REVIEW:
in many ways this movie launched the 90s action movie phase of orange-filtered fast-paced comedic thrill rides. This was Michael Bay’s first movie. It was also the first Jerry Bruckheimer movie that started this new phase of the producer’s career. Bruckheimer went on to produce The Rock (Bay directed,) Con Air, Armageddon (Bay directed), among others. And it all started with Bad Boys.
The movie is an exciting action flick. It goes for laughs just as often if not more than it is serious, but that’s okay, because for the most part the laughs are fine. They’re not hilarious, but they’re good enough. It’s with the action, however, that this movie really shines. Fantastic chases and shoot outs, all set to Bay’s orange-filtered scenery and a beautiful look at Miami. The story starts out as a drug bust of a gang of criminals who broke into the police station to steal drugs that were in the evidence room. Pretty soon, however, things escalate to murder as the criminals kills a friend of one of the detectives on the case.
And while we are dealing with this investigation story, we are also dealing with the constant arguments between our two detectives, Mike and Marcus. There’s no denying that Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are funny together. And the situations they put themselves into (Marcus posing as Mike while Mike poses as Marcus, taking the role to heart by even living with Marus’ family,) may be ridiculous, but they are also a lot of fun. All of this, the comedy, the action, the great look of Bay’s first film, plus a killer soundtrack by composer Mark Mancina (who also did the soundtrack for Speed,) really goes a long way.