Bad Boys II

Bad Boys II is a 2003 American action comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. A sequel to the 1995 film Bad Boys and the second installment in the Bad Boys series, the film follows detectives Burnett and Lowrey investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami. The film grossed $273 million worldwide.[2]

Plot
Eight years after the events of the first film, Miami Police Department (MPD) narcotics division detectives Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey are investigating the flow of ecstasy into the city, leading them to a Ku Klux Klan meeting and drug drop. The subsequent raid is botched due to weak radio signals, and in the firefight wherein several Klan members are either killed or injured, Mike accidentally shoots Marcus in the buttocks. The MPD arrests the surviving Klan members, who are revealed to be mere small-time buyers and not ecstasy distributors.

Marcus questions if he wants to remain partners with Mike. Meanwhile, Mike is concealing a relationship with Marcus' sister, Syd. Syd, unbeknownst to both Mike and Marcus, is an undercover operative with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), laundering money for Russian gangsters, who distribute ecstasy on behalf of Cuban drug lord Johnny Tapia.

While transporting money between the Russians and Tapia, Syd is attacked by a Haitian gang trying to steal the money. Mike and Marcus inadvertently stumble into the action, and an intense firefight and car chase ensues, devastating the local area and enraging Police Captain Conrad Howard. Marcus and Mike discover Syd's involvement, and Capt. Howard demands they find the supplier of ecstasy.

Marcus and Mike confront the Haitian gang, killing several, and learn from the leader that a local mortuary is possibly being used by Tapia as a front for money laundering. The pair penetrate Tapia's mansion disguised as pest exterminators, and discover that Tapia has eliminated some of his Russian distributors and has begun to court Syd, still undercover with the DEA, for distribution.

The detectives locate the boat used for drug smuggling after forcing an arrested Klan member to its location, observe a morgue van make a rendezvous with it, and give chase unsuccessfully. Mike and Marcus infiltrate Tapia's mortuary disguised as ambulance workers, and learn that he is using dead bodies to smuggle drugs and money. When the pair are almost discovered, Marcus accidentally ingests some of the ecstasy and Mike orders the disguised officers outside the building to crash an ambulance into it, creating a diversion.

The mortuary and Tapia's mansion are raided, the drugs and money intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard. However, during the raid a vengeful Russian gangster, Alexei, violently storms the mansion on his own, intending to avenge his murdered friends. Alexei is shot by the police, while Tapia discovers Syd, kidnapping her and taking her to Cuba.

With Syd held prisoner in Tapia's compound and guarded by the Cuban military, the drug lord demands the return of his money in exchange for Syd's life. Mike and Marcus, with a team of volunteers from S.W.A.T. and the DEA, assault Tapia's compound, rescuing Syd, and destroying the building.

The group flee, an infuriated Tapia in pursuit, which ends in a minefield outside U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, where Tapia holds Mike at gunpoint, with guards at the naval station threatening them. Syd distracts Tapia by killing one of his men and Marcus shoots Tapia, whose body falls onto a mine and explodes.

Later, at the Burnett house, Marcus finally makes peace with Mike dating Syd, and the pair re-affirm their partnership.

Cast

 * Will Smith as Detective Lieutenant Mike Lowry
 * Martin Lawrence as Detective Lieutenant Marcus Burnett
 * Jordi Mollà as Hector Juan Carlos "Johnny" Tapia
 * Gabrielle Union as Special Agent Sydney "Syd" Burnett
 * Peter Stormare as Alexei
 * Theresa Randle as Theresa Burnett
 * Joe Pantoliano as Captain Conrad Howard
 * Otto Sanchez as Carlos
 * Jon Seda as Roberto
 * Oleg Taktarov as Josef Kuninskavich
 * Michael Shannon as Floyd Poteet
 * Jason Manuel Olazabal as Detective Marco Vargas
 * Yul Vazquez as Detective Mateo Reyes
 * Treva Etienne as "Icepick"
 * Kiko Ellsworth as "Blondie Dread"
 * Timothy Adams as DEA van agent
 * Henry Rollins as TNT Leader
 * Ivelin Giro as Mike's Police Psychologist
 * Dennis Greene as Reggie
 * John Salley as Fletcher

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 23% approval rating based on 179 reviews, and a weighted average of 4.1 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states, "Two and a half hours of explosions and witless banter."[3]

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, saying, "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?"[4]On an episode of At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, film critic Richard Roepernamed Bad Boys II the worst film of 2003.

James Berardinelli of ReelViews was even more negative about the film, rating it half a star out of four and stating: "Bad Boys II isn't just bad - it's a catastrophic violation of every aspect of cinema that I as a film critic hold dear."[5]

Among the more positive reviews was Seattle Post-Intelligencer critic Ellen A. Kim, who 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.[6]

Box office
The film was a modest financial success. It made $138,608,444 in North America and $134,731,112 in other territories, totaling $273,339,556 worldwide against a budget of $130,000,000 — almost twice the gross of the original film.[2]

Accolades
At the 2004 MTV Movie Awards, the film was nominated for "Best Action Sequence" for the inter-coastal freeway pursuit and "Best On-Screen Team", but lost to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and 50 First Dates, respectively.

Bad Boys II was nominated at the 2nd Annual Visual Effects Society Awards (VES) for "Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture".[7]

Soundtrack
Main article: Bad Boys II (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 DVDrelease), 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.[8]