Stars: Wan DraL, Lesa Cole, Marcus Lawrence, Eliza Kelley, Josh Videna, David Norton, James Couche | Written and Directed by James Couche
“Imagine waking up and the world’s on fire…” Those words open Lost Phoenix, the ambitious indie action film that writer/director/actor James Couche has been working on since 2020, which is also the year the film is set in. They’re spoken by an amnesiac nicknamed Joe (Wan DraL) by his doctor. He’s just emerged from a five-month coma with no idea of who he is.
That proves to be a problem when Ice, acting on a tip that he’s an illegal immigrant, storms his hospital room. While he may not remember his name or be able to prove he’s in the country legally, he has remembered how to fight and promptly proves it.
On the run, he’s taken in by Barbara and hires...
“Imagine waking up and the world’s on fire…” Those words open Lost Phoenix, the ambitious indie action film that writer/director/actor James Couche has been working on since 2020, which is also the year the film is set in. They’re spoken by an amnesiac nicknamed Joe (Wan DraL) by his doctor. He’s just emerged from a five-month coma with no idea of who he is.
That proves to be a problem when Ice, acting on a tip that he’s an illegal immigrant, storms his hospital room. While he may not remember his name or be able to prove he’s in the country legally, he has remembered how to fight and promptly proves it.
On the run, he’s taken in by Barbara and hires...
- 12/29/2023
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
Opens Friday, July 18
Reprising the characters that launched their big-screen careers in 1995, Martin Lawrence and Will Smith reteam with director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer for their entry in the Summer of Sequels, "Bad Boys II". The technically virtuosic actioner gives new meaning to the word overkill, ratcheting up body count and vehicle smash-ups to dizzying heights in a high-decibel demolition-fest set amid Miami drug wars.
A keener sense of proportion might have better served the material. Bay is so intent on crowd pleasing, in the biggest, broadest sense, and so in love with every explosive, metal-crunching frame that he inflates what should have been a lean, taut action comedy into a two and a half hour marathon.
However masterful, the first-rate stunt work, effects, action cinematography and cutting (by no less than three editors) lose impact through sheer repetition; perhaps in honor of the Roman numeral in the title, just about every gag in the film is played out, with minor variations, at least twice. The numbing effect likely will prevent "Bad Boys II" from duplicating its predecessor's performance as Columbia's highest-grossing film of the year. But considering the eight-year absence from theaters of Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey, the Miami detectives and lifelong friends played by the charismatic leads, and the boxoffice clout they and Bay have accrued in the interim, a strong must-see factor will drive business, especially in the early going.
Working with different scripters this time -- Ron Shelton and Jerry Stahl, vets of the big and small screen, respectively -- Bay and Co. take the same buddy formula that clicked in '95, alternating adrenaline-rush action with the odd-couple sparring of family man Marcus Lawrence) and trust-fund-endowed playboy Mike (Smith). The first film's hook was the role reversal they were forced into by a case. This time the partners are harboring secrets from each other: Marcus has requested a transfer, while Mike has become involved with Marcus' younger sister Syd (Gabrielle Union), who's visiting from New York. These credible human touches never really pay off -- no surprise given the inordinate amount of time the boys must devote to death-defying shootouts and chases.
The second of these, a spectacular sequence that claims 22 cars and a boat -- as well as a few lives -- finds the duo chasing down Syd. She confesses that she's an undercover DEA agent, serving as money launderer for Russian mobster Alexei (Peter Stormare), whose Florida clubs traffic in souped-up, frequently lethal ecstasy. And there's a lot of money to launder, with Alexei in the midst of a $3 million drug deal with supplier Johnny Tapia (Jordi Molla). Spanish actor Molla ("Blow") is convincing as the menacing, borderline unhinged Cuban kingpin, who in a bizarre twist lives with his madre and motherless preteen daughter (one can only hope her mother got out alive). Besides the title characters, Molla's villain is the only one here with anything close to a third dimension.
Union, for one, has no opportunity to flex the comic chops she displayed earlier this year in "Deliver Us From Eva". In fact, she doesn't get to do much other than look good, shoot a gun and drive fast, the latter two hardly being novelties in this film. And Theresa Randle, who in the first installment provided appealing reality-check grounding as Marcus' wife, is reduced to a bit part. Also returning is Joe Pantoliano as the boys' harried captain, who along with Marcus struggles to embrace a 21st century serenity. The New Age altar in his office, complete with budding bamboo, smiling Buddha and incense, is a nice visual joke. But as it does with just about everything, the script pushes the anger-management psychobabble way past the point of profitable returns.
Even the fine comic interplay between Lawrence and Smith overstays its welcome, with initially funny sequences simply going on too long. Only Marcus' accidental E trip, complete with his partner's exasperated reaction, doesn't feel distended -- in large part because it's integrated into the plot, whereas the other comic bits feel like breathers between the pyrotechnics, shattered glass and slo-mo bullets.
The mayhem escalates as Mike and Marcus pursue the same criminals Syd is after, frustrated over her by-the-book refusal to collaborate with them as she closes in on the psychopathic Tapia. The case eventually involves not only the police and the DEA but the Coast Guard, FBI and something called the Tactical Narcotics Team, with Henry Rollins making an unlikely, if brief, appearance as its leader, providing a bit of post-9/11 context in the form of a passing reference. The Cuban-set denouement (with Puerto Rico subbing nicely) has a paramilitary fervor that underscores the film's vague sense of American might. When the cops' Hummer tears endlessly through a hillside shantytown, the astounding feat is meant to outweigh any concerns over the neighborhood's residents. By that point, viewers may be too worn out to care anyway.
The highly polished film bears a posthumous producing credit for Bruckheimer's former partner Don Simpson, who died in 1996.
BAD BOYS II
Columbia Pictures
A Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer production
Credits:
Director: Michael Bay
Screenwriters: Ron Shelton, Jerry Stahl
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer
Executive producers: Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Barry Waldman
Director of photography: Amir Mokri
Production designer: Dominic Watkins
Music: Trevor Rabin
Additional music: Dr. Dre
Costume designers: Deborah L. Scott, Carol Ramsey
Editors: Mark Goldblatt, Thomas A. Muldoon, Roger Barton.
Cast:
Detective Marcus Burnett: Martin Lawrence
Detective Mike Lowrey: Will Smith
Johnny Tapia: Jordi Molla
Syd Burnett: Gabrielle Union
Alexei: Peter Stormare
Theresa Burnett: Theresa Randle
Capt. Howard: Joe Pantoliano
Floyd Poteet: Michael Shannon
Roberto: Jon Seda
Detective Mateo Reyes: Yul Vazquez
Detective Marco Vargas: Jason Manuel Olazabal
Carlos: Otto Sanchez
TNT Leader: Henry Rollins.
Running time -- 147 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Reprising the characters that launched their big-screen careers in 1995, Martin Lawrence and Will Smith reteam with director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer for their entry in the Summer of Sequels, "Bad Boys II". The technically virtuosic actioner gives new meaning to the word overkill, ratcheting up body count and vehicle smash-ups to dizzying heights in a high-decibel demolition-fest set amid Miami drug wars.
A keener sense of proportion might have better served the material. Bay is so intent on crowd pleasing, in the biggest, broadest sense, and so in love with every explosive, metal-crunching frame that he inflates what should have been a lean, taut action comedy into a two and a half hour marathon.
However masterful, the first-rate stunt work, effects, action cinematography and cutting (by no less than three editors) lose impact through sheer repetition; perhaps in honor of the Roman numeral in the title, just about every gag in the film is played out, with minor variations, at least twice. The numbing effect likely will prevent "Bad Boys II" from duplicating its predecessor's performance as Columbia's highest-grossing film of the year. But considering the eight-year absence from theaters of Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey, the Miami detectives and lifelong friends played by the charismatic leads, and the boxoffice clout they and Bay have accrued in the interim, a strong must-see factor will drive business, especially in the early going.
Working with different scripters this time -- Ron Shelton and Jerry Stahl, vets of the big and small screen, respectively -- Bay and Co. take the same buddy formula that clicked in '95, alternating adrenaline-rush action with the odd-couple sparring of family man Marcus Lawrence) and trust-fund-endowed playboy Mike (Smith). The first film's hook was the role reversal they were forced into by a case. This time the partners are harboring secrets from each other: Marcus has requested a transfer, while Mike has become involved with Marcus' younger sister Syd (Gabrielle Union), who's visiting from New York. These credible human touches never really pay off -- no surprise given the inordinate amount of time the boys must devote to death-defying shootouts and chases.
The second of these, a spectacular sequence that claims 22 cars and a boat -- as well as a few lives -- finds the duo chasing down Syd. She confesses that she's an undercover DEA agent, serving as money launderer for Russian mobster Alexei (Peter Stormare), whose Florida clubs traffic in souped-up, frequently lethal ecstasy. And there's a lot of money to launder, with Alexei in the midst of a $3 million drug deal with supplier Johnny Tapia (Jordi Molla). Spanish actor Molla ("Blow") is convincing as the menacing, borderline unhinged Cuban kingpin, who in a bizarre twist lives with his madre and motherless preteen daughter (one can only hope her mother got out alive). Besides the title characters, Molla's villain is the only one here with anything close to a third dimension.
Union, for one, has no opportunity to flex the comic chops she displayed earlier this year in "Deliver Us From Eva". In fact, she doesn't get to do much other than look good, shoot a gun and drive fast, the latter two hardly being novelties in this film. And Theresa Randle, who in the first installment provided appealing reality-check grounding as Marcus' wife, is reduced to a bit part. Also returning is Joe Pantoliano as the boys' harried captain, who along with Marcus struggles to embrace a 21st century serenity. The New Age altar in his office, complete with budding bamboo, smiling Buddha and incense, is a nice visual joke. But as it does with just about everything, the script pushes the anger-management psychobabble way past the point of profitable returns.
Even the fine comic interplay between Lawrence and Smith overstays its welcome, with initially funny sequences simply going on too long. Only Marcus' accidental E trip, complete with his partner's exasperated reaction, doesn't feel distended -- in large part because it's integrated into the plot, whereas the other comic bits feel like breathers between the pyrotechnics, shattered glass and slo-mo bullets.
The mayhem escalates as Mike and Marcus pursue the same criminals Syd is after, frustrated over her by-the-book refusal to collaborate with them as she closes in on the psychopathic Tapia. The case eventually involves not only the police and the DEA but the Coast Guard, FBI and something called the Tactical Narcotics Team, with Henry Rollins making an unlikely, if brief, appearance as its leader, providing a bit of post-9/11 context in the form of a passing reference. The Cuban-set denouement (with Puerto Rico subbing nicely) has a paramilitary fervor that underscores the film's vague sense of American might. When the cops' Hummer tears endlessly through a hillside shantytown, the astounding feat is meant to outweigh any concerns over the neighborhood's residents. By that point, viewers may be too worn out to care anyway.
The highly polished film bears a posthumous producing credit for Bruckheimer's former partner Don Simpson, who died in 1996.
BAD BOYS II
Columbia Pictures
A Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer production
Credits:
Director: Michael Bay
Screenwriters: Ron Shelton, Jerry Stahl
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer
Executive producers: Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Barry Waldman
Director of photography: Amir Mokri
Production designer: Dominic Watkins
Music: Trevor Rabin
Additional music: Dr. Dre
Costume designers: Deborah L. Scott, Carol Ramsey
Editors: Mark Goldblatt, Thomas A. Muldoon, Roger Barton.
Cast:
Detective Marcus Burnett: Martin Lawrence
Detective Mike Lowrey: Will Smith
Johnny Tapia: Jordi Molla
Syd Burnett: Gabrielle Union
Alexei: Peter Stormare
Theresa Burnett: Theresa Randle
Capt. Howard: Joe Pantoliano
Floyd Poteet: Michael Shannon
Roberto: Jon Seda
Detective Mateo Reyes: Yul Vazquez
Detective Marco Vargas: Jason Manuel Olazabal
Carlos: Otto Sanchez
TNT Leader: Henry Rollins.
Running time -- 147 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 8/12/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.