Bad Boys

Michael Bay is certainly master of frenetic, fast-paced and ludicrous action films but I've often found he is at his best when working around a more modest budget. The Transformers franchise gave him too much at his disposal and the franchise quickly spun out of control but then in 2022 he released Ambulance which felt like a throw-back to his older work in terms of scale. Granted, that film wasn't anything more than a action flick but Bay seemed to be more at home and back to his roots which all started in 1995 with his first feature film, Bad Boys. 

Starring Martin Lawrence and a young Will Smith, in his first major big-screen movie, as two Miami detectives trying to crack a case involving stolen heroin from their very own police department, and things soon take a turn when someone close to them is caught in the action. 

Bad Boys is very much what anyone would think of when picturing a buddy-cop action film where the two officers have different approaches to their work and lifestyle; one is the family man with a long list of responsibilities while the younger officer is more flashy and carefree. Bay himself criticised the screenplay which paved the way to a lot of improvisation onset and the result is a very entertaining action flick with two great performances from the leads.

Their chemistry is perfect, providing plenty of great moments for comedy, and the action is also just a whole lot of fun as Bay works around a tight budget. There are however a few moments where the creaky script rears its ugly head bringing plenty of clichés with it and Tchéky Karyo's villain is given little to do other than be villainous. But these moments are all easy to overlook as Lawrence and Smith are just so great together. 

Bad Boys really shows Bay at his best and he would go on to make plenty more enjoyable films but he is a clear example where bigger isn't always better. Nearly 30 years on, with the franchise getting more sequels today, and this remains a highly enjoyable action flick, making the most of its leads who are on fine form, and is still an easy recommendation today.