One hundred million dollars worth of confiscated heroin has just been jacked from police custody. Once the career bust of Detectives Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence), the missing drugs now threaten to shutdown the narcotics division of the Miami Police Department. When the drug investigation turns deadly, the two detectives have to protect a witness (Leoni) until they can recover the drugs and bring the bad guys to justice.
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There have been a few successful buddy cop franchises over the years that have made it past two films. Among those are recognizable names like Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour…and Bad Boys. So, with the latest in this film series, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, releasing nearly 30 years after the original, it seemed like a good idea to take a look back at where this series started. Would it be the beginning of a great series, or was there something lacking in the first film?
Back in 1995, Will Smith was just the rapper turned actor from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (TV), and had yet to achieve his title of as the king of summer blockbusters, since Independence Day, Men in Black and the rest were still in his future. So, teaming him with comedian Martin Lawrence (who was best known as the star of his own show, Martin (TV)) probably seemed like an odd pairing, and probably wasn’t expected to be box office gold. But, something happened when these two teamed up. Their pairing – reminiscent of The Odd Couple – just worked. Bickering at each other constantly, they formed an instant buddy cop camaraderie that viewers still can’t get enough of, and it shows from their first scene in BAD BOYS. They are the reason the franchise has survived so long, and even with personal mishaps, fans still like seeing this duo in action.
The rest of the cast is a mixed bag. Since so much focus is on Smith’s Mike and Lawrence’s Marcus, a lot of the secondary actors get short-changed. As for the other leads, Joe Pantoliano shines as their frazzled boss, Tcheky Karyo is okay as the villain (but it’s not his best work), Theresa Randle is a high point as Marcus’ wife, and Tea Leoni actually isn’t half bad – she’s still too whiny and a bit grating, but she does better than viewers are used to seeing from her.
The story, admittedly, is pretty thin. The tenuous connections do tie each scene together, but most of the threads don’t really stand up to much scrutiny. The main point of the film is to create a story that these buddy cops can play off of, and Bad Boys provides that much. It’s flimsy, but it works well enough to carry the viewer from sequence to sequence. As long as they don’t stop to think about it too much (like how the bad guys would have gotten away with it if they hadn’t gone looking for the cops), the story is enough to provide a backdrop for some pretty funny sequences and some over-the-top action.
Seeing Michael Bay in the director’s chair these days means viewers are going to get huge over-the-top action, a bit of humor, and a thin plot. While Bad Boys shows an early glimpse of what’s to come for Bay, he actually feels a bit more subdued in this film. Sure, the airport gunfight scene is full of big explosions and too many bullets to count, but the rest isn’t quite on that level. The heist sequence at the beginning is solid, and the chases throughout aren’t nearly as crazy as they could have been, giving the film a bit more grounding than viewers are used to from Bay nowadays.
All in all, Bad Boys is an entertaining introduction to this buddy cop pairing, and even 30 years later, still plays off as a fun popcorn action flick from the 90’s. Viewers can see why Smith was a rising star, and the film helps viewers discover both him (and to a lesser extent, Lawrence) as action stars. Sure, a lot of it is formulaic, but Smith and Lawrence help make it something better.
