Bad Boys II
Bad Boys II is a 2003 American action comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and the sequel to the 1995 film Bad Boys, in addition to the second film in the Bad Boys film series. Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Theresa Randle, and Joe Pantoliano reprise their roles from the previous film, and they are joined by new cast members including Jordi Mollà, Gabrielle Union, and Peter Stormare. The film follows detectives Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey investigating the flow of illegal drugs going into Miami.
The film was released on July 18, 2003, by Sony Pictures Releasing under the Columbia Pictures label. It received generally negative reviews from critics; however, it performed well commercially, grossing $273 million worldwide, becoming the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2003. Two sequels, Bad Boys for Life and Bad Boys: Ride or Die, were released in 2020 and 2024, respectively.
Plot
Eight years after taking down Fouchet, Miami PD detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett are investigating drug trafficking of ecstasy in Miami. They infiltrate a Klan meeting, only to discover that they are buyers, not distributors. After a radio malfunction leads to a delayed arrival of the Miami Police's Tactical Narcotics Team, Mike and Marcus end up in a shootout with the Klansmen. While covering Marcus, Mike inadvertently shoots him in the buttocks.These antics reinforce Marcus's doubt about whether he should stay partners with Mike, who is secretly dating Syd, Marcus's younger sister. Marcus waits to tell Mike he's transferring out of the TNT Unit. Unbeknownst to both, Syd works undercover for the DEA as a money launderer for a Russian mafia branch in Miami's drug trade, working with drug lord Hector Juan Carlos "Johnny" Tapia.
After laundering the money, Syd is intercepted by a Haitian Zoe Pound gang while transporting it. Mike and Marcus, following an informant's tip, engage in a gun battle and car chase through Miami and the MacArthur Causeway, causing major damage. Captain Howard reprimands them and is upset that the DEA is investigating the city without his knowledge.
Mike and Marcus track down the Haitians, interrogate the leader, and learn from a video that Tapia uses a local mortuary as a front. They pose as pest exterminators at Tapia's Miami home for more intel. Meanwhile, Tapia starts a mixed business-personal relationship with Syd, planning for her to launder all his money.
Later, Mike and Marcus infiltrate Tapia's mortuary. Inside, they discover that Tapia is using cadavers and coffins to smuggle drugs and money in and out of the country. The evidence is sufficient for Captain Howard to authorize a raid on both Tapia's residence and the mortuary, in collaboration with the DEA and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Almost all of Tapia's drug supply and money are confiscated in the raid. Tapia flees to Cuba with Syd as a hostage after learning she is a DEA agent during the raid on his home. He demands his money back in 48 hours, using Syd as a bargaining chip. Mike and Marcus form a black-ops team with the DEA, TNT, and Howard's contacts from the CIA to rescue Syd. They are inserted by the Coast Guard off Cuba, where they meet Tito, Vargas's brother, who leads the local Alpha 66 resistance. Tito helps with weapons, tunnels, and mapping Tapia's mansion.
The team raids Tapia's mansion, rescues Syd, and leaves a large explosive device that demolishes the mansion upon the team's exfiltration. Marcus, Mike, Syd and Tito steal a yellow Hummer H2 as they escape from Cuban military forces controlled by Tapia. Tapia survives and pursues the group, ultimately ending up outside of Guantanamo Bay. Not recognized as U.S. citizens, the Navy personnel on the base shoot at both Mike and Marcus as well as Tapia's vehicles, prompting them to stop just as they enter a live minefield. Marcus kills Tapia while the latter holds Mike at gunpoint. Tapia's body falls backward onto a mine, which obliterates his corpse.
Mike, Marcus, and Syd celebrate at a barbecue in Marcus's backyard with his family; Marcus has decided to remain partners with Mike.
Cast
Production
Development and writing
In August 1995, the Los Angeles Times reported that producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson were planning to make a sequel to Bad Boys, with filming set to begin in 1996. Director Tom Dey had re-written a previous draft, and was set to make his directorial debut on the film. By 1997, plans were scrapped after Sony executives were dissatisfied with the script. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris turned down an offer to direct the film. Cormac and Marianne Wibberley were asked by an executive at Jerry Bruckheimer Films to come in with an idea for the sequel, the duo wrote a first draft, pitched it, and Bruckheimer liked it.In March 2002, it was reported that Ron Shelton was rewriting the script. Jerry Stahl was hired and did a rewrite on Shelton's script, initially brought on board for a week-long rewrite of the script, he wound up staying on for several weeks, Stahl would later claim that only snippets of his dialogue remain in the film.
John Lee Hancock was then hired by the studio and Bruckheimer to do a rewrite, Michael Bay initially balked at Bruckheimer's choice of Hancock, skeptical that the writer was right for an action movie, as Bruckheimer recalled: "I reminded Michael that John was a director himself, so he knows a director’s problems and how to solve them". Hancock was tasked with making the script less simplistic, in addition to adding subplots, and more conflict, giving each protagonist a secret. Hancock left after three weeks to start production on The Alamo. Judd Apatow was hired to do a rewrite on the script, with assistance from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, according to Rogen, he and Goldberg were broke, so Apatow gave them a bit of money to help him on the script, they ended up contributing a few gags. After Apatow's rewrite, Brian Koppelman and David Levien were brought in towards the end of shooting to do punch up work on the characters; they worked on the script for a week.
Other writers, such as Ron Bass, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, Larry Ferguson, George Gallo, Tony Gilroy, Dan Gordon, Brian Helgeland, Gregory Allen Howard, Todd Robinson, and Marshall Todd were brought in at various points throughout the developmental process to either write their own draft, or rewrite the script. The final screenplay was credited to Ron Shelton and Jerry Stahl, with story credit going to Shelton and the Wibberleys.
Filming
took place between July and December 2002, mostly in Miami. The eastbound lanes for MacArthur Causeway were shut down in early August 2002 to allow filming. Filming also occupied one side of Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, while 2 Fast 2 Furious was shot on the other side around the same time.Music
Reception
Box office
Bad Boys II was a financial success. For its opening weekend, the film generated $46.5 million, making it the fourth-highest opening weekend for an R-rated film, behind The Matrix Reloaded, Hannibal and 8 Mile. It managed to beat out Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl to reach the number one spot. Although Bad Boys II dropped into third place behind the latter film and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over with a 52.6% decline, it still made $22 million while keeping above Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life and Seabiscuit. In the United Kingdom, it made $10 million, making it the country's second-highest-grossing film released in October 2003, behind Finding Nemo. The film 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, and was the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2003.Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, Bad Boys II holds an approval rating of 23% based on 183 reviews. 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.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 N-Word, 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.
James Berardinelli of ReelViews was even more negative about the film, rating it half a star out of four and stating: "Bad Boys II isn't just bad - it's a catastrophic violation of every aspect of cinema that I as a film critic hold dear." Jon Caramanica of The Village Voice explained that "Bad Boys 2 plays like a flashy highlight reel from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City." Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine gave the film zero out of four stars, stating that "Michael Bay's latest jingoistic fetish film, Bad Boys II, could be the most vile creation to come out of Hollywood since Patch Adams."
Among the more positive reviews was Seattle Post-Intelligencer critic Ellen A. Kim, who wrote that the film was "mindlessly fun... If you like this type of movie, that is." The film was also praised by a few critics and viewers for its deftly handled action sequences and visual effects.
Accolades
At the 2004 MTV Movie Awards, the film was nominated for "Best Action Sequence" for the inter-coastal freeway pursuit and "Best On-Screen Team", but lost to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and 50 First Dates, respectively.Bad Boys II was nominated at the 2nd Annual Visual Effects Society Awards for "Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture".
At the 2003 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film won the award for Worst Sequel. It was also nominated for Most Intrusive Musical Score, but lost to Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.