The sitcoms Martin and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air were still on the air when Bad Boys hit theatres 30 years ago. Their leading men, Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, respectively, brought a lot of that goofy small-screen banter – this time loaded with testosterone and F-bombs – to a buddy cop movie.
Bad Boys opens with an announcement of their arrival. Lawrence’s Marcus Burnett and Smith’s Mike Lowrey are cruising around Miami in a Porsche 911, doing a sitcom bit as they bicker over french fries and cupholders, before a pair of car thieves catch them by surprise and hold them up at gunpoint. When Smith’s Mike warns that they’re cops, one of the carjackers dismisses him – “Well, I’m a standup comedian, and I suck” – as if speaking for an audience unconvinced that these two comic personalities could plausibly exist in their new roles.
