Michael Bay, who directed Bad Boys and Bay Boys 2, makes a cameo in Bad Boys 3 that creates a funny plot hole. Bad Boys For Life is the third film in the franchise and ends a 17-year wait for a sequel to Bad Boys II. The latest installment includes the returns of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, who must work together to take down a drug cartel in Miami.
Smith and Lawrence shined in Bad Boys, but due to the movie’s success, Bay was the third star to soar. After Bad Boys, both Smith and Lawrence went on to more prominent roles and became box office royalty overnight. Similarly, Bay became one of the most important action directors in Hollywood with huge commercial hits such as The Rock, Armageddon, and Transformers. Despite directing both Bad Boys and Bad Boys II, Bad Boys 3 is the first in the series not directed by Bay. The duo of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah replaced Bay in the director’s chair for Bad Boys For Life. However, while Bay may not be the director, but he does make a surprise cameo in the film.
In Bad Boys 3, Bay appears in the film’s first act at the wedding party for Marcus’ daughter, Megan (Bianca Bethun). Bay plays the wedding MC and announces the return of Mike, who nearly died six months before after a failed assassination attempt. Bay’s appearance is a respectful nod to the director who ignited the franchise. However, the surprise cameo creates a funny plot hole because Bay had previously appeared in Bad Boys 2 in a completely different role.
In Bad Boys 2, there’s a scene where Marcus must confiscate a random car in order to track their enemies. The driver of the car is Bay, but due to the car’s poor quality, Mike orders Marcus to hijack another car to drive. It’s a quick and entertaining interaction between Lawrence and Bay, but it’s a separate character from the wedding MC in Bad Boys For Life, hence the plot hole. It’s a very small issue, but a comical one that only diehard fans of the franchise will notice.
Even without Bay as the director, Bad Boys 3 has not skipped a beat. The third film still provides the same buddy-cop humor and impressive action sequences that made the first two films so successful. In fact, Bad Boys For Life has the highest reviews on Rotten Tomatoes out of the three films and perfectly sets up the franchise for future sequels and spinoffs. If Bad Boys 4 happens, perhaps Bay can show up as either the driver from Bad Boys II or the wedding MC from Bad Boys 3 in order to establish continuity.
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