The four the Bad Boys timeline so far.
It is Smith and Lawrence's playful banter as Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett that makes the Bad Boys movies truly memorable, although some incredibly impressive action sequences from directors Michael Bay and (from Bad Boys For Life onward) Adil El Arbi and Bilal Fallah have helped. The four movies are seen by many as one of the best action franchises in Hollywood, and the Bad Boys movies ranked worst to best show exactly why.
Bad Boys Movies |
||
|---|---|---|
Movie |
Release Date |
Rotten Tomatoes |
Bad Boys |
April 7, 1995 |
44% Critics / 78% Audiences |
Bad Boys II |
July 18, 2003 |
24% Critics / 78% Audiences |
Bad Boys for Life |
January 17, 2020 |
76% Critics / 96% Audiences |
Bad Boys: Ride or Die |
June 5, 2024 |
65% Critics / 97% Audiences |
4 Bad Boys (1995)
Directed By Michael Bay
Bad Boys
- Release Date
- July 18, 2003
- Runtime
- 119 Minutes
- Director
- Michael Bay
WHERE TO WATCH
The first Bad Boys saw Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowery having to protect a murder witness while they investigated the disappearance of a large drug sample from their precinct. However, things are made more complicated when the former is mistaken for the latter by the witness and, needing her to cooperate, pretends to be the debonair Lowery — forcing the pair to switch identities to keep her safe and get all the information they can from her to solve their case.
Bad Boys gets a lot of things right, notably the boisterous dynamic between Lawrence and Smith, with sharp, funny banter between the duo.
Bad Boys gets a lot of things right, notably the boisterous dynamic between Lawrence and Smith, with sharp, funny banter between the duo. They're a reckless pair of cops who often find themselves in sticky situations, using their guns before their brains and making situations tough for their increasingly angry Captain (Joe Pantoliano).
The film also offers a lot of great humor and action, and, of course, stands out among all four Bad Boys movies as being the entry that kickstarted the franchise. Not only that, but it was also Michael Bay's first foray into feature filmmaking. 1995's Bad Boys was the movie that introduced audiences to Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowery, the latter being Will Smith's most badass character to date.
10 Incredible Bad Boys Scenes From All 3 Movies That Set The Bar Very High For Bad Boys 4
Bad Boys was full of incredible action sequences and laugh-out-loud moments that set the bar very high for the fourth movie, Bad Boys: Ride or Die.
Bad Boys' shortcoming is that it doesn't really push Burnett and Lowery out of their comfort zone yet — it plays everything safe and within reason. What's more, Michael Bay's technique wasn't yet perfected at this point in his career, and the characters of Mike and Marcus haven't fully reached their potential either. It's a very entertaining film and a great setup for what's to come, but the first Bad Boys lacks the punch of the later installments and is the weakest of the bunch.
3 Bad Boys II (2003)
Directed By Michael Bay
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Bad Boys II
- Release Date
- July 18, 2003
- Runtime
- 147 Minutes
- Director
- Michael Bay
WHERE TO WATCH
Bad Boys II is an action-comedy film directed by Michael Bay, featuring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett. Released in 2003, the film follows the duo as they attempt to dismantle a drug trafficking ring while navigating personal tensions. Gabrielle Union and Jordi Mollà co-star.
Bad Boys II capitalizes on the first film by taking the characters and the world it has established and really running free with it. The shoot-outs, the car chases, and all the combat in this film is Michael Bay as fans now know him. The sequel is also funnier than the original film, which could be due to the fact that Seth Rogen was involved in touching up the Bad Boys 2 script.
The story of Bad Boys 2 is still focused on missing drugs. This time, however, Lowery and Burnett investigate a much larger shipment that has gone missing. A Cuban cartel is flowing an obscene amount of ecstasy into Florida, which the pair decide to trail. However, Burnett's sister Syd (Gabrielle Union) also gets thrown into the mix. To complicate matters further, she's also dating Mike, which leads to some interesting friction between the duo.
What ranks Bad Boys 2 above Bad Boys is the fact that it takes everything good about the original — the banter, the action, the carnage — and adds more levity to the proceedings. The sequel certainly suffers from being a bit over-bloated, but the arcs and themes prevalent in Bad Boys 2 are far more fascinating to watch.
By the point of Bad Boys 2, Michael Bay had already spent a film establishing the core story. This provided a lot more freedom, which made for a far more entertaining watch than the first Bad Boys. It's a much more action-centric story, and the sequences are huge, explosive, delirious fun.
2 Bad Boys: Ride Or Die (2024)
Directed By Adil El Arbi And Bilal Fallah
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Bad Boys: Ride or Die
- Release Date
- June 7, 2024
- Runtime
- 115 Minutes
- Director
- Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah
Cast
Mike Lowrey
Marcus Burnett
WHERE TO WATCH
Bad Boys 4, which has the full title Bad Boys: Ride or Die, had a complicated production journey. The movie was originally supposed to arrive as far back as 2019, though it was delayed multiple times until it finally premiered in mid-2024. Many fans were also surprised that a new Bad Boys movie was on the way after Bad Boys for Life.
Bad Boys 3 turned the duology into a trilogy, and could have easily been a fitting ending for Mike and Marcus. While Bad Boys: Ride or Die didn't quite live up to its predecessor, it was still a worthy addition to the franchise, and only narrowly missed being the best Bad Boys movie so far.
Bad Boys: Ride Or Die Soundtrack Guide: Every Song & When They Play
Recognizable rap and dance songs, Run-DMC, and more are featured on the Bad Boys: Ride or Die soundtrack. Here's when each song plays in the movie.
The story of Bad Boys: Ride or Die is one of the most high-stakes for Marcus and Mike. The pair goes from investigating corruption in the Miami Police Department to being on the run as supposed fugitives — a turn of events that occurs due to a setup when they try to prove that allegations against the late Captain Howard tying him to the Romanian Mafia are false.
The events of Bad Boys 4 push the franchise into new territory but also tie in well to where Bad Boys for Life left off. The humor that stems from the bromance between Marcus and Mike feels just as sharp as ever, and, just like with Bad Boys 3, the franchise has aged gracefully. It never seems to lose sight of the fact that 1995's Bad Boys arrived almost three decades ago, with Marcus and Mike always presented as world-weary veterans rather than over-eager cops at the peak of their careers.
Where Bad Boys: Ride of Die falls a little short compared to Bad Boys for Life are its action sequences and the emotional impact. While it's certainly a gripping story, it doesn't feel as meaningful as Bad Boys 3. What's more, while the action sequences certainly do the job, there's nothing particularly jaw-dropping that raises the bar for the franchise by Bad Boys: Ride or Die's ending. However, these criticisms are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, and Bad Boys: Ride or Die remains a solid entry that pushes the Bad Boys movies beyond trilogy territory without feeling stale.
1 Bad Boys For Life (2020)
Directed By Adil El Arbi And Bilal Fallah
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Bad Boys for Life
- Release Date
- January 17, 2020
- Runtime
- 124 Minutes
- Director
- Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah
WHERE TO WATCH
- Studio(s)
- Columbia Pictures, 2.0 Entertainment, Overbrook Entertainment
Part of the reason that Bad Boys 2 is better than the first was that it elevated everything that had come before, and the same can be said for Bad Boys for Life. Even though Bay departed the third film as a director, he still had an influence on Bad Boys for Life, even having a cameo in the blockbuster. What makes Bad Boys 3 so unique is the fact that it embellishes the best Bay-isms of the last two films while having its own distinct voice.
This time around, Mike and Marcus are coming to the end of their rope. Marcus is ready to retire, whilst Mike is trying to grasp onto his glory days. However, when someone has it out for Mike, Marcus is forced out of retirement to work alongside a younger group of officers to protect his friend.
It's surprising when the third film in a franchise feels as fresh as Bad Boys 3.
It's surprising when the third film in a franchise feels as fresh as Bad Boys 3. Bad Boys for Life could have latched onto the past and re-hashed a tired, albeit tried and tested, formula of nostalgia baiting. However, it has matured somewhat to mirror the ages of Marcus and Mike. For a while, it even focuses on middle age — "let's try to be good men, for a change" is a line that particularly rings true.
A key reason that Bad Boys for Life felt like a breath of fresh air rather than a tired cash-in could be due to new directors Arbi and Fallah, and screenwriters Joe Carnahan, Peter Craig, and Chris Bremner. However, Bad Boys For Life is still a Bad Boys film, and for everything it gained, it didn't lose what made the franchise so great in the first place.
The action is there, along with the camaraderie and humor, too — all of which are some of the best in the Bad Boys franchise. But there's a real emotional backbone to the proceedings this time. Bad Boys for Life is a movie about growing up, and the franchise, too, has grown up. In accepting this, Bad Boys 3 offers a much more mature and heartfelt Bad Boys endeavor that is superbly helmed with some fluid and exciting action but a good spirit underpinning every moment.
The third Bad Boys makes for a surprisingly touching reunion with the characters that audiences have come to love. Bad Boys For Life understands why fans fell in love with these films in the first place, and it's a movie from a place of ion for the material but self-awareness, too. For all those reasons, Bad Boys 3 is the best Bad Boys movie.
There Was A Bad Boys Spinoff TV Show
While the Bad Boys franchise is known for its four massive blockbuster films, there was actually a spin-off TV show set within the same universe. Airing for two seasons from 2019 to 2020, Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba starred in L.A.'s Finest, with Union reprising her role as Syd Burnett from Bad Boys II, who is the sister of Martin Lawrence's Marcus Burnett, while Jessica Alba was a new character to the franchise.
The series revolved around Union's Syd and Alba's Nancy McKenna as two detectives in Los Angeles, though there aren't many other connections in the Bad Boys show, and it received fairly poor reviews during its run.
The Future Of The Bad Boys Franchise
Both Bad Boys for Life and Bad Boys: Ride or Die were financial successes, and helped to rejuvenate the franchise. As a result, it is possible that a Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have previously discussed making another film in the franchise, but certain conditions need to be met for them to return. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Smith and Lawrence talked about what would get them to return to make another Bad Boys film, stating:
Smith: Well, these younger actors are going to need to do more of the stunts, that's for sure. It is a world and characters that are just an absolute joy to be with. In a movie theater with Mike and Marcus, it just feels like home. So, as long as there's a reason — I never wanted to be one of those dudes who make sequels just because people will go. I want to make them because there is something to say and the characters have a place that they're developing to that will be interesting and fun to watch and maybe even a little helpful. Is there something that can happen in these characters' lives that is worth asking people to go to a movie theater for? And with this movie, the answer is a resounding yes.
Lawrence: We always have so much fun making these movies and you’ve got to give the fans what they want. Will and I have a great time working together, so as long as the fans want it and the demand is there, I’ll keep trying to give them what they want. We’ll have to see. You know I never say never, but it also has to make sense. If the fans ask for it, you know we could be back.
Bad Boys
- Movie(s)
- Bad Boys: Ride or Die
- Created by
- George Gallo
- First Film
- Bad Boys
- Latest Film
- Bad Boys: Ride or Die
- Cast
- John Salley
Summary
Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett take on dangerous criminals while balancing their comedic, yet strained, partnership. Explosive action, high-stakes drug busts, and personal vendettas drive the Bad Boys franchise, delivering relentless thrills and charismatic performances from Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
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