Every Michael Bay Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

2. Bad Boys

Martin Lawrence and Will Smith in Bad Boys 2
Sony Pictures Releasing

We already mentioned that the smaller scale and limited budget of Bad Boys worked in its favour, and when you put the first film and its sequel side by side, it's clear which is better, and why.

From a pure action perspective the sequel wins out, but action can't carry a movie - memorable characters and great humour can. Bad Boys does have its fair share of action, but it's also got an undying focus on Smith/Lawrence just talking, cracking jokes, and arguing with one another. These are the best parts of the movie, something that the sequel forgot.

Bad Boys isn't a cinematic masterpiece, but the two charismatic leads are at the top of their game, and this more foul-mouthed spin on the buddy-cop formula does help it feel distinct when placed alongside the Lethal Weapons and Beverly Hills Cops of the world.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!