Movie Review by Neils Hesse
Starring: Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Gabrielle Union, Joe Pantoliano
Director: Michael Bay
“?Bad Boys, Bad Boys watcha gonna do,
watcha gonna do when they come for you! ?”
Yup the Bad Boys are back on our screens, it’s been eight years since they burst onto the big screen with their combination of comedy and action in the basic buddy cop movie package. Will Smith (Mike Lowrey) and Martin Lawrence (Marcus Burnett) resume their detective roles serving with the Miami Police Department. This time around they are investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami, with the added uninvited presence of the Drug Enforcement Agency in the form of Gabrielle Union (Sydney Burnett) who just happens to be Mike’s love interest and Marcus’s baby sister. Joe Pantoliano returns as Captain Howard screaming at the top of his voice at the antics of his ‘boys’. The investigation leads to the infamous Johnny Tapia (Jordi Molla) and his controversial mortuary empire. As Tapia has been pursued and investigated by many agencies with no success, Captain Howard issues strict orders to the ‘boys’ that he is not to be pursued but as usual they follow their gut instincts and many gun fights, heartaches and car chases later good or should I say ‘bad’ prevails over evil!
Will Smith excels as Mike Lowrey the adrenaline junkie with a fat inheritance to live off, he pulls off the reckless yet smooth character just as well as he did the first time around, much more cold blooded this time around though and that is a very good thing for the character. Martin Lawrence is perfect as the family man who is constantly being dragged into danger again and again by his high-strung buddy and partner. His character is much more family oriented this time around which is fitting as his family has grown. The supporting cast of Joe Pantoliano, Gabrielle Union, Jordi Molla and Peter Stormare are all good but the on-screen chemistry of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence more than drives this rollercoaster ride on perfectly.
With Michael Bay directing coupled with the legendary Jerry Bruckheimer producing the result is outstanding although the film is a tad too long and with a few dragged out action scenes plus it could have used a bit more comedy. As far as the action is concerned there is plenty of gunplay and a fantastic car chase scene that somehow manages to include a boat but it would have benefited by including some more hand-to-hand combat scenes.
The movie is definitely best seen on the big screen to appreciate all the effects and music which is in part from Dr Dre on the actual theme with songs produced by P Diddy. Alas the fantastic original theme music from the first instalment is not repeated here.
All in all this is a great movie that is worth the trip to the cinema.
