On June 6, Miami Metro detectives Mike Lowry and Marcus Burnett, played by Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, return to the screens «Bad Boys: Ride or Die» — is the fourth appearance of the implacable crime fighters among the sun-drenched Miami palm trees. Before the film’s release, we decided to recall the previous three, tell you some interesting facts about the filming and determine how «Bad Boys» became a successful movie franchise.
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In the 80s, the Jerry Bruckheimer-Don Simpson production tandem had already made several action movies that later gained cult status. It was thanks to their efforts that in 1984 the world saw «Beverly Hills Cop» with Eddie Murphy, and two years later — «Top Gun» with Tom Cruise.
Interestingly, contemporary cinema is persistently returning to those old hits, and, as we can see, for good reason. In 2022, «Top Gun: Maverick» grossed more than $1.5 billion, and in July, Axl Foley, whose previous appearance took place exactly 30 years ago, will start to drive views for Netflix. The «Bad Boys» comeback in 2020 was also financially successful: it’s clear that for the audience that is fed up with superhero blockbusters, good old-fashioned shooters with genre stars have become a great alternative.
Newcomers were also chosen to play the main roles in the context that Will Smith and Martin Lawrence were not associated with action heroes at the time. The former had a very popular comedy series «The Prince of Beverly Hills» behind him, and the latter had a successful sitcom «Martin». The role of attractive furniture, an indispensable attribute of Bay Area cinema, went to Téa Leoni.
So let’s take a look at the material Bruckheimer and Simpson used to appeal to the audience. A first-time director with essentially no experience. Two stars of television comedy productions who were not associated with action heroes. A classic buddy-movie plot, in which there was clearly no shortage: suffice it to say that, for example, in ’92 the third installment of «Lethal Weapon» appeared, and in the year of «Bad Boys»’s release, the much more star-studded and expensive «Die Hard with a Vengeance» was released. Finally, a modest budget of $19 million. So what were the chances of success?
Release date: 1995
IMDb rating: 6,8
Where to see: MEGOGO
The film premiered in April 1995 and received mediocre reviews from critics, who agreed that Michael Bay’s film relied too heavily on typical genre tropes (for example, the opposition of the characters of detectives Mike Lowry and Marcus Burnett). As the director did not like the script, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence were involved in discussions about dialogues and certain scenes, and improvisation was encouraged during the filming.
It was simply impossible not to notice that the actors felt great and interacted well in the frame. Obviously, this was one of the reasons for the success because where the film sorely lacked narrative coherence, there was always room for a joke or some funny situation.
Thanks to his previous experience, Michael Bay understood well how to squeeze the maximum spectacle out of an extremely modest budget. In the very first scene, a busty beauty in high heels, Playboy star Lisa Boyle, appears here, and Téa Leoni’s contract probably stipulated that she wear as short skirts as possible. And let’s not forget that Bay has always been able to work with action scenes. All of this guaranteed a really mediocre film from the point of view of the script a great box office of $141 million.
Interesting facts:
Release date: 2003
IMDb rating: 6,6
Where to see: MEGOGO
Due to the long delays in writing and rewriting the script, the sequel had to wait a long time. The filmmakers only started shooting in 2002. By then, Smith and Lawrence had already become real stars, which could potentially attract more people to theaters. And Bay himself had long ago made his way into the big leagues of cinema, having made blockbusters one louder than the other — «The Rock», «Armageddon» and «Pearl Harbor».
You’d have to be Michael Bay to afford the almost two-and-a-half-hour runtime of a typical buddy-cop movie. But the director could afford it. As well as the realization of the craziest action scenes and ideas. As the budget grew to a solid $130 million, the director decided to grab the bull by the horns right away. He gave a chase so stunning and large-scale at the beginning of the film (in the style of «Terminator 3», which came out the same year) that the authors «2 Fast 2 Furious» could only dream of such a thing.
But along with the thrilling action, the film offered an extraordinary concentration of selective bad taste: Bay’s favorite sexual objectification (the camera flying between the legs of beauties — this is some kind of next level of the notorious «Bayham»), typical tropes like «damsel in distress», «caricatured drug lord», «stupid Russian Peter Stormare» (what, again?), idiotic sitcom jokes (the villain’s fat daughter reminded me of an episode of «Friends», the passion with Burnett’s sister was taken from somewhere else), digging through corpses, etc.
Critics hated the second part for this mess (psychotherapeutic «mustache» to help them), and the audience did not vote with their dollars. The box office receipts of $273 million allowed the creators to break even, but Bruckheimer was not destined to make any money. So the sequel cannot be called a success, which, however, does not negate the fact that many people like this rough, politically incorrect style. And Michael Bay is well aware of this.
Interesting facts:
Release date: 2019—2020
IMDb rating: 6,2
Even before the release of the third film, Sony Pictures Television presented the police procedural «L.A.’s Finest» on Spectrum. In fact, it is a spinoff of the 2003 sequel, focusing on Syd Burnett — Marcus’ sister, played by Gabrielle Union. Her on-screen partner is LAPD detective Nancy McKenna, played by Jessica Alba. The show received bad press, aired for two seasons, and was canceled in 2020.
Release date: 2020
IMDb rating: 6,5
Where to see: MEGOGO
While the previous sequel took 8 years to get released, the next movie was delayed for 17 years. Again, there were many problems with the script, and Michael Bay admitted that he wouldn’t mind returning to the franchise, but it would depend on the producers’ willingness to invest in the project financially. In fact, at some point, Bay’s candidacy was no longer considered because of his need for exorbitant budgets, and the ambitious Belgian duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah took over as directors.
For the good afterburner tradition, the main characters have acquired a whole team, because trends oblige. Plus, the plot takes an example from «The Expendables 3» and to a certain extent contrasts the modern and old-school ways of working of the younger generation and the incorrigible dinosaurs. And most importantly, the story is completely free of Michael Bay’s shameless style/humor (no more bare breasts of a dead beauty), who, by the way, did not disdain to make a symbolic cameo.
As a result, «Bad Boys Forever» received mostly positive reviews from film critics and broke the record for the series with a box office of $426 million against a budget of $90 million. The producer’s bet on newcomers who had never worked in a big Hollywood movie before paid off again.
But this was not the only reason for its success. Perhaps the fact that the third installment fell into production hell played into the movie’s hands. It was released at the most opportune time for itself — just when the peak of the superhero and fast-paced saga craze had already passed, and the audience, tired of the monotony, had time to miss long-forgotten heroes and stories from the distant past.
Interesting facts:
Release date: 2024
Where to see: movie theaters
We didn’t have to wait long for the next installment: the filmmakers are striking while the iron is hot. Sony announced its intentions to make the fourth film on the opening weekend of «Bad Boys for Life». The main cast of the previous installment has returned to their roles, Chris Bremner is again responsible for the script, and the duo Adil & Bilall retain the directorial functions.
In the story, Lowry and Burnett find themselves at the epicenter of a conspiracy somehow connected to their deceased captain, Conrad Howard (recall that Joe Pantoliano played this role in all the films). The main characters undertake to clear the good name of their former boss, but find themselves on the wrong side of the law. And then they are faced with the question «bad boys, bad boys, what are you going to do, what are you going to do when they come for you?».
Over the years, «Bad Boys» has become a well-recognized brand and a fairly successful franchise, earning just over $840 million at the global box office.
The expressive chemistry between the main stars, the creators’ ability to make first-class action, appropriate (and sometimes inappropriate) jokes that lighten the situation — all this allowed «Bad Boys» to claim the audience’s attention today. With the release of the fourth installment, the series has every chance of reaching the billion-dollar mark. This is a sign that the audience really needs this kind of movie.
Thanks to the success of «Bad Boys», Martin Lawrence and especially Will Smith have become big Hollywood stars and will return to the image of such characters and the buddy movie genre in general. And even though their best years are behind them, the bad old men still have enough gunpowder to compete with their genre peers for their piece of the pie.