“It’s just another day in the life of Mike Lowrey.”  That says it all.  This ludicrous nonsense could happen to no one else.  We first met the characters of Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett in the 1995 smash hit.  The film was also a huge launching pad for the careers of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence who have since capitalised on their popularity in the action genre.  Smith has gone on to star in Independence Day, Men In Black and Wild Wild West with Lawrence appearing in films such as Blue Streak and National Security.  Eight years after the original, they are back where they began in Bad Boys 2.

I enjoyed the early stages of the film.  There was an incredible car chase sequence where 23 cars and a boat get obliterated on a bridge in Miami.  It’s masterfully shot and the action guru Michael Bay (The Rock, Armageddon) has placed every camera ideally to capture the incredible action.  However, the screenplay is absolute and utter garbage.  Let’s look at this scene as an example.  In reality, many people would have been killed.  Yet, in the debriefing following the incident, the police chief is quick to point out to Mike and Marcus that “you’re lucky no one was killed”.  That’s too much of a cop out.

That’s not to say that people aren’t killed in the movie.  Those that do die though are the bad guys and when they do, it’s in very gory fashion and it is this attribute that earns the film an MA rating in Australia.  Why is it that they avoid showing us some deaths and yet show us the juicy gore of some others?  While we’re chatting about the screenplay, there is a dreadfully overused joke with Marcus going to therapy to help his stress relief.  It never goes anyway and it’s just filler to give the characters something to talk about between action sequences.

So why even both seeing the movie?  If you’re like me, there’s no need.  There are others unlike me though (believe it or not) who will go simply for the action and will be easily pleased.  One audience member is my screening even applauded as the credits rolled.  Um, ok.  They obviously checked their brain in at the door so as not to be disappointed by the screenplay which failed to make an appearance.  I should have done the same.

My biggest qualm has to be with the length.  This film is damn, damn long and this doesn’t help matters.  The more time I spent in the cinema, the more time I had to find fault with the script and the characters.  It’s two-and-a-half hours in total (thirty minutes longer than the first film).  You’d have though the studio would have asked for a shorter cut so they could squeeze in more screenings on opening weekend.  And you know what more screenings means to Jerry Bruckheimer and his company?  $$$

I realise at this point that in my analysis of the film I forgot to mention the plot.  Come to think of it, I can’t really remember it.