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#204 - Bad Boys
Michael Bay, 1995
A pair of detectives must find out who stole a large amount of heroin from a police station with the help of an uncooperative witness.
Bad Boys features a prime example of what Roger Ebert would call an "idiot plot", in which the plot could be resolved much quicker if not for the in-universe ineptitude of its characters. The plot, such as there is one, involves its two lead detectives - Martin Lawrence's put-upon family man and Will Smith's smooth-talking womaniser - chasing after a ruthless drug lord who managed to break into a police station. So far, so standard. What sends the film into truly ridiculous territory is that the detectives' main lead is a friend of Smith's informer (played by Téa Leoni) who ends up witnessing the informer's murder by the drug lord, but refuses to trust anyone but Smith, which gets complicated when circumstances force Lawrence to pretend to be Smith. Thus, a good chunk of the film is devoted to an incredibly tiresome comedy of errors that should never have lasted as long as it should have - even if it does occasionally (and I do mean occasionally) result in an actual laugh (logic be damned). Despite the film's overt comedic angle, it manages to get more laughs because of how nonsensical some of its more serious scenes tend to be - a good case in point where these two supposedly top detectives discover the scene of a murder and immediately start touching evidence with their bare hands.
Outside of that...well, just look at the director's name. Hell, look at the header image, which shows our heroes taking cover behind a propane tank in the middle of the gunfight. The lack of sense behind a lot of the action sequences will astound you, and depending on your particular sensibility that will be in either a good way or a bad way. Even so, there's no way the film really needed to be two hours long (especially considering the silliness in keeping the "mistaken identity" plot going no matter what) and it's hard to take the action seriously or even find it thrilling, but I guess getting some disbelieving amusement out of a ridiculous piece of action is better than nothing. Even so, this is still worth a watch if you have the constitution to put up with unnecessary farce, every cop movie cliché in the book, typical Michael Bay shenanigans (though not quite to the same excess that turned him into a walking punchline), and the surprising lack of chemistry between its two supposedly comedic odd-couple leads. I usually comment on certain cinematic characteristics such as the acting, cinematography, or music, but you can probably tell that this isn't the kind of movie where that kind of stuff is good or relevant. I'm just thankful it's not as obnoxious as it could have been. Despite this film being full of holes, the kicker is that I now consider this my second-favourite Bay film. Make of that what you will.
Michael Bay, 1995
A pair of detectives must find out who stole a large amount of heroin from a police station with the help of an uncooperative witness.
Bad Boys features a prime example of what Roger Ebert would call an "idiot plot", in which the plot could be resolved much quicker if not for the in-universe ineptitude of its characters. The plot, such as there is one, involves its two lead detectives - Martin Lawrence's put-upon family man and Will Smith's smooth-talking womaniser - chasing after a ruthless drug lord who managed to break into a police station. So far, so standard. What sends the film into truly ridiculous territory is that the detectives' main lead is a friend of Smith's informer (played by Téa Leoni) who ends up witnessing the informer's murder by the drug lord, but refuses to trust anyone but Smith, which gets complicated when circumstances force Lawrence to pretend to be Smith. Thus, a good chunk of the film is devoted to an incredibly tiresome comedy of errors that should never have lasted as long as it should have - even if it does occasionally (and I do mean occasionally) result in an actual laugh (logic be damned). Despite the film's overt comedic angle, it manages to get more laughs because of how nonsensical some of its more serious scenes tend to be - a good case in point where these two supposedly top detectives discover the scene of a murder and immediately start touching evidence with their bare hands.
Outside of that...well, just look at the director's name. Hell, look at the header image, which shows our heroes taking cover behind a propane tank in the middle of the gunfight. The lack of sense behind a lot of the action sequences will astound you, and depending on your particular sensibility that will be in either a good way or a bad way. Even so, there's no way the film really needed to be two hours long (especially considering the silliness in keeping the "mistaken identity" plot going no matter what) and it's hard to take the action seriously or even find it thrilling, but I guess getting some disbelieving amusement out of a ridiculous piece of action is better than nothing. Even so, this is still worth a watch if you have the constitution to put up with unnecessary farce, every cop movie cliché in the book, typical Michael Bay shenanigans (though not quite to the same excess that turned him into a walking punchline), and the surprising lack of chemistry between its two supposedly comedic odd-couple leads. I usually comment on certain cinematic characteristics such as the acting, cinematography, or music, but you can probably tell that this isn't the kind of movie where that kind of stuff is good or relevant. I'm just thankful it's not as obnoxious as it could have been. Despite this film being full of holes, the kicker is that I now consider this my second-favourite Bay film. Make of that what you will.