BEFORE: All right, I'll give this franchise just one more chance, to maybe develop a plot this time instead of just blowing stuff up.
THE PLOT: Two loose-cannon narcotics cops investigate the flow of Ecstasy into Florida.
AFTER: Well, I'm glad they ditched the ridiculous "let's pretend to be each other" bit. But the 2 black cops do get mistaken for gangsters, so is the mistaken identity thing an integral part of this franchise?
I finally figured out part of the problem with the acting - a lot of the dialogue appears to be improvised. And with the actors left hanging to fill in the story gaps that apparently were never written, and not knowing which of their takes will eventually be used in the film, they have to keep stressing the same story points, over and over. And that creates a tone where it appears that the filmmakers think the audience is made up of idiots. "But she's my SISTER, Mike!" Yes, we know - you can't talk about her without mentioning that point, which everyone around you happens to already know, and you've said that same line 23 times already.
There's a slightly more coherent plotline than in "Bad Boys", but the main emphasis is still on action. There's only one directive here, and that's to smash and destroy. A gangster in pursuit of an SUV would simply NOT hijack a car-carrier, one of the most notoriously slow vehicles on the road, unless his goal was to release those cars in a very visually stimulating way into the middle of the highway. Looks spectacular? Sure. Makes any lick of sense? Uh-uh.
The action is so frantic, with so many things going on at once, again it's the detective work that goes right out the window. Stuff like fingerprints, DNA, ballistics - nope, forget all that, we've got cars to smash. Look, car go fast! Very exciting! I guess cop training goes right out the window, the best work doesn't get done in a blind panic.
The most ridiculous thing would be the climax, a joint police/DEA/CIA operation (yeah, like those groups would even talk to each other, let alone work together) that essentially becomes an invasion of Cuba. Isn't that, like, illegal, or a violation of some U.N. bylaw? Why not add the Army, the Navy Seals, and the planes from "Top Gun" while you're at it? Imagine the most unbelievable police/military strategy, and then double that.
Starring Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Joe Pantoliano, Theresa Randle (all carrying over from "Bad Boys"), Gabrielle Union (last seen in "Meet Dave"), Peter Stormare (last seen in "Minority Report"), Jordi Molla (last seen in "Knight and Day"), with cameos from Henry Rollins (last seen in "Heat"), Dan Marino.
RATING: 4 out of 10 rodents (of unusual size)
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