Bad Boys (1995) Dir: Michael Bay
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I've been meaning to dig my teeth into this popular buddy cop franchise for some time, but other films have always been higher on the watchlist. At last, though, I got around to starting it, with this 1995 action film from director Michael Bay. I must admit, as people familiar with my reviews will know, I do not like Bay's directing, or films, usually - I think he's all style over substance typically.
The film had a very 90's soundtrack, which is good or bad depending on taste. Either way, it was pretty corny. As much as it may seem harsh to say, corny is probably the most accurate word to describe this film as a whole too. That's not entirely meant as criticism - there's a charm to it, a very 90's charm, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.
The action was flashy, break-neck, and full of explosive moments - which will come as no surprise to fans of Michael Bay's many action films. These action sequences are certainly Bay's strength, and I can't deny that they were pretty exciting. Some of it had too much slow motion, but this wasn't too egregious.
The comedy was very hit and miss for me, with a lot of it being rather childish and low-brow. I did chuckle once or twice, but I must confess it was mostly a little too juvenile for my taste. The writing in general was rather middling too - least of all because ot the frustrating behaviour of the cop protagonists, who seemingly knew nothing of forensic, crime scene, and basic police procedure. It felt like even I knew more than they did, which is a problem.
The story was convoluted and all over the place. Its pacing was choppy, giving the film a stop-start feel the whole way through. The antagonists never really factored too much - they were drowned out by the large personalities of the main characters. As such, the main villain ended up feeling extremely forgettable.
Will Smith carried this whole film on his back, with his ever-present charisma and smooth delivery of dialogue. He really stood out, thanks to his large personality and cheek. Sometimes, I think Smith can be guilty of doing too much, but he had a good balance with this performance, which really worked for me.
Martin Lawrence seemed to struggle to hang with Smith's charisma, which led to a lit of over-acting, especially during the more comedic scenes. He felt like he was doing a parody of himself at times. That said, he did still have some pretty decent scenes semi-regularly. He was definitely outclassed by Smith though.
I enjoyed the acting from Téa Leoni in her key role, but I didn't much like the writing of her character. She essentially played a human MacGuffin, who served little purpose than getting in the way. It's only because Leoni was enjoyable to watch that I wasn't even more annoyed by this.
Tchéky Karyo played the aforementioned forgettable antagonist, and honestly, he stood very little chance. He had minimal screentime, minimal lines, and got to show almost no personality of his own. As such, it was never really in doubt what his character's fate would be.
The only other actors worth mentioning were the duo of Joe Pantoliano and Theresa Randle, who provided a pair of fairly entertaining performances, albeit in relatively small supporting roles, certainly in comparison to those mentioned above them. Of the two, Pantoliano was easily the more memorable.
Overall, I'd say this was about as good and bad as I had anticipated. It had some definite positives - most of the action, and some of the humour, but the waves of mediocrity surrounding these elements were hard to ignore. It's a fine action flick - that's about as much as I can say in its favour.
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