- Movies
Whoop whoop, that’s the sound of a lucrative franchise.
ByDeclan Gallagher
Published on October 12, 2024 10:00AM EDT
Beginning in 1995 as a relatively smaller-scale buddy-comedy (not to mention Michael Bay’s directorial debut), Bad Boys soon became one of the most debauched, insane action franchises to date. It paired two of the era’s hottest sitcom stars, Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and Martin Lawrence (Martin) as odd-couple Miami police officers Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett. Much to the chagrin of their Pepto Bismol-swigging captain (Joe Pantoliano), Lowery and Burnett often find themselves at the center of city-decimating action sequences in their quest to nab criminals.
Needless to say, the first film helped launch both of them into the silver-screen stratosphere. (Bad Boys was so long ago, Lawrence received top billing over Smith.)
Bad Boys II came in 2003, then we waited 17 long years before our favorite destruction-prone cops returned in Bad Boys for Life (2020). During that gap, Bay ceded the franchise’s reigns to directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (credited as Adil & Bilall), who returned for 2024’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die, now streaming on Netflix along with the first and second installments.
Rest assured, there’s still plenty of Bayhem to be had: the sequels have only maximized his visual style, and Bay provided jokey cameos in the latter installments.
Here are all four of the Bad Boys movies, ranked.
4. Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024)
While Ride or Die isn’t a complete bust, it struggles to find the energy and, dare we say, the purpose of the other Bad Boys movies. In fact, it basically turns the franchise into in all but name.
The action is skillfully shot, and Lawrence is very good, but Smith seems to be phoning this one in, and you can feel the movie teetering unevenly while trying to balance legacy characters with the cast’s new additions. Joe Pantoliano’s police captain is risen from the grave for some ill-advised exposition — presumably because everyone realized it was a mistake to kill him off in the last one, while Better Call Saul’s Rhea Seehorn is given inexplicable motives as his daughter (and given a frankly laughable finale).
And in all of this, where is Gabrielle Union? Her character’s presence, in addition to being wholly welcome, could aid many of the plot issues the series has struggled with over the last two installments.
3. Bad Boys for Life (2020)
A far more enjoyable return than anyone could have expected, Bad Boys for Life cleverly departs from the franchise while also straining to lay over-plotted groundwork for future installments with the introduction of new characters (among them, Vanessa Hudgens and Jacob Scipio as Mike’s son).
There’s an interesting twist in that the big bad — Kate del Castillo as the mother of the man Mike fathered — is a participant in some vague form of black magic and seems to be communing with the netherworld. Although it’s kept vague, this pivot adds a properly unexpected wrinkle to the franchise, and the directors adeptly walk the line between allowing this to magnify the movie’s gonzo spirit versus betraying the series’ tone. That said, those of us expecting (hoping?) to find a hint of the supernatural in Bad Boys 4 left were unfulfilled.
Where to watch Bad Boys for Life: Hulu
Watch Will Smith, Martin Lawrence lose it in Bad Boys for Life blooper reel
2. Bad Boys (1995)
The original Bad Boys is a high watermark for the buddy-cop genre and one of the best action movies of the ‘90s. Mike and Marcus work to uncover who’s behind the theft of $100 million worth of heroin from the police station with the help of a cooperative witness (Téa Leoni).
Fairly small in scale and scope compared to the rest of the franchise, Bad Boys is nonetheless a stylish and rousing successor to Beverly Hills Cop and Lethal Weapon. It set the template for the series’ snappy, profane repartée and its over-the-top action sequences, which have only accelerated as the sequels rolled in.
1. Bad Boys II (2003)
In the franchise’s best installment, Mike and Marcus attempt to stop a vicious drug dealer (Jordi Mollá) from flooding Miami with bad ecstasy. It’s an over-cranked and hyper-violent sequel, one that’s fairly callous towards women/nudity/human sexuality as a whole. And yet, it’s relentless fun.
Bad Boys II boasts some genuinely astounding practical action sequences, and a whole lotta them. It’s well-paced and tonally right-on, the perfect balance of hell-for-leather action and broad comedy. The movie also introduces Gabrielle Union as Marcus’ sister (and — eek! — Mike’s one-off love interest), who provides a perfect antidote to the macho mayhem. It’s confounding, and rather unforgivable, that the series hasn’t brought her back.
Where to watch Bad Boys II: Netflix
Michael Bay says Bad Boys 'literally changed the game on Black actors'