“What’s the Worst That Could Happen?” (2001) is a rhetorical question, but there is an answer. The worst that could happen is you could assemble an incredibly deep cast (Nora Dunn, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Bernie Mac and many more) for an interesting story pitting white collar and streetwise crooks against each other in a match of masculine one-upmanship – but then have Martin Lawrence as the star. Lawrence’s schtick and some horrible impersonations by he and John Leguizamo are a lowest-common-denominator drag that exacerbates an uneven performance by co-star Danny DeVito as a lascivious corporate raider who spars with Lawrence’s burglar.
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The Simpson-Bruckheimer action recipe is like cinematic comfort food for the adrenaline starved. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence serve up an explosive bowl of macaroni and cheese in “Bad Boys for Life” (2020). Twenty-five years after the first installment of the franchise, cars still explode at the slightest provocation, guns still have unlimited bullets and helicopters still helicopt. Also, bad guys still can’t shoot worth a damn and story lines still take a backseat to blowing shit up. This time Smith’s Mike Lowrey has some kind of Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader thing going on. Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter.
“Bad Boys II” (2003) begins with a shootout and car chase that wrecks half the vehicles in Dade County, including a boat. It ends with an invasion of Cuba led by Miami PD, the DEA and the CIA. Is it necessary to mention it’s a Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer production? The two hours in between are filled with more shootouts and car chases, plus wacky banter between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. There’s a plot that involves catching a bad guy, but it’s superfluous. A good movie for when you want to turn off your brain and watch shit blow up.
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