Bad Boys
Within five minutes, I concluded that "Bad Boys" cooked according to the following recipe:
1. Assemble a handful of stars. Don't use 'mega-stars', since they raise the budget, but they must be recognizable to the audience.
2. Choose as many of the following as you can squeeze past the ratings board: - Sex. Preferrably gratuitous. But, make certain it appeals to the middle-aged, white males. - Violence. Preferrably gratuitous. However, use this ingredient judiciously, since copious amounts produce a deadening effect on the taste buds. Also, try to include at least one major head injury. (eg, A vicious head-slam into porcelin is certain to be a crowd pleaser.) - Death. All bad guys must die violently. If possible, they should drop like flies at the hands of the good guys. The tough part is getting the audience to feel good about these ruthless killings.
3. Take the choices from above and place into an 8" pie plate. Mix in the stars, and bake for about two hours using large explosions. Huge fireballs are prefered if an abandoned airstrip and the proper forms can be obtained from the city of Miami.
4. When the last Bad Guy dies directly at the hands of the hero/heroine, remove from heat. Allow to cool, while the hero/heroine lives happily ever after.
That was my opinion. I might have walked out if I hadn't been there on assignment to review the movie. There is enough language and violence in this film to earn an 'R' rating for any potential sequel. Every bad guy dies at the hands of Mike or Marcus and (credit where credit is due) the explosions are good. This film has everything I expected, including a 'rival' detective team to counterpoint the heroes. If you haven't seen the film, the plot is simple. Mike and Marcus have just recently orchestrated a drug bust in which the Miami police confiscate two palettes of pure heroin. The movie opens as The Bad Guys steal the heroin from the police station in a series of scenes right out of "Die Hard 2" and "Mission Impossible". The police, wanting to recover the drugs quickly before the media finds out, put Mike and Marcus on the case.
In short, the movie has all the makings of a terrible action film. However, this film is terrific despite what went into the recipe.
I found the film to be a refreshing change. First, Mike's and Marcus' continuous banter and close friendship make them interesting and fun to watch, but not believable as homicide detectives. Marcus plays the married man with a lovable wife and children, while Mike plays the second-generation rich kid and galavanting stud. For innocent victims, the film produces a prostitute and her roomate. The unsuspecting roomate winds up in the middle of everything, including excessive amounts of random gunfire. She narrowly escapes the vicious bad guys at their first encounter and takes the obligatory zillion-story leap from the hotel roof into the swimming pool to escape.
This film is packed with treats, not just new variations on an old theme. For example, I wholly expected Marcus' family to wind up being the hostages in some final standoff, or perhaps even brutally murdered to spur on the good guys. (Hint, hint...) Everyone guessed that an 'inside leak' had made the heroin theft possible, but the leak comes from an unexpected direction. (No spoilers!) The police captain, although a little abusive, is actually one of the good guys in this film, instead of the stupid, tyrranical character I'm used to seeing heading investigations in action films.
A film's ability to hold my attention strongly influences my opinion. If, for example, I can specifically remember looking at the walls, or listening to the people behind me, then the film has a heavy mark against it. At some spots in "Bad Boys", it required some conscious effort to remember to blink, and I actually caught myself gripping the arms of my chair in one chase scene. As a clincher, the cinematography and film editing are, hands down, superb. The entire film is edited with a deft, quick style, and the director deserves a raise.
To be fair, I must point out that some of the props in the film are the epitome of cheesy. In the final scenes, the bad guys are loading an airplane that has no nose cone, is missing part of its tail section, some windows and cabin doors, and obviously hasn't flown for years. The plot is simplistic without twists, and some of the acting is a bit heavy-handed. However, from the stressed-out police captain to the mysterious and odd secretary, the cast works well together and there is (I still can't believe this) absolutely no gratuitous sex nor nudity among the primary cast members! In short, if you're up for some completely senseless violence, fast action, and a few good laughs en route, you'll be glad to pay less than $8 to see it. (I actually paid $3.75 in these 'back woods' of Pennsylvania.)
