AlanBarber.Org
Sunday, December 21, 2003
Bad Boys II
I watched Bad Boys II last night for the first time. It's an excellent movie!Admittedly the plot is a bit thin and the movie relies a bit too much on fancy tricks and action but who really cares. I don't think anyone goes into movies like this expecting compelling dialog and intelligent, provoking story lines. It's all about the action and boy do they deliver!
Martin Lawrence and Will Smith didn't seem to have the level of chemistry the first movie had but the story is suppose to take place years after the first one and Martin Lawrence's character, Marcus, is having thoughts of getting a new partner because of the stress Will Smith's character, Mike, is causing. So I guess you could use that fact to give a believable reason for the lack of chemistry.
They have your obligatory car chase on a freeway. However they mix it up by having the bad guys steal a semi loaded with cars. So you get an over the top chase where bad guys are tossing cars off the back of the truck. This of course causes lots of mayhem and crashes and everyone but the two stars ends up in a crash.
Plus there's this cool 360 degree spinning shootout in this old house in the slums. The good guys and bad guys are in separate rooms and are back to back on the dividing wall that has two French doors on either side. They spin the camera around and around focusing on the center of this dividing wall. It's a very interesting shot but it does get a bit annoying after a while as you start to get dizzy and feel nauseous.
The action was great, the story while thin still made enough sense so you don't finish the movie and say "What the heck was that all about?". Best of all it makes really good use of our new surround sound system! Every speaker was working in unity to produce a symphony of directional sound that was pure bliss. Many movies barely make use of the rear surround sound speakers or use any fancy effects. Bad Boys II used it perfectly. In the heat of major shootouts every speaker in the room was rattling with gunfire but only when appropriate for the camera angle. This is one of those movies that makes you feel good for spending the extra money on a good speaker setup.
All in all I liked the movie. So if you haven't seen it, go out and rent it. In fact rent both and have a Bad Boys movie night.
on 12/21/2003 at 10:48 AM
I haven’t even seen the first one yet… I’ll have to rent both.