BAD BOYS (1995) - Movie Review

Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Téa Leoni, Tchéky Karyo, Theresa Randle, Joe Pantoliano
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Writer: Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland, Doug Richardson
Runtime: 119 min
Rated: R for intense violent action and pervasive strong language
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), 4K Ultra HD (Amazon),Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

From director Michael Bay (The Rock, Armageddon) and the production team of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun) comes a thrill ride of explosive action from beginning to end. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence team up as partners in crime, crime-fighting that is, in this action-packed flick about a couple of good guys who are real Bad Boys! One hundred million dollars worth of confiscated heroin has just been jacked from police custody. Once the career bust of Detective Mike Lowery (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence), the missing drugs now threaten to shut down the narcotics division of the Miami Police Department. When the drug investigation turns deadly, the murderers kidnap the only witness, a beautful police informant (Téa Leoni) and close friend of the boys, which makes things get personal! Fast cars, a gorgeous woman and non-stop action make Bad Boys a guaranteed good time!

Review:

"Bad Boys" is already a major franchise, but while the 1995 original directed by Michael Bay is now considered iconic, it's not really a great movie. What helped this movie stand out in a sea of "Lethal Weapon" and "Beverly Hills Cop" clones, were the casting of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Brunett, and Bay's flashy direction. The rest of it is just as cliched as most of the buddy cop action comedies churned out by Hollywood at the time.

Reportedly Bay himself didn't like the script and encouraged Smith and Lawrence to improvise in order to improve the dialogue. That certainly helped spice up the writing, but it also feels too much like an improvised movie that doesn't have a clear idea of what it wants to be. Bay compensates with fast cuts, slow motion, slick cinematography, actors shouting lines, lots and lots of cussing, hot women and plenty of competently staged shootouts and explosions. This was Bay's feature film directorial debut, and all these elements would become trademarks of his style for the next three decades. Mark Mancina's fantastic score is also instrumental in building an electrifying atmosphere, it features a kick-ass main theme, and is hands-down the best of the four movies.

Like I said, the casting is really good. Smith and Lawrence have amazing chemistry. At the time they were both starring in their own successful TV shows ("Martin" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"), but "Bad Boys" made them movie stars. Throwing Tea Leoni into the mix was another great idea, and her comedic timing fits in nicely with Smith and Lawrence's improv. In fact, some of the film's best scenes are those where they just play off each other. Joe Pantoliano is hilarious as the stressed out Miami PD captain, Theresa Randle is underused, but gets a few funny scenes as Marcus' wife, and Tcheky Karyo is an intimidating, albeit one-note villain.

As check-your-brain-at-the-door entertainment the good outweighs the bad, and the movie ends up being better than it had any right to be, but it's also far from a masterpiece. Regardless, it's still worth checking out for those 1990s vibes.

SCORE: 6.5/10