Bad Boys (1995)

3/5

Michael Bay's Bad Boys tries to be many things and doesn't always succeed. The plot centers around cops Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as they attempt to regain a large amount of stolen heroin while simultaneously protecting Tea Leoni, a witness to a related murder. One part of the story involves a cheesy gimmick wherein Lawrence must pretend he's Smith, but it only serves to confuse the plot and add unfunny attempts at jokes. The dialogue was very poorly written. They attempted realistic back-and-forth arguing as you'd see in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Knocked Up. But it wasn't funny. Which just made it annoying. Only about half the action scenes are truly exciting; for the rest, we're just watching stuff happen. As the camera rotates around us. The technical aspects are pretty uninspired and unimpressive. The worst part is that it takes a long time to really get into the meat of the story, the funny jokes, and the thrilling action. You have to put up with half of the movie before you're really rewarded in any way. So, watch it at your own risk. Just don't expect too much out of it.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112442/

La Femme Nikita (1990)

3/5

La Femme Nikita stars Anne Parillaud as a cop killer given a second chance at life as a government assassin. As you can guess, this is an action movie. But it's by Luc Besson, which means that it's one of the most bizarre action movies I've seen in a long time. Weird camera angles, editing that's just a bit off, and characters that are off-the-wall combine to form an interesting viewing experience, to say the least. But I found the action to be too excessive, the romance too bland, the plot too predictable, and the characterizations too unrealistic. It all didn't match up to form a cohesive whole. And yet it works. The unique story pulls you in and never lets you go. It had a strange attraction that forced me to keep watching, intrigued. The pacing was flawless. The imagery was startling, vivid, and memorable. And I absolutely loved the ending. Knowing that Jean Reno was in the movie, I kept waiting for him to appear. When he finally did, his little cameo didn't quite live up to my expectations. But his role was really cool. I guess that's what Luc Besson movies have to offer to me--cool little nuggets in weird action movies.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0100263/