Bad Boys II (2003)

Bad Boys II is a 2003 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. The sequel to the 1995 film Bad Boys and the second film in the Bad Boys film series, the film follows detectives Burnett and Lowrey investigating the flow of illegal drugs going into Miami. Bad Boys II was released on July 18, 2003. It received extremely negative reviews from critics and grossed $273 million worldwide. A third film, Bad Boys for Life, was released in January 2020.

Plot.

Eight years after the events of the first film, Mike and Marcus are investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami. They infiltrate a Klan meeting held in the marshland outside of Miami only to discover that they are, in fact, buyers and not distributors of the ecstasy. After a radio mishap leads to a delayed arrival of Miami Police’s Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT), Mike and Marcus end up in a shootout with the Klansmen that results in many casualties and injuries, with Marcus accidentally sustaining a gunshot wound to the buttocks from Mike. These antics lead Marcus to re-evaluate whether he wants to remain partners with Mike, who is secretly dating Syd, Marcus’ younger sister. Unbeknownst to both Marcus and Mike, Syd is working undercover for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a money launderer to a branch of the Russian Mafia operating in Miami’s drug trade.

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The Russians, in turn, are the main distributors of ecstasy for Cuban drug lord Hector Juan Carlos “Johnny” Tapia. After laundering a large sum of money for the Russians, Syd is intercepted by Haitian gang Zoe Pound while she is transporting the money. Mike and Marcus, working on a tip from an informant, had been following the Haitians when the latter made their move, leading to an extensive gun battle and car chase through Miami that resulted in significant collateral damage and loss of life as well as the angry reprimand of Mike and Marcus by Captain Howard, who was further angered to find out the DEA was running an investigation in Miami without consulting him first. Mike and Marcus then track down the surviving Haitians, and after another gun battle inside the leader’s house, they interrogate the

leader and learn from one of the Haitian’s video camera that Tapia is using a local mortuary as a front for his operations. To gain more intel Mike and Marcus pose as pest exterminators responding to a rat infestation of Tapia’s Miami residence. They use the cover to gain access to the mansion and plant bugs throughout the premises. Meanwhile, Tapia has had a meeting with his Russian business associates Alexei and Josef. While he discusses his business with Alexei, Tapia has Josef butchered in his kitchen and places the remains in a tortilla bin as a threat to Alexei to sign over all of his Miami night clubs where he distributes ecstasy. Mike discovers some of Josef’s remains in the kitchen where he was dismembered, smuggling a pinky finger for later identification.

Box office, Home media.

The film was a financial success. It made $138 million North America and $135 million in other territories, totaling $273 million worldwide against a budget of $130 million — almost twice the gross of the original film. A video game version of the film, known as Bad Boys: Miami Takedown in North America, was released in 2004 on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and Windows. Originally planned for release in late 2003 (to tie in with the film’s DVD release), the game was pushed back several months. The game failed to deliver any sort of sales or critical acclaim due to poor development; it was given low ratings from many game websites.

Critical response.

On Rotten Tomatoes, Bad Boys II holds an approval rating 23% based on 183 reviews, and a weighted average of 4.08/10. The site’s critical consensus states, “Two and a half hours of explosions and witless banter.” On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating “generally unfavorable reviews”. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A” on an A+ to F scale, same as the first film.

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Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one out of a possible four stars, especially offended by one scene involving a teenage boy and the use of the word nigga, saying, “The needless cruelty of this scene took me out of the movie and into the minds of its makers. What were they thinking? Have they so lost touch with human nature that they think audiences will like this scene?” On an episode of At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, film critic Richard Roeper named Bad Boys II the worst film of 2003.

Cast:

Martin Lawrence as Detective Marcus Miles
Will Smith as Detective Lieutenant Michael Eugene
Jordi Mollà as Hector Juan Carlos
Gabrielle Union as DEA Special Agent
Peter Stormare as Alexei
Theresa Randle as Theresa Burnett
Joe Pantoliano as Captain Conrad
Otto Sanchez as Carlos
Jon Seda as Roberto
Oleg Taktarov as Josef Kuninskavich
Michael Shannon as Floyd Poteet
Jason Manuel Olazabal as Detective Marco Vargas
Yul Vazquez as Detective Mateo Reyes
Treva Etienne as ‘Icepick’
Kiko Ellsworth as ‘Blondie Dread’
Timothy Adams as DEA van agent
Henry Rollins as TNT leader
Ivelin Giro as Mike’s police psychologist
Dennis Greene as Reggie McDonald
John Salley as Fletcher
Dan Marino as Himself
Megan Fox as Dancer (uncredited)

Bad Boys II (2003) Biography, Plot, Box office, Home media, Trailer