Bad Boys II

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

The Wild, Wild, Man in Black is back for his annual, summer box-office payout. But Will Smith has changed up his game. Instead of dancing and shooting aliens, Smith takes a cue from his partner in crime-stopping, Martin Lawrence, in Bad Boys II to dance, shoot, and curse. (Aliens not included.)

Since the entire Miami PD still can’t handle the city’s drug dealers, they enlist the two “unstable negruhs”—Martin’s words, not ours—to take down one of the biggest X dealers in the country. The boys, excuse us, bad boys, leave a customary wake of destruction in pursuit of their quarry until they finally get it right—two…and…a…half…hours…later. The run-on running time isn’t an issue early on, with Martin and Will doing their brutha-from-anotha-mutha schtick, and Joey Pants returning as Lt. Howard, with enough “My boss is so far up my ass…” zingers that you’ll rule the water cooler until Bad Boys III. The delicious Gabrielle Union fills out the roster as the newcomer, taking up the sequel gimmick role as Martin’s kid sister. And then there’s the action. Interminably looped dramatic explosions in slow motion match the interminably looped Nelly and P. Diddy soundtrack single to keep up the pace, but after the third identical car chase—chase, smash, squabble, repeat!—the momentum’s gone. Two and a half hours is a long time to spend with anybody—even bickering bad boys.