Movies I Miss: Buddy cop films

October 6, 2014

Myong Choi,

Today’s Hollywood is all about franchise films, comic book heroes, sequels and reboots. They’re fun to watch, but I miss the variety of films that I grew up watching. “Movies I Miss” will be blog series where I reminisce about the film genres that Hollywood has apparently forgotten.

Buddy Cop Films

Buddy cop films have launched some very impressive careers, including those of Eddie Murphy, Mel Gibson and Will Smith. The formula is simple, yet effective. Take two guys with clashing personalities who have to work together to solve a case. It usually works better if one is an ethnic minority, even more awesome if they both are. Throw in some high adrenaline action along with some hilarious one-liners and you have yourself a great buddy cop film. So why has Hollywood stopped making them?

There have been a few attempts to revive the genre in recent years, but those films including the “21 Jump Street” series and “Hot Fuzz” are more satirical than reverent. I don’t want Hollywood to poke fun at movies that I grew up with and love. Instead, I want Hollywood to make more of them. But until they do, I will always go back to my favorites.

Here are my Top 5 buddy cop films:

#5 – “Showdown in Little Tokyo” (1991)

This one may be a surprise pick, but I fell in love with this film the first time I popped it in my VHS. I was a huge fan of Bruce Lee and that fandom then shifted to his son Brandon with this film. His smooth and charismatic performance was a great balance to the stiff and hulking Dolph Lundgren. Plus, it has one of the strangest lines of dialogue ever as shown in the video below. I guess Dolph’s wife is one lucky lady.

#4 – “The Last Boy Scout” (1991)

To say writer and director Shane Black knows a bit about buddy cop films would be a grand understatement. The creative force behind “Lethal Weapon” and “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” (which just missed getting on this list) also wrote my #4 film, “The Last Boy Scout,” the most smartly written buddy cop film ever. I remember watching this movie in the theater as a college freshman and I was wowed from the opening scene where Mr. Taebo Billy Blanks literally shot down the defense in a football game. I knew from that point that it was going to be one hell of a movie and it was.

#3 – “Lethal Weapon” series (1987, 1989, 1992 and 1998)

“I’m getting too old for this s—.” Danny Glover may be an aging detective in the “Lethal Weapon” series, but these films will never get old. We see the relationship between Murtaugh (Glover) and Riggs (Mel Gibson) evolve with each film, but it all feels natural due to their great chemistry. Plus, the series introduces great supporting characters played by Joe Pesci, Rene Russo and Chris Rock to keep each film fresh. My favorite of the four? “Lethal Weapon 2” because it had the best story and the hottest female lead. Plus, it ends with one of the greatest kill lines – “Diplomatic immunity….has just been revoked!”

#2 – “Rush Hour” series (1998, 2001, 2007)

Jackie Chan provided the fists and Chris Tucker gave us the funny, and it was magic. The chemistry between the two was genuine and it came alive on screen. Chan is known for his crazy stunts and martial artistry, but he’s a genius physical comedian as well. Combine that with Tucker’s high-pitched verbal barrage of jokes and you have the perfect combo of East meets West.

#1 – “Bad Boys” series (1995, 2003)

Will Smith. Martin Lawrence. Michael Bay. That’s your holy triumvirate of buddy cop films. Smith and Lawrence were known more for their comedy before “Bad Boys,” but Bay turned them into legit action stars. The film became a success and launched all three of their careers into stardom. So when they reunited for the sequel, their huge reputations came along with a huge budget and that turned into some of the most spectacular action sequences ever including the scene below. Please bring on “Bad Boys 3.” Pretty please.