Movie Review: Bad Boys 2

Published on WinOut in 2009.

Name: Bad Boys 2: Desperados
Publisher: Pavel “Memphis” Hruban
File Size: 510mb

Due to poor internet connections in comparison to the rest of Europe Slovakia is not known for its prowess in Counter-Strike, as the players in this movie will demonstrate though they’ve got game over there in Eastern Europe. The bad boys in question are uNreaL and Dev1 (not to be confused with the Spanish x6tence player) who are two of the top Slovakian players, playing in clan fu.sk, and this movie features a variety of footage from clan games, nations cup games and gathers. North Americans may not recognise the names but this a movie that delivers and for 15 minutes of running time so I’d advise you to keep an open mind and download it.

Technical ability:
To emphasise from the outset how well put together this movie is it’s worth pointing out that it clocks in at 15 minutes of running time and yet that doesn’t seem unnecessary in the context of the proceedings and I wasn’t left bored during any point of the movie. The technical abilities of the moviemaker really shine in this piece from his understanding of how to blend the visual and audio aspects together to the way they are held together in an overarching theme which changes throughout the movie but follows a logical progression. Taking cues from movies like Desperados, From Dusk till Dawn and Once upon a time in Mexico Memphis starts the movie out (after the intial cheekily included trailer for own clan movie) with a distinctly Latin American feel. The cuts between scenes and choices of effects selected are clearly well thought out and planned. You will have seen most of the effects used in other movies but where other movies use them in unnecessary or out of context ways this movie applies them to the degree that they add an extra cinematic element to the affair and engage the viewer in the theme which runs throughout the piece. Even the slower moments like the terrorist sneaking through the outside of de_nuke redeems itself when you see why it is shown that way and the end result of it all. Where some of the choices the film maker made could have become cheesy or overplayed the way they all link into expressing the desperados theme is ultimately as satisfying as you could have hoped for.

Visual content:
When it’s not a huge release or a superstar name on the release you should know by now that if a movie turns up here it is going to have a certain degree of quality in the frags department. To get the negative points out of the way immediatly there are a couple of scene choices which while they were entertaining enough to watch were against ecoing opponents or with not so gratifying weapons (mp5, ump etc) When you consider the 15 minute running time and the fact these momentary lapses are far and few between you should get a better understanding of how consistently good this movie is when it comes to the kind of action we crave from frag movies. There are quite a few full 4 or 5 man takedowns against enemies with full equipment and not from merely the obvious positions. This is not a by the numbers frag movies, there is a huge variety of kills from all kinds of positions and with all the weapons you’d want to see. From Dev1 tearing up the Belgian national team on de_cbble with the awp to uNreaL’s ridiculous deagle headshots and ak sprays this movie has plenty of kills where you find yourself pleasantly surprised or positively delighted by the outcomes. I’m not sure I’d describe many of the kills as crazy and as a result not many of them appear to be lucky either, instead these are just consistenly really good kills and action sequences. The colour changes which take place throughout the movie really help temper the mood and change it accordingly to fit the theme of the movie and that’s worthy of some merit on its own.

Audio content:
The musical selection behind this movie is top notch, all the tracks fit together in a coherent manner and as a result the transition from one to another doesn’t break the cinematic feel of the piece and leave you time to wonder if the next section will be better or worse, rather you just follow where the film maker leads you. The pistolero track was featured in the chaoul history X movie if my memory is correct but in light of how long ago that movie was and how well it meshes with the rest of the music and the overall feel of the movie it feels as though this movie really makes that track its own. The tracks from movie scores much like some of the technical aspects could have been cheesy or silly in another movie but in this movie they really work well and there is a great dynamic provided by them. The last track in particular works very well with the action taking place on screen. Use of in game gun sounds or not in certain circumstances is well done and makes it clear a lot of effort and thought went into the preparation of this.

Overall:
This movie is really a joy to watch, it is constantly entertaining and surprising throughout its running time and even the lesser points can’t hamper the satisfaction of seeing the pieces ideas and themes play themselves out in a well connected manner. Simple ideas like the use of the gun icons to count up to 5 mans in the latter half of the movie show a level of innovativeness in applying techniques from other movies where they make the most sense and genuinely raise the overall level of the movie leave the viewer with nothing but admiration for the piece as a whole. You might have let this movie pass you by when it came out but it really is a sleeper hit which deserves to be viewed by everyone but the most cynical and shallow bombsight freaks.

Rating: 4/5