Bad Boys, 1995 - LD

I hadn't seen this movie in a long time, but after seeing the sequel in the theaters, I had to give it another go.

One of the things that surprised me was seeing George Gallo's name in the credits. Gallo is the writer of one of the best action comedy films to come out of the 1980's, Midnight Run. Hell, it's on my top five list of all-time favorite movies. Brilliantly written, again, I was surprised to see him get the 'story' credit for this film.

I wasn't a big fan of Martin Lawrence, when this film came out. I hardly ever watched his show (or Smith's show for that matter), and when the film came out, I left it alone. I didn't know who Michael Bay was, I didn't know the Simpson/Bruckheimer work... at the time, I didn't care who writers and directors were... unless they were Scorsese or Lynch. At the time, I was an uneducated snob, movie wise.

So, fast forward eight years, and I'm writing a review.

I have to give Michael Bay a lot of credit. I know he's someone you're supposed to not like... people think his movies are too stylized, and that they all look the same... but you can say that about a few directors. I think people don't like the glossy coating his films give off. I can understand that... it's hard to miss.

Bad Boys was Bay's first feature film. Having been a very successful commercial director, he went on to team up with the incredibly successful producer team of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. The two producers had given us a number of big his, prior to Bad Boys. Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop (1 and 2), Top Gun, Days of Thunder... along with some other films. I think with Bay's achievements in commercial directing, the two weren't too concerned with their choice of director.

Sometimes, when I'm writing reviews, I try and see where and how the writers ever got together to create the work they did, especially based on their previous produced work. Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland are guys who haven't written anything since Bad Boys. Their earlier work includes some David Letterman material, the Stallone comedy Oscar and Amazon Women on the Moon. That's it. How did they get this job?

Doug Richardson, I can understand getting the job, kind of. His other work includes Die Hard 2 and Money Train. You can see the action writer there... but in regards to the other two... well, I guess they supplied some of the comedy... but as I've come to understand, some of the films comedy is ad-libbed... because Bay didn't like the script too much.

One of the things I enjoy about the collaborations of both Bay and Bruckheimer (since Simpson passed away during the production of The Rock) is that you can see all of the budget on the screen. The two are interested in creating incredible scenes, specifically action scenes. You can see some of their sentimental side in Armageddon and Pearl Harbor... but, for the most part, they're all about creating scenes that audiences will be blown away by.

In regards to the storyline, this isn't such a bad film. It's formulaic, to a point, sure. But there are two strong characters here... strong enough to deserve a sequel, eight years later. The acting certainly isn't bad. I will say that I do not enjoy Tea Leoni's work, at all. I've never enjoyed her in any of her films (except her role in Jurassic Park 3, which wasn't bad), or television roles. I found her to be intrusive in this picture. She has a very forced, very out-of-place personality that doesn't gel with characters around her.

Tcheky Karyo is always great, even though he plays the same characters over and over. He's got a singular personality that suits the bad guy character (or rogue character) incredibly well. I think the first film I ever saw him in was Luc Besson's La Femme Nikita. He was fantastic in that role. Besson has enjoyed working with him, also in The Messenger and Kiss of the Dragon. Sometimes he picks a lemon like Wing Commander... but, hey, they all do that.

All in all, this movie has some great action sequences (for 1995), and a slick beginning for Michael Bay. I think he's a pretty incredible director, with a singular vision, who takes his time (and sometimes his own money) to get the job done right.