neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Bad Boys II
	Michael Bay Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Jordi Mollà, Gabrielle Union, Joe Pantoliano, Peter Stormare, Theresa Randle 2003		The plague of second-rate movie sequels may have hit its nadir with "Bad Boys II," a follow-up to the violent 1995 action-comedy with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as bickering Miami cops. Any sporadic audience laughter, and there may be some after the random funny bit, is drowned out by the sheer volume of the soundtrack as cars crash, guns are fired and stuff explodes. Gore sprays all over the place as cool Mike (Smith) and easily rattled Marcus (Lawrence) go after a cruel, unintelligible Cuban drug lord (Jordi Mollà). In what passes for a romantic subplot, Mike hankers for Marcus' DEA-agent sister (Gabrielle Union), and it makes Marcus uneasy. Smith and Lawrence have a smirky good time with the banter when the carnage pauses long enough to let us hear them or they shout loud enough be heard over the melee. But it's all so long and pointless that the effect is numbing. This should be the last of the blockbuster buddy movies. It won't be. If director Michael Bay, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and the stars were mocking the genre, the joke goes on way too long (almost 2 1/2 hours) and just isn't amusing enough. With Joe Pantoliano as the Boys' typically fuming police captain.