Bad Boys II

One and a half stars. More than just disappointing: actively bad.

Gratuitious succession of gun fights and car chases, strung together by a weak-ass script, and directed with an utter lack of visual flair. The action is big, dumb, and careless. The verbal sparring between Martin Lawrence and Will Smith was funny in the first Bad Boys outing, partly because of the switched identity sub-plot, but also because it was better written. Here, the interplay relies on an anger management character angle, and it breaks down into "Oh yeah?" "Oh yeah?" shouting matches right from the start. The villain is stupid, and the main plot lines don't come together for an hour and a half; which is exactly the length this film should have been if the production team hadn't taken their eyes off the ball.