“Bad Boys II” Review | 2 and a Half Hours of Michael Bay Excess
Spoilers beware.
If anyone was going to make a pro-Americana movie 2 years after 9/11, it was going to be Michael Bay. Bad Boys II — released in 2003, 8 years after the original — is one of the meanest, angriest, and most excessive films I’ve ever seen come from its director, something that wouldn’t feel out-of-place playing in the background at a 4th of July party for adults. For some, this over-the-top “Bayhem” is a welcome change that turns this gun-fest into something purely singular within the action genre — some on Letterboxd seem to believe this once I logged this on the app. And I mean, good for you if you believe that; personally, the spiraling insanity scene after scene got on my nerves fairly quickly.
The bad boys — Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett — are on the case once again. This time, their investigation revolves around ecstasy moving through Miami thanks to the efforts of a powerful crime lord, Johnny Tapia, whom Miami PD have never been able to nail. As Marcus’ sister Syd works undercover with the DEA, he and Mike — whose partnership may be coming to an end once this is all over — shoot through gangsters, dead bodies, and even the occasional rat in order to stop the trade, protect their city, and bring Johnny to justice once and for all.
