|
 Director
: Michael Bay
Starring
: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Joe Pantoliano, Tea Leoni,
Theresa Randle
Picture
1.85:1 Anamorphic, DD 5.1, Single-Side, Dual-Layer, Keep
Case
Running
Time : 114 mins
See
this is you liked : Lethal Weapon, Beverley Hills Cop, 48
Hours
The
story:
Whatcha
gonna do?
Detectives
Mike Lowery (Will Smith) and Marcus Brunette (Martin Lawrence)
have 72 hours to find $100 million worth of heroin stolen
from their police station before Internal Affairs shuts
them down. Lowery gets heavily involved after a friend is
murdered by the drug dealers who stole the heroin. Matters
become even further complicated when Lowery and Burnette
have to switch places to convince a witness (Leoni) to co-operate
in their investigation.
The
summary:
Michael
Bays reputation as a big budget Glamour director seems to
have stemmed from this movie. This is the one that really
made Will Smith into a big time star and also, sadly seemed
to carve out a niche for him to play most of the roles that
would previously have been given to Eddie Murphy.
The
film is well scripted for a Bay film and as such does not
rely at all on special effects or even (seemingly) a big
budget. The movie is the story of two cops - one a millionaire
playboy who loves the job, the other a tired family man
who does if for the money. Both are life long friends who
have a long history and a knack for getting into trouble.
Formulaic ? Well OK you got me there. But, this crime drama/comedy
stands out for me because it succeeds at doing what many
other movies have tried and, in my opinion, failed to do
- integrate genuinely funny comedy. The success is attributable
partly to the comedic talents of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence
- who have the ability to deliver crude, rude dialogue -
and partly to a story that combines this element with suspense
to give us a credible whole.
For
all action movie fans, Bad Boys kept me both amused and
on the edge of my seat throughout. I'm afraid I did have
a small complaint, however. I feel the movie could definitely
have focused more on the Odd Couple aspect in which Lawrence
(the family man) has to pretend to be Smith (the playboy).
This was not explored enough. I realise this was either
for budget or time constraints, but would have added much
more to the movie. As it is, the comic subplot ends two
thirds of the way through, leaving the rest of the movie
to proceed in a rather slower fashion. Aside from that,
however, this is an action movie that stands out among the
rest.
This
"Collectors Edition" DVD includes a rather more
substantial list of extra's than its previous release. Its
does add much more weight to the movie and includes a couple
of gems. Overall this is by far the best version yet available
and is a worthy addition to your collection.
|
