When Michael Bay, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence landed on screen with their first action outing in Bad Boys (1995), it's quite possible not many realized at the time how this would take them forward. Will Smith would soon end his career with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and go onto other blockbuster films like Men In Black (1997). Martin Lawrence though would continue mainly with comedic roles starring in films like Big Momma's House (2000). As for Michael Bay he would stick two more money makers with The Rock (1996) and Armageddon (1998). It wouldn’t only be until 2003 that these three converged again on this sequel much of which fans were anticipating. Unfortunately, it's not as great a followup due to a number of reasons.
Written by newcomers to the franchise Jerry Stahl and Ron Shelton, the script for this sequel is average at best. The main reason for this is that it gets bogged down with too much inconsistent direction. Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are still working together, but it seems lately Lowrey is being more reckless than usual. Finally, Marcus feels he needs to distance himself from Mike. Meanwhile, a Cuban drug lord named Tapia (Jordi Mollà) is working to smuggle as much of his drugs and money in a short period of time and the cops' Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) wants to understand all the wreckless behavior going on lately.
This is the condensed version of the plot. There actually doesn't seem to be much more in story, but the length at which this is drawn out is laborious. Bad Boys (1995) runtime was two hours and while it was long, it did have a number of entertaining things going for it. Here, now clocking in at two and half hours, the execution feels padded. There's also a subplot revolving around some Russian (Peter Stormare) who's in on it with Tapia but this doesn't go anywhere. There's even another subplot about Mike Lowrey hooking up with Marcus' sister Syd (Gabrielle Union). It's all just Michael Bay's attempt at comedy and/or character development because the way it happens feels forced just because.
This leads to the comedic aspects of the film being ho-hum. The kinds of jokes thrown around in the film is okay to flat. It's really hit and miss because of how lackluster it feels. Thankfully, the chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence feel authentic. They both play well off each other and it seems like both had a good time. The thing is, while their chemistry works,...it's the way the script was written that doesn't allow them to shine like they did in the first film. That's also not to say the other cast members don't try. Theresa Randle returns as Marcus' wife, an early Michael Shannon, Yul Vazquez and Jason Manuel Olazabal all have small roles to play. Jordi Mollà is probably one of the most uninteresting villains in a while.
Visually the cinematography is well shot and has vastly improved over the work from the first film. One of the small improvements. Shot by Amir Mokri who before this worked on Pacific Heights (1990), further shows the audience all kinds of scenic shots. The action was also very enjoyable; which usually doesn't fail a Bay film. Sadly, music was a downgrade. Due to creative differences between Mark Mancina of the first film and Michael Bay, Mancina was replaced with Trevor Rabin. And it's not that Rabin is a bad composer, because he has made good music. But here, he followed Bay's direction which lacked any kind of thematic material the first score contained. Leaving the sequel with no kind of musical identity. Sigh.
As a sequel, it will entertain the fans who enjoyed the first film. However, for those looking for a little more than the same, it will feel pretty average with generic music, inconsistent comedic elements and an over bloated run time. The only thing that has remained credible is the improved camerawork, fun action sequences and good chemistry between actors.
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