The Boys (and Girl) of Summer
by Ed Owens

Ask any school-age child trying to pack nine months worth of class-time daydreams into three short months of open-ended opportunity and they’ll tell you that summer is hard work. Lazy days and hot, humid nights pass all too quickly, with lots of last minute scrambling to get in one final fling before the first bell rings, brings with it seemingly endless classes filled with memories of summer passed (along with what might have been) and fresh dreams of summers to come. Movie whores like myself also find the summer to be hard work, sifting through overhyped, underwritten blockbusters in search of nothing more than a little light entertainment.

“Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.”

Some view the summer with disdain, a season filled with traditionally empty-headed, big-budget spectacles that promise to amaze and delight us (without making us think too much) only to trample such dreams beneath the crushing weight of disappointment that comes from over-hype. I prefer the more optimistic approach, picking through the trash that passes for movies in the hopes of stumbling across that small gem that catches me off-guard, entertains me, and leaves me believing in the power of movies, not to change the world or ponder the weightier issues of mankind’s existence (that’s what the fall and winter films are for), but to engage, enrapture, and, ultimately, entertain.

The first Tomb Raider film (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) entertained me, despite my acknowledgement of its tasty badness in the overall scheme of things; unfortunately, the awkwardly titled sequel (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life) did not. Though many of the things that worked in the first film are still present and accounted for (the first time we see Angelina Jolie, as Lara, she is soaking wet and wearing a small bikini, followed by a shot of her in a glistening, skin-tight wetsuit…delicious!), many are not. One of the awol elements is the first film’s sense of breezy, light-hearted fun. Cradle, in an apparent attempt to give Croft some gravitas, makes the rather silly plot more personal, taking itself far more seriously than it should (and forcing Jolie to look concerned, troubled, distressed rather than flashing the trademark playful “come hither” look that gave young men fantasy fodder for weeks to come). The problem is only exacerbated by the appearance of Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler), Lara’s former love interest and current formula buddy.

Director Jan de Bont has a surer hand than his predecessor, but less creativity. The setups are largely straightforward and unimaginative, despite the inherent potential of the material. Ultimately, the film’s problem is in the pacing. While some individual scenes work to some extent, the film as a whole fails to build up much momentum. The film’s focus jumps from one objective to the next, failing to connect the dots in a way that makes the culmination of each scene resonant with the next. Scenes don’t escalate so much as change location, resulting in a dull progression of blasé action -- peppered with the occasional bit of inventive gunplay (the shootouts at the pagoda and the lab are both fun, if awkwardly staged) -- that never really puts the viewer in the game. Where the first film made me feel as if I were playing a video game, this one made me wish I were home playing one.

While Tomb Raider 2 left me unimpressed, Bad Boys II actually made me momentarily rethink my rather low opinion of Michael Bay. I’m not saying Bad Boys II is a great film, nor even a particularly creative one (let’s face it…the buddy cops chasing vicious drug lord plot has been pretty much beaten to death), but it is the one action film this summer that has had me on the edge of my seat.

If there’s one positive thing I can say about Bay after seeing Bad Boys II, it’s that the man knows how to blow shit up (granted, this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but as a Die Hard action junkie, I live for the adrenaline of well-shot setpieces). An early chase scene involving a hijacked car-carrier is the third big chase scene to show up this summer, but easily stands out as the season’s best. Where the Wachowskis much ballyhooed freeway chase came off as rather sterile, Bay’s take-no-prisoners sequence is down and dirty, vicious and violent, putting the viewer in the action in ways that are sure to make even the most jaded action fan cringe with anxiety. Bay keeps the pace up through most of the film, including a particularly stylish 360 degree shootout in a Haitian hideout. Action doesn’t get much better (or mindless) than this!

This is not to say the film is without flaws. Unless you’re a fan of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s “witty” banter, the down time between stunts can get a bit tedious. The film is unapologetically rude and insensitive (perhaps the result of Bay being freed from the constraints of the PG-13 rating he’s worked within for so long), resulting in scenes that push all sorts of boundaries and limits. The result is either hysterically funny (Lawrence and Smith intimidating a potential date for Lawrence’s daughter) or cringe-inducingly tasteless (an “overheard” conversation between Lawrence and Smith tinged with homosexual overtones). To the film’s credit, it rarely sidesteps or soft-peddles its viciousness, boldly declaring itself to be what it is even in the opening sequence (a nasty bit of gunplay at a KKK rally).

Despite an extremely awkward transition from the second to the third act (or third to the fourth, depending on how you count), the film manages to do what Tomb Raider didn’t…raise the stakes from one scene to the next and keep you breathless for most of its somewhat longish two hours and twenty minutes. I enjoyed that aspect of Bad Boys II to the point of forgiving many of its other problems. And in the end, that’s all I ask of any summer movie.

©2003 Ed Owens
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