'Bad Boys (1995)' is your typical orange-and-teal, hyper-sexualised 90s action flick. It owes practically all of its success to its two stars, with Lawrence and Smith's constant banter being pretty much the only interesting thing in the entire affair. I mean, it's not like the movie is boring or anything. It's just very by the numbers and isn't all that compelling. It's entertaining enough, I suppose, for a bit of brainless fun, and I will admit that it has one or two genuine laughs. Most of it is just pure nonsense, though. The plot, for instance, is all over the place. It's almost impossible to follow, in a sense, because it just sort of happens. At the same time, it isn't all that important. The flick's focus is certainly on the odd 'in disguise as each other' dynamic that keeps its charismatic leads on their toes. Their relationship is a decent amount of fun, but it's a bit frustrating because it never really evolves (and barely has any consequences). Still, it gives the movie an undeniable charm. Ultimately, the picture is relatively enjoyable when it's underway. It's quite forgettable, though, and it isn't exactly a genre defining experience. 6/10.

A typically bombastic and derivative actioner from the Bay/Bruckheimer team, this time taking the form of the age-old '80s "buddy-buddy" movie and reinventing it with the casting of not one but two black men in the leads: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Surprisingly, the central pairing is what makes this film work just fine. Despite the juvenile and unnecessarily crude script, Lawrence and Smith have a successful enough screen chemistry to provide a fair quota of laughs along the way (their pairing proved successful enough for an sequel in any case). In fact this film works just fine as an action comedy without ever breaking any new ground. Every scene and situation is sign-posted and clichéd but nonetheless I still found myself enjoying the laughs, antics and comedy situations in which the protagonists find themselves.

The action sequences are often loud and quite splendid, although I would have liked a little more originality in the settings and events rather than the predictable old shoot-outs and gun-battles. At least the choreography is spot-on and the action is greatly improved by the bombastic music score which just pumps sheer adrenaline through the listener's system. Highlights to watch out for include an excellent car chase scene and the final, bloody battle at the aircraft hangar which doesn't disappoint in any respect.

The usual cast of solid faces flesh out this big budget enterprise: a young and surprisingly beautiful Tea Leoni is the fragile but feisty witness; Joe Pantoliano is the stressed out superior and the sneering Tcheky Karyo is the evil European bad guy (a nice part but Karyo is grossly underused; to see him in a similar but far better role check out KISS OF THE DRAGON). Even Marg Helgenberger and Kim Coates have brief cameos. On a final note, BAD BOYS is one of those films where the two characters have to swap identities halfway through, leading to a major running gag which never lets up and provides some worthwhile situations and banter. Frivolous but fun entertainment.

Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) is a single playboy cop with lots of family money. Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) is strictly a family man. Together they are a fast-talking smart Miami buddy cop duo. Fouchet (Tchéky Karyo) is a wily ruthless criminal leading a crew that robs the police evidence room of a large stash of heroin. The guys need to recover the heroin before others come in to take over the case. Mike's hooker CI encounters one of the crew. She is killed while her roommate Julie Mott (Téa Leoni) witnesses the murder and escapes. She is willing to only talk to Mike, and Marcus ends up pretending to be Mike.

This is Michael Bay's big screen directorial debut. He already has much of his bombastic style. The best thing in the movie has to be the brash comedy duo. The movie sizzles every time they are together. The biggest problem is the switched identity gimmick. It's stupid and the movie struggles under the premise. There is some comedy derived from it but somebody needs to come up with a better excuse for the switcharoo. This is loud. This is cool. This has a great duo. But it's also overblown.