Film reviews

Bad Boys 2, Dir: Michael Bay - Cert: 15

“Bad Boys, Bad Boys, watcha gonna do? Watcha gonna do when they come for you?” goes the title song and I’d recommend sitting down to enjoy the return of officers Burnett & Lowrey 8 years after their initial screen appearance.

With a mix of Cuban undertakers, Russian club owners, high octane chases, sharp sassy humour and gorgeous scenery on Miami Beach this film has it all.

Reprising their roles of Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey, Lawrence and Smith have lost none of the chemistry which made the partnership so fresh in the first film. Both of the lead characters, and their Captain, have been in therapy in the intervening years which is related in amusing fashion at the outset, following a failed drugs raid on what turns out to be a KKK meeting! Both have issues they need to discuss with the other which lead to some comic misunderstandings as do their differing approaches to their job.

The film is fast paced throughout with extravagantly destructive set pieces and calmer moments interspersed to prevent the whole mix becoming too over powering. Two scenes set in a TV store and a Mortuary raid are both superb examples of situation comedy without detracting from the story, which is as well because the story isn’t that complex.

Possibly the most incomprehensible questions are why Ferraris cannot out run Mack trucks in films, along with why the director didn’t forgo a couple of the multitudinous explosions to rent a steadicam! At least Jerry Bruckheimer has finally dispensed with the requirement for the Graduated Tobacco Filter that made frequent appearances in all the prior Simpson/Bruckheimer productions.

There’s nothing new here that wasn’t either in the first film or the Lethal Weapon series of films, particularly LW2 from which large plot portions seem to have been borrowed, but don’t let that dissuade you from giving this a go.

If Bad Boys III is a further 8 years away and as good a follow up as this is to the first - it will be worth the wait! 8/10

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K Soze

Odeon Online