies Miami's drug traffic, tells his men to change the boat's schedules once again. Two members of the Russian Mob, Alexei and Josef, receive drugs from Tapia to run their nightclub businesses, but end up giving nearly half of their profits to Tapia. Alexei and Josef go to negotiate with Tapia to recoup some of their profits, but this ends in Josef's murder by Tapia's men and Alexei's forced surrender of his Russian nightclubs after his wife and son are threatened by Tapia.
Meanwhile, the relationship between Mike and Marcus' sister, Syd, who also happens to be undercover with the DEA as a money laundering agent for the Russians, continues to develop from an earlier rendezvous in New York. During her first assignment, a Haitian gang attempts to hijack the transport and kill Syd. An intense fire fight and car chase ensues between the gang members and the Miami Police/DEA and devastates the local area. Marcus and Mike learn of Syd's actual work, which makes Marcus unhappy.
Marcus and Mike go to confront the Haitian gang leader, which results in a firefight and the leader revealing that his information about the transport came from his friend's camcorder. After viewing the footage, Marcus and Mike find out that the Spanish Palms Mortuary, a business owned by Tapia's Mother, is possibly being used as a front. Disguised as pest terminators, they penetrate Tapia's mansion and find out that Tapia is using dead bodies in the mortuary to smuggle his drugs and money to Cuba. Syd, still undercover with the DEA, has successfully charmed Tapia but is found out, captured and taken to Cuba. During the escape, Alexei, out to avenge Josef's murder, defeats most of Tapia's guards but is shot and killed by police in a standoff. Marcus and Mike successfully confiscate Tapia's drug and money supply, but Tapia calls Marcus telling him he will kill Syd in 48 hours if he doesn't return his product.
Mike and Marcus, along with their voluntary SWAT team and Syd's co-workers, prepare a plan to rescue Syd from Tapia. A long gunfight ensues and eventually the Cuban military arrive. As Tapia's newly built house is destroyed (and his mother and daughter are apparently captured by the American volunteers), Mike, Marcus and Syd manage to escape, pursued by the infuriated Tapia. After a lengthy pursuit, they end up at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. As Marcus and Syd plead with the US soldiers (who refuse to intervene as they are still on Cuban soil), a gunfight erupts between Tapia and Mike. Marcus gets the opportunity to fire his last bullet and shoots Tapia in the head, killing him instantly. Tapia's body falls on a mine and his corpse explodes.
Later, at the Burnett house, Mike has bought Marcus a new pool, and Marcus finally makes peace with Mike dating Syd. He even tears up the transfer papers he was going to put in, which would have ended their partnership. However, the pool breaks again, washing the two into the river, as they sing the "Bad Boys" theme song.
Cast
Reception
Critical response
The film received mostly negative reviews. The film was the subject of some vicious criticism for its length, brutality, bloated plot, arguably misogynistic depiction of women and violent sense of humor. Based on 162 reviews collected by the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 23% of critics gave Bad Boys II a positive review, with an average rating of 4.1/10.[1]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one out of a possible four stars, especially offended by one scene involving a teenage boy and the use of the word "nigga", citing, "The needless cruelty of this scene took me out of the movie and into the minds of its makers. What were they thinking? Have they so lost touch with human nature that they think audiences will like this scene?"[2] On an episode of At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, film critic Richard Roeper named it 1st place on his list of the worst films of 2003, he placed notorious bomb Gigli at number 3.
Among the more positive reviews Seattle Post-Intelligencer critic Ellen A. Kim wrote that the film was "mindlessly fun... If you like this type of movie, that is." The film was also praised by a few critics and viewers for its deftly handled action sequences and visual effects.
Box office
The film was a financial success. It made $138,608,444 in North America and $134,731,112 in other territories, totaling $273,339,556 worldwide — almost twice the gross of the original film.[3]
Accolades
At the MTV Movie Awards 2004 the film was nominated for "Best Action Sequence" for the inter-coastal freeway pursuit, but lost to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence won the award for "Best On-Screen Team."
In other media
Soundtrack
Video game
A video game version of the film, known as Bad Boys: Miami Takedown in North America, was released in 2004 on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and Windows. Originally planned for release in late 2003 (to tie in with the film's DVD release), the game was pushed back several months. The game failed to deliver any sort of sales or critical acclaim due to poor development; it was given low ratings from many game websites.[4]
Sequel
Michael Bay has stated that he may direct Bad Boys III after Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which opened in cinemas in June 2011. Bay has pointed out that the greatest obstacle to the potential sequel would be the cost, as he and Will Smith demand some of the highest salaries in the film industry.[5] So far, it has been confirmed that Columbia Pictures has hired Peter Craig to write the script for Bad Boys III.[6]
In an appearance on The Mo'Nique Show on BET, Martin Lawrence confirmed that Bad Boys III is in the works.[7]
References
External links
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