Martin Lawrence Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Martin Lawrence-whose latest project "Bad Boys: Ride or Die" releases in theaters today. 

Martin Lawrence's Filmography Ranked:

18.Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (D-)

17.Big Momma's House 2 (D+)

16.Big Momma's House (D+)

15.Wild Hogs (D+)

14.House Party (C-)

13.What's the Worst That Could Happen? (C-)

12.Black Knight (C-)

11.National Security (C+)

10.Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (B-)

9.Nothing to Lose (B-)

8.Life (B)

7.Blue Streak (B)

6.Death at a Funeral (B)

5.Bad Boys for Life (B+)

4.The Beach Bum (A-)

3.Bad Boys (A-)

2.Bad Boys II (A-)

1.Do the Right Thing (A+)

Top Dog: Do the Right Thing (1989)

What Spike Lee did with Do the Right Thing is really incredible. Using a blisteringly hot summer day in New York City as the backdrop, Lee explores how the simmering racial tension that is at the very fabric of our society can boil up into violence at any moment if somebody turns the heat up. Its straightforward slice of life narrative structure is what makes it particularly brilliant as it shows just how quickly a routine day full of laughs, playful banter and miscellaneous mundane tasks can flip into something horrific on a whim. Hopefully this devastating masterpiece can continue to stand the test of time.     

Bottom Feeder: Big Mommas House: Like Father, Like Son (2011)

There may not be a franchise released this century that was less deserving of becoming a trilogy than Big Mommas House. The comedy in these films is so consistently lowbrow and cringeworthy that they make Eddie Murphy's Nutty Professor movies look like Being John Malkovich. Remarkably, the third film in the franchise is somehow considerably worse than the first two. Like Father, Like Son sees Lawrence aimlessly punching a clock doing another string of groaner bits surrounding crossdressing, obesity, etc. and Brandon T. Jackson-who plays Lawrence's college-age son-willingly tanking a career that appeared to have a lot of promise after his hilarious supporting turn in Tropic Thunder.

Most Underrated: The Beach Bum (2019)

In a weird way, The Beach Bum seems like Harmony Korine's way of expressing the peace he's found in life. Of course, this journey to serenity involves copious drug use, surreal bursts of dark comedy and a collection of characters with questionable moral compasses, but there's a big beating heart resting underneath its scuzzy exterior! This character study surrounding a slacker poet named Moondog (Matthew McConaughey in a role that he was born to play) is a shaggy, often hilarious tale about opening yourself up to the world, channeling the devastation of loss into a will to live life to its fullest to honor the memory of a loved one and finding what really matters most in the world underneath all of the noisy bullshit humans tend to distract themselves. These are not the set of optimistic messages I expected to find in a movie made by the man behind some of the most nihilistic movies I've ever seen in my life (Spring Breakers, Gummo, Trash Humpers) and that's a big part of why I love this movie so much.         

Most Overrated: House Party (1990)

All of the love House Party was receiving in the wake of last year's admittedly mediocre remake was not something I could get behind. Like a lot of comedies from its era, it's aged like milk on account of the content of its humor (the amount of homophobia present is staggering) and the respectable chemistry between its leads (Kid n' Play) isn't enough for to overcome the lack of laughs it delivers for most of its runtime.   

Best Bad Boys Movie: Bad Boys II (2003) 

All of the first three Bad Boys movies are great, but only one serves as the ultimate showcase for the singular cinematic voice that is Michael Bay. Bad Boys II ranks as one of the most excessive, chaotic and depraved films that I've ever laid eyes upon. Just when you think things couldn't get any crazier, Bay drops an action setpiece or a shot selection or narrative choice that easily outdoes what preceded it. No fucking wonder they had to wait 17 years to make a third installment. The world needed some time to cool down after being exposed to a madman's magnum opus.