How do the three Bad Boys films rank against one another, worst to best? Michael Bay made his directorial debut with the first Bad Boys in 1995, a buddy-cop actioner that saw Will Smith and Martin Lawrence play partners-in-crime in a bromance that quickly became one of Hollywood’s iconic pairings. A sequel, Bad Boys II, followed just under a decade later, in 2003, with the third film in the franchise – Bad Boys For Life – arriving in January 2020 , time helmed by Adil El Arabi and Bilall Fallah, with Bay having departed the franchise.
With these films, Michael Bay put his spin on the buddy-cop film; much like the Lethal Weapon movies, they offered a fun reinvention of the genre. The only difference between the two franchises is that Bad Boys, in typical Michael Bay fashion, dials everything up to eleven to deliver some explosive, mind-numbing action. It is Smith and Lawrence’s playful banter as Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett, however, that makes these films truly soar. The pair have such veritable chemistry across all three films that really elevates their dynamic and cements Bad Boys as one of the better action franchises in Hollywood right now.
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Even though Bad Boys For Life took a long time to get made, the franchise is still ripe for expansion: Bad Boys 3 was such a commercial success that a fourth Bad Boys film is now in the works, while there’s also the potential for spin-offs in the future. As it is, though, there are currently three Bad Boys movies, which means three films’ worth of explosions, Mike and Marcus banter, and much more. Here are all the Bad Boys movies ranked, from worst to best.
3. BAD BOYS
The first Bad Boys saw Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowery having to protect a murder witness whilst they investigated the disappearance of a large drug sample from their precinct. However, things are made more complicated when the former is mistaken for the latter by the witness and, needing her to co-operate, pretends to be the debonair Lowery – forcing the pair to switch identities to keep her safe and get all the information they can from her to solve their case.
Bad Boys gets a lot of things right, notably the boisterous dynamic between Lawrence and Smith, with sharp, funny banter between the duo. They’re a reckless pair of cops who often find themselves in sticky situations, using their guns before their brains and making situations tough for their increasingly-angry Captain (Joe Pantoliano). It also offers a lot of great humor and action, and is a special film for being the one that started it all. Not only that, but it was also Michael Bay’s first foray into feature filmmaking – after a string of music videos and short films. It was the film that introduced us to Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowery, the latter Will Smith’s most badass character to date. Yet these reasons are also why Bad Boys is the worst of the three.
Bad Boys‘ shortcomings are largely in its world building. The other films admittedly wouldn’t exist without the first Bad Boys; but that means they’re able to build upon the elements this film sets up. Bad Boys doesn’t get to really push them out of their comfort zone yet; it plays everything safe and within reason. As far as directorial debuts go, this is a solid effort. But it still suffers from being a first film – Michael Bay’s technique isn’t there yet, and the characters of Mike and Marcus haven’t fully reached their potential either. It’s a very entertaining film and a great setup for what’s to come, but the first Bad Boys lacks the punch of the later installments and is the weakest of bunch.
2. BAD BOYS II
Bad Boys II capitalizes on the first film by taking the characters and the world it has established and really running free with it. There’s a reason that Hot Fuzz references this film as one of the greatest action movies ever made; the shoot-outs, the car chases, all of the combat in this film is Michael Bay as fans now know him. Bad Boys 2 is also funnier than the first, which could be due to the fact that Seth Rogen was involved in touching up the script.
The story is still focused on missing drugs in the sequel; this time, however, Lowery and Burnett investigate a much larger shipment that has gone missing. A Cuban cartel is flowing an obscene amount of ecstasy into Florida, which the pair decide to trail. However, Burnett’s sister Syd (Gabrielle Union) also gets thrown into the mix. There’s immediately more thematic presence in this; with Marcus’ sister involved, viewers get a lot of great scenes between brother and sister. To complicate matters further, she’s also dating Mike, which leads to an interesting butting of heads between the friends.
What puts Bad Boys 2 above its predecessor is the fact that it heightens everything good about the original – the banter, the action, the carnage – and adds more levity to the proceedings. The films still aren’t the most nuanced ever and the sequel certainly suffers from being a bit over-bloated at times; however, the arcs and themes prevalent in Bad Boys 2 are far more fascinating to watch. Now that Michael Bay has spent a film already getting to know these characters and the world of crime they inhabit, he’s able to really just run with it and it makes for a far more entertaining watch than the first Bad Boys. It’s a much more action-centric story though, and the sequences are huge and explosive and delirious fun.
1. BAD BOYS FOR LIFE
As mentioned already, part of the reason that Bad Boys 2 is better than the first is because it feels like Michael Bay really came into his own with that. Even though Bay departed the third film as a director, the franchise is still very much his baby – he certainly has quite a big influence over Bad Boys For Life, even having a cameo in the blockbuster. What makes Bad Boys 3 so unique, then, is the fact that it embellishes on the best Bay-isms of the last two films whilst having its own distinct voice.
This time around, Mike and Marcus are coming to the end of their rope. The latter is ready to retire, whilst the former is trying to grasp onto his glory days. However, when someone has it out for Mike, Marcus is forced out of retirement one final time to work alongside a younger group of officers to protect his friend. It’s surprising when the third film in a franchise this old is this fresh. Bad Boys For Life could have latched onto the past and re-hashed a tired, albeit tried and tested, formula of nostalgia baiting. However, it grows up with these characters and, for a while, focuses on middle-age – “let’s try to be good men, for a change” is a line that particularly rings true. You can’t help but feel it’s the new blood of Arabi and Fallah, and screenwriters Joe Carnahan, Peter Craig, and Chris Bremner, that makes this film sing.
This is still a Bad Boys film, make no mistake. The action is there; the camaraderie and humor too – all of which is some of the best this trilogy has seen. But there’s a real emotional backbone to the proceedings this time. This is the franchise that gave Michael Bay his career, but he has moved on. And so have these characters. It’s a film about growing up and the franchise, too, has grown up. In accepting this, Bad Boys 3 offers a much more mature and heartfelt Bad Boys endeavor that is superbly helmed with some fluid and exciting action but a good spirit underpinning every moment that makes for a surprisingly touching reunion with these characters we’ve come to love. Bad Boys For Life understands why fans fell in love with these films in the first place; it comes from a place of passion for the material but self-awareness too. For all those reasons, Bad Boys 3 is the best Bad Boys movie.
