Buddy cop movies are nothing new, but something magical happens when Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett appear on-screen in the Bad Boys movies. Smith plays thearrogant but classy playboy Mike Lowrey, who is also a great detective. Lawrence, on the other hand, is a cop who gets angry easily but will throw up at the sight of a dead body.
The duo’s comedic timing is perfect and they make amazing partners. The two detectives have worked on multiple Bad Boys movies and each has something special compared to the other. The movies may have some low points, but Mike and Marcus keep you entertained.
I Canot Die
Bad Boys: Ride or Die shakes things up with Mike getting married and Marcus having a heart attack during the reception. The duo have to team up once again when the deceased Captain Howard’s name is dragged through the mud. Mike and Marcus visit Armando, Mike’s son, who confirms that Howard wasn’t corrupt and that’s why his mother and he were hired to kill him. Things soon change drastically when Mike and Marcus are on the run with Armando.
The law and criminals all want the three dead and a pre-recorded video of Captain Howard warns them of corrupt officials in federal and state law enforcement. The rest of the story has them following breadcrumbs and avoiding everyone who is after them. While the movie is enjoyable, it is one of the weakest in the series, with it seeming like Mike and Marcus may have to slowly pass the torch to the younger generation.
The movie hasover-the-top action scenes, which are now normal in the series. The biggest change in Bad Boys: Ride or Die compared to the others was the cops becoming fugitives. One of the highlights of the movie is the climax, which is shot in an alligator-themed amusement park. The ending also offers some closure to Armando, who has been trying to make amends for his past crimes.
Hasta El Fuego
Bad Boys for Life tells the story of how Mike Lowrey became Mike Lowrey. Before Mike and Marcus became partners, he was pulled out of the academy to work undercover in the Aretas Cartel. Mike was the driver of the boss’s wife, Isabel, and the two fell in love. Lowrey was loyal to the police and made sure the cartel suffered the consequences of their actions.
In the present day, Marcus is contemplating retirement and Mike’s past catches up as he’s shot and ends up in a coma. After the unsuccessful assassination, other people linked with the Aretas Cartel case start getting assassinated. The murders are made more emotional because the fan-beloved Captain Conrad Howard is also gunned down. He was a mentor and father figure for Lowrey, who tries to find out who is behind the murders as soon as he recovers.
Following a spectacular chase and gun scene, the killer utters the words “Hasta el fuego” to Mike. This reminds Mike of Isabel, and he confesses to Marcus that the killer may be his son. What follows is a wild ride where Lowrey works with a younger team and sees how many things have changed since his prime. The identity and motive of the killer are revealed at the end, with Mike and Marcus getting closure for the death of their Captain.
Don’t Hate The Player, Hate The Game
It’s rare for sequels to keep up with or be better than the originals. Lowrey and Burnett’s partnership became such a hit that Bad Boys 2 is one of the exceptions. The duo returns in their full-blown comedic glory with trigger-happy fingers. Right off the bat, Mike accidentally shoots Marcus in the buttocks, which makes for great comedic moments and Burnett starts to question whether they should remain partners.
A new addition, Gabrielle Union, was added to the cast as Marcus’s sister, Sydney. Mike is secretly dating Syd and Marcus is transferring out of the division. With both partners keeping secrets from each other, they get into a case where they’re investigating a flow of drugs in Miami. Syd is undercover with the DEA and the main characters’ paths cross with her, which leads to some wild scenes.
Bad Boys 2 hasintense fighting scenes, but the movie makes sure to take full advantage of Mike and Marcus’s impeccable comedic timings. That’s not to say the actions are any less engaging, as the two shoot up gangsters on their chase for the person behind the drugs. Throughout the movie, Lowrey and Burnett chase the bad guy from his mansion to international lands to catch him, and you’ll have to watch the movie to see if their partnership lasts.
King Ding-A-Ling
The first Bad Boys is the one that started it all and began the hilarious on-screen partnership of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. The two didn’t reinvent anything, as the buddy cop genre is very old, but they did offer a fresh and fun perspective that fans enjoyed. Mike Lowrey’s confident cop blending with Marcus Burnett’s clumsy but good detective was an equation that became an instant hit.
The premise of the movie is straightforward. The two main characters make a career-breaking bust, but the drugs are stolen from the police evidence locker. It looks like an inside job and Internal Affairs gives them a 72-hour deadline to recover the drugs or the narcotics division will be shut down. The two main characters have to switch identities because of a series of events and this is the movie’s biggest twist.
The identity switch makes for some funny and comedic moments as Mike reappears but pretends he’s Marcus and Marcus is acting like Mike. The rest of the story follows the Bad Boys’ search for the drugs and keeping the witness secured while hunting the killers. This movie set the tone for future installments in the series and influenced multiple buddy cop movies.
