Bad Boys (1995)

Bad Boys (1995)

10/10

Starring

Martin Lawrence

Will Smith

Directed by Michael Bay

It’s 1995, and Will Smith is making waves as both a rapper and an actor. He gets paired with Martin Lawrence in a movie that will forever remain in the hearts of ‘90s kids. When the movie starts, we see Will Smith playing the rich, single guy and Martin Lawrence as the married, middle-income character. It feels like they couldn’t have been better cast for their roles.

That feeling is reinforced when they have to switch roles in the movie, and it’s hard to pass Lawrence off as the cool, rich, single player. Bad Boys is everything and more when it comes to acting, passion, comedy, and unforgettable lines that will stick in your head for years to come.

Bad Boys is an action-comedy buddy cop movie that keeps giving. It starts with an introduction to the dream team of crime-solving.
This Michael Bay film stars Lawrence as Marcus Burnett and Smith as Mike Lowrey. Their job is to investigate $100 million worth of Mafia-seized heroin that was stolen from evidence. It’s clearly an inside job, and internal affairs is threatening to shut down the entire department unless they recover the drugs.

Mike asks one of his exes to keep an ear out for newly rich guys. When she does, she takes a job as an escort. Her friend Julie (Téa Leoni) is staying with her and decides to tag along. What starts as a one-woman party turns into a murder scene where Max is killed, and Julie happens to see the killer.

Now, Julie contacts the police station hoping to speak to Mike, but Marcus picks up the phone instead. He pretends to be Mike to gain Julie’s trust, and from there, the fun begins.

The movie wasn’t a critical success but was a huge financial hit, leading to the production of a sequel, Bad Boys II (2003), which, to me, was a total waste of film reel.
This movie had some downsides. At times, it feels like you’re watching Lethal Weapon or Beverly Hills Cop, and the action scenes—typical of Michael Bay—have too much firepower and sometimes drag on for too long. The humor and chemistry between the leads keep things fun, but the plot itself is pretty standard, without any real surprises.

Both Lawrence and Smith were starring in their own hit TV shows (Martin and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, respectively) while filming Bad Boys. Ironically, Smith ended up becoming the bigger star afterward, while Lawrence faded a bit.
Smith and Bay’s high salaries are part of the reason it’s taken so long for Bad Boys for Life to hit the big screen, but that’s been resolved. The new Bad Boys movie is set to release in 2020.
Their salaries are also why production has been delayed, and there have been schedule changes to ensure Sony can recoup the finances involved in making this movie.