Bad Boys is a Hollywood action series that was first directed by a 29-year-old Michael Bay in 1995 and went on to sell for $141 million at the global box office at a cost of $18 million. The success of "Bad Boys" also gave Bay A new opportunity to create his own style of directing, and he went on to direct Hollywood A-list blockbusters like "The Rock," "Armageddon" and "Pearl Harbor."
Will Smith became a hit, appearing in films like Independence Day and Men in Black. "It was an action blockbuster with two black protagonists, which was very rare at the time," Smith says of his early career in an interview with Martin Lawrence, who had a strong comedic talent. Eddie Murphy was the hottest thing, so to have two black people in a movie that wasn't a black movie was amazing."
In 2003, eight years later, Bay went on to direct Bad Boys 2, which cost a whopping $130 million. However, its $273 million gross resulted in a small loss for the project, and SONY pictures was not allowed to proceed with a sequel. In fact, SONY pictures has been pushing for a sequel several times since 2015, even going so far as to restart the project without Smith. After several delays, the return of the original cast was finally confirmed in November 2018. It's been 17 years since Smith reunited with Lawrence in this two-man cop comedy.
In Bad Boys for Life, Smith and Lawrence reprise their classic roles as Mike and Marcus. In this story, Marcus wants to quit and spend more time with his family, but a criminal plan is underway that threatens Mike's life, and Marcus is involved in the crime. As in the first two films, they will continue to crack down on Miami's worst crimes. Mike still drives an expensive car, Marcus is ostensibly still a family man, and Captain Howard is still frustrated by the bad boys, even swearing. 17 years later, nothing seems to have changed. Everything is as I remember it.
"Mike tried to convince Marcus to do it one last time, but Marcus was ready to pull the rug out from under him, at least at first." "I think the decline of friendships is a very interesting topic to explore," Smith said. "People often use the excuse of not growing up to keep their friends apart. It's like they're on the verge of breaking up. They're opposites in every way, but that's what makes them the perfect match."
The best part of "Bad Boys" is the action scenes. Even the simplest action scenes for the young-looking Will Smith struggle. "Like running, I pulled my leg... You should have seen us after that run. We almost went to the doctor." He said he loved the film's message: "Grow or die, that's the underlying theme. Bad Boys for Life is not only a comedy, it also has a strong message -- if you pick up Bad habits, you'll probably die, and you need to change it. It's not just about movies, it's about us. Plus, we're older, our characters are older, and we can still win."
