Currently streaming on Netflix, Michael Bay’s feature film debut, 1995’s Bad Boys, still stands as one of his best, most coherent pieces of cinema.
With a simple story, effective action sequences, and that famous chemistry between his two hilarious lead performers.
The plot is no more or no less than what you’d find on a typical episode of Miami Vice.
Two Miami cops are searching for a massive stash of heroin that’s been stolen from a secure police evidence vault. But it’s personal to them because the missing contraband was from the biggest bust of their professional lives.
Was it an inside job?
How could a crew have orchestrated such a brazen heist?
Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) is a smooth-talking, womanizing, Porsche-driving, trust-fund inheriting super-cop who loves to shoot first and ask questions later.
Marcus Burnett, an impossibly thin Martin Lawrence who would later explode as a comedic force. Martin, at the time of the film’s release, is Lowrey’s beleaguered partner.
A married cop with kids and a house and a mortgage and responsibilities – the exact opposite. T
The insanely entertaining rapport that Smith and Lawrence shared on this film went a long way in making it as successful as it was.
A Michael Bay Masterpiece
Before tackling his first feature project, Michael Bay was coming out of the world of music videos and commercials. A world that he had completely conquered, so it was inevitable that he would try his hand at directing a big budget movie.
After catching the eyes of producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer due to a music video that he’d shot for them for Days of Thunder, Bay was recruited by the uber-producers, and his whiz-bang career got off to a fast, propulsive start.
Originally conceived as a buddy-movie vehicle for John Lovitz and Dana Carvey by screenwriter George Gallo.
Bay ditched some of the older drafts, hired a new writing team (consisting of Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland, and Doug Richardson), and went to work at crafting an unpretentious throwback to the 70’s/80’s cycle of rambunctious cop films; Freebie and the Bean and Lethal Weapon for modern times.
Bay’s best strength as a popcorn movie-maker is that he genuinely knows how to make his films feel big. With striking clarity and saturated primary colors, constantly opting for telephoto lenses and almost always shooting in full 2.40:1 widescreen.
And when it comes to CGI, he demands the absolute best from his technicians; if it’s not “photo-real,” he doesn’t want it included.
His dedication to the intricacy of his images has always been something that’s worthy of more serious study and reflection.
Bay loves to create maximum impact visuals, whether or not the scene requires something of intense photographic elegance, which can give off a feeling of superiority at times, and confusion in others.
Overall
The original Bad Boys feels like a student film when compared to the insanely over the top 2003 sequel, and the complicated visual structure of Bay’s Transformers movies.
He’s definitely capable of telling a solid story and He’s earned his status as a visual auteur.
He has an instantly identifiable style that matches his testosterone-fueled narratives of impossible heroics. He’s been a subversively fascinating filmmaker to watch evolve over the years.
Review by Nick Clement
Check out our review of Bad Boys For Life
Summary
One of Michael Bay’s best, most coherent pieces of cinema, with a simple story, effective action sequences, and that famous chemistry between his two hilarious lead performers.
