Marcus Burnett is a hen-pecked family man. Mike Lowry is a foot-loose and fancy free ladies' man. Both are Miami policemen, and both have 72 hours to reclaim a consignment of drugs stolen from under their station's nose. To complicate matters, in order to get the assistance of the sole witness to a murder, they have to pretend to be each other.
Given how much good Bad Boys is going to do for Martin Lawrence's feature career, it's a pity the film couldn't do any more for itself.
– Kenneth Turan,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Feb 2001
rotten:
It's all special-effects noise and nonsense.
– Peter Travers,
Rolling Stone,
12 May 2001
fresh:
This film isn't aiming for high-toned drama, just high-energy entertainment, which is what it delivers.
– Caryn James,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
fresh:
Even when it's not particularly funny, their interplay is engaging, and their lively, raucous personalities keep the proceedings punchy and watchable for the slightly overlong running time.
– Todd McCarthy,
Variety,
26 Mar 2009
rotten:
The cops never seem to know what they're doing, but then neither do the filmmakers, though I can't imagine that casual audiences will care since there are plenty of big explosions at the end to reward them.