Review by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Téa Leoni, Joe Pantoliano,
Michael Imperioli | Written by George Gallo, Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland & Doug Richardson
UK certification 17 | UK RRP £17.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 119 minutes | Directed by Michael Bay
Smith and Lawrence are Mike and Marcus, a couple of Miami drug detectives who have to hunt down $100 million worth of herion that has been stolen from poilice custody. To make things more complicated, they have to protect Julie (Leoni), a murder witness who is their only lead to the drug gang. And to further complicate matters, Marcus has to pretend to be Mike, and Mike has to pretend to be Marcus. And Internal Affairs is breathing down their necks.
Bad Boys has been around for a while – it was released in 1995 – so it's good to see it getting the Blu-ray treatment, and it looks great. I didn't see the film when it first came out, so this was my first viewing, but it's a decent action/comedy. Smith and Lawrence work very well together, and there is definitely a stong chemistry between them there on the screen. Also outstanding is the lovely Téa Leoni, normally a blonde but here a brunette (and absolutely ravishing). We really don't see her on the screen enough any more.
This was Michael Bay's first film as a director, and it's a top effort – it's big, loud, explosive action with a few nice comic touches thrown in. He's gone on to have a pretty big career – The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl harbour and the Transformers films. Smith, too, has had a successful cinema career since – Independence Day, Men in Black, Enemy of The State, Ali and I Am Legend, to name a few. But Lawrence ... what went wrong? Big Momma's House and Big Momma's House 2, and rumour has it that a third is in the works. Sheesh.
EXTRAS ★★ An audio commentary with director Bay; a 23-minute featurette on the special effects, explosions and weapons, called Putting the Boom & Bang in Bad Boys; three music videos; and trailers for four other movies.