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College Road Trip

Where to watch.

Watch College Road Trip with a subscription on Disney+, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

What to Know

Filled with shrill gags and middling slapstick, College Road Trip is woefully short on comic imagination.

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Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Roger Kumble

Martin Lawrence

Chief James Porter

Raven-Symoné

Melanie Porter

Donny Osmond

Brenda Song

Eshaya Draper

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College Road Trip

March 7, 2008

Comedy, Family, Live Action

Ambitious and confident Melanie Porter is eagerly looking forward to her first big step towards independence – a girls-only road trip to check out colleges. But this rite of passage takes a wrong turn when her overprotective father insists on escorting her instead, and Melanie's dream trip quickly turns into a nightmare of wild and wacky curves.

Rated: G Release Date: March 7, 2008

Directed By

• motionpictures.org
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College Road Trip Trailer

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College Road Trip

Cast & crew.

Martin Lawrence

Raven-Symoné

Donny Osmond

Brenda Song

Deputy O’Mally

Even young kids will like father-daughter comedy.

• Average 3.4

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© 2008 Disney

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College Road Trip (2008) Stream and Watch Online

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Need to watch ' College Road Trip ' on your TV, phone, or tablet? Searching for a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or view the Roger Kumble-directed movie via subscription can be challenging, so we here at Moviefone want to help you out. Read on for a listing of streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription alternatives - along with the availability of 'College Road Trip' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into all the details of how you can watch 'College Road Trip' right now, here are some specifics about the Walt Disney Pictures, Gunn Films family flick. Released March 7th, 2008, 'College Road Trip' stars Martin Lawrence , Raven-Symoné , Kym Whitley , Brenda Song The G movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 23 min, and received a user score of 55 (out of 100) on TMDb, which assembled reviews from 380 knowledgeable users. Interested in knowing what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "When an overachieving high school student decides to travel around the country to choose the perfect college, her overprotective cop father also decides to accompany her in order to keep her on the straight and narrow." 'College Road Trip' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on Apple iTunes, YouTube, Disney Plus , Google Play Movies, Vudu, AMC on Demand, Amazon Video, and Microsoft Store .

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Rotten Tomatoes® Score

On only a single occasion do I recall laughing.

A gag inducing over the top mess of a family film.

Martin Lawrence's long, sad devolution from the poor man's young Eddie Murphy to the poor man's late-period Eddie Murphy continues.

A Disney production that would seemingly be more at home on the Disney Channel than in the local multiplex.

To put it bluntly, this trip isn't worth taking for the vast majority of movie-goers.

There isn't an ounce of real life between here and Somers Town.

For horrified parents, Donny Osmond's cameo is - scarily - the sole lifebelt in a truly desperate mess of unamusing plot randomness, which runs from sky-diving to high-IQ pigs.

Additional Info

• Genre : Comedy, Family
• Release Date : March 7, 2008
• Languages : English, Spanish
• Captions : English, Spanish
• Audio Format : 5.1

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Movie Review | 'College Road Trip'

By Jeannette Catsoulis

• March 7, 2008

Eyes popping and mouths agape, Martin Lawrence and Raven-Symoné mug their way through “College Road Trip” as if it were a silent movie — which, come to think of it, would have been a lot less irritating.

The latest in a genre that defines comedy as nothing more than extreme overreaction, the movie hangs its feeble plot on James Porter (Mr. Lawrence), a domineering police chief who’d like to see his teenage daughter, Melanie (Raven-Symoné), on permanent lockdown. Doting to the point of derangement, James has already chosen her college — Northwestern — based on its proximity to home and his smothering attentions. Sensibly, Melanie plans to interview at Georgetown; naturally, Daddy insists on driving; thankfully, the movie’s target audience will be too young to have heard of Freud.

Directed by Roger Kumble (who has fallen very far from “Cruel Intentions”), “College Road Trip” trawls for laughs with a chess-playing pig and a bus filled with karaoke-singing Japanese tourists. As James crashes a wedding and storms a sorority house (to rescue Melanie from ... a pajama party), his obsession with her borders on the disturbing. By the time Donny Osmond and Molly Ephraim show up to play a parent-child combo that’s scarier than the one embodied by Anthony Perkins in “Psycho,” you’ll be wishing that the pig had eaten the screenplay.

COLLEGE ROAD TRIP

Opens on Friday nationwide.

Directed by Roger Kumble; written by Emi Mochizuki, Carrie Evans, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio; director of photography, Theo van de Sande; edited by Roger Bondelli; music by Edward Shearmur; production designer, Ben Barraud; produced by Andrew Gunn; released by Walt Disney Pictures. Running time: 1 hour 23 minutes. This film is rated G.

WITH: Martin Lawrence (James Porter), Raven-Symoné (Melanie), Donny Osmond (Doug), Brenda Song (Nancy), Eshaya Draper (Trey), Kym E. Whitley (Michelle), Arnetia Walker (Grandma Porter), Margo Harshman (Katie) and Molly Ephraim (Wendy).

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• DVD & Streaming

College Road Trip

Content caution.

In Theaters

• Martin Lawrence as Chief James Porter; Raven-Symoné as Melanie Porter; Kym Whitley as Michelle Porter; Brenda Song as Nancy; Margo Harshman as Katie; Donny Osmond as Doug

Home Release Date

• Roger Kumble

Distributor

• Walt Disney

Movie Review

As a Chicago suburbs police chief, James Porter has seen danger. As a rather overprotective dad, he’s determined to keep his precious daughter, Melanie, from meeting it. So it makes perfect sense to him that she should attend Northwestern University when she graduates from high school. Why? It’s only 40 miles away, and he can be there in 28 minutes in case of emergencies. (He knows. He’s tested the route.)

Melanie, however, has other plans. She wants to be an attorney and has her sights set on Georgetown University. But that’s in Washington, D.C., over 700 miles away. James won’t hear of it. No! Never! Nada!

Well … maybe.

Circumstances and a steely-eyed wife convince James that Georgetown might be worth considering. So the controlling cop packs up a police SUV and takes his daughter on a cross-country college trip. Maybe they can bond on the way. And maybe, if he’s wily enough, he’ll have time to convince her to stay closer to home.

But being alone with her father for several days isn’t Melanie’s idea of a good time. Then, to make matters worse, her kid brother, Trey, and his pet pig turn up as backseat stowaways. And when they all end up traveling with another daddy-daughter duo—who constantly break into singing show tunes at the slightest provocation—Melanie is afraid she’ll lose her mind. If only they can make it to Georgetown, it just might be all worth it.

Positive Elements

James is an overprotective and controlling individual. But he is also a very loving dad who wants only the best for his daughter. He does everything he can to keep her safe. And he doesn’t hold grudges, either. When young Trey breaks the rules, he apologizes and Dad readily forgives him with an embrace.

James’ mom relates to her son how hard it was for her to let him make his own choices when he was a young man. She encourages him to trust Melanie. James’ wife, Michelle, does the same, saying, “You taught her how to think for herself and be strong.” And Dad and Daughter eventually come to an understanding of their mutual trust and love. “Go in there with all confidence,” James tells Melanie when she’s face-to-face with her big entrance interview. “Keep you head up and do your best.”

More than just one of life’s important milestones, a college education is deemed here to be all but inevitable. Even a dad who can’t bear to see his little girl go off on her own and wrangles endlessly over where she’s to attend school, never questions that she should go to school.

Spiritual Elements

Only one sarcastically muttered “thank you” sent heavenward by James when his talkative daughter’s cell phone battery starts to die.

Sexual Content

Melanie shows a scant amount of cleavage. Sly innuendo revolves around a handsome young man at Northwestern who offers to give Melanie a tour. Dad asks, “A tour of what?” Dad also thinks that because a deep-voiced girl answers the phone at a sorority house, Melanie must be sleeping over with girls and boys. Sneaking into the house, James hides under a bed while the girls sleep—and is found out and “exposed” as a Peeping Tom the next morning.

Violent Content

Goofy pratfalls occasionally ratchet up to the level of wrecked police cruisers and taser jolts. James zaps his deputy and, later, receives the same treatment. (Both men shudder and collapse to the ground.) James’ vehicle rolls down an embankment. (No one’s in it.)

A bride punches her groom in the face seconds before Trey’s over-caffeinated pig wreaks havoc at a wedding reception. A number of people are thrown to the floor and hit by falling objects. James takes a number of tumbles and is left hanging from a second-story window. James and Melanie skydive and land on top of a golfer, knocking him into a pond. James and another man “battle” with golf clubs while racing side-by-side in two golf carts. A dad tackles a young man when he learns that he’s engaged to his daughter.

A reference is made to a cheetah ripping the head off a gazelle. And shadows of girls dancing make James think they’re being attacked and choked. A man shatters a drinking glass in his clenched fist. Another yells, “I’m gonna kill you and your little pig.”

Crude or Profane Language

“Oh my god!” is exclaimed a couple of times.

Drug and Alcohol Content

People have glasses of champagne at a wedding reception. After James lectures Melanie about coffee being a drug, their pig eats the beans and starts hyperactively jumping, doing somersaults and generally going berserk.

Other Negative Elements

Melanie and her mom keep Melanie’s plans for college a secret from Dad. Melanie lies to him about going to the library with friends when she’s actually going to a party. James smuggles the pig into a hotel. And he steals a golf cart. A fat joke is tossed out at a girl’s expense. After she confusedly puts a blanket over her head, an elderly woman is left standing on a rooftop.

The House of Mouse crew tried really, really, really hard to make College Road Trip all about that special bond between fathers and their growing up daughters. And I readily applaud the effort to create a clean, family film that they hope will appeal to all the tough-on-the-outside-but-butter-underneath dads and their High School Musical- lovin’ little girls.

But do the rubber-faced jester Martin Lawrence and That’s So Raven star Raven-Symoné nudge all the right funny bones and pluck all the proper tween notes? Well, um, I think I’ll defer the answer to Chicago Sun-Times ‘ Darel Jevens. He dryly notes, “ College Road Trip is the best Martin Lawrence/Raven-Symoné/Donny Osmond vehicle ever made.” Sans humor, Sue Pierman, writing for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , reports, “When the cutest and most amusing thing in a movie is a pet pig on caffeine, you know you’re in trouble.”

In a sentence—with emphasis: Scenery is chewed . So if you have an ingrained aversion to celluloid saccharine, a deep suspicion of scene-stealing pigs or a childhood fear of outlandish facial expressions, you’ve been forewarned. But while a whiplash-inducing turn into its heartfelt conclusion parking spot feels awkward and cloyingly sentimental, College Road Trip does show parents and kids talking, learning how to love a little better and ultimately finding small patches of common ground. All very good things, right?

“Dads don’t know everything,” James finally confesses to his beloved daughter. “We just try to do the best that we can.” I guess the same can be said about some movies.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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College Road Trip

• View history
• 3 Critical reception
• 4 Box office performance
• 5.1 Production
• 5.2 Promotion
• 6.1.1 Specification
• 9 External links

Melanie Porter ( Raven-Symoné ), a 17-year-old college-bound girl, is getting ready to graduate from high school and really wants to go to Georgetown University. However, her father James Porter ( Martin Lawrence ), the chief of police in the quiet Chicago suburb where they live, is overprotective of Melanie, and isn't ready for her to leave and study so far away from home. James has other plans for Melanie, he wants her to go to Northwestern University which is only 28 minutes away from home. James also receives problems from disagreements with his real estate agent wife, Michelle ( Kym Whitley ), the family pig Albert, who continuously annoys him, and his young son, Trey (Eshaya Draper), who spends much time with the pig.

Melanie gets invited to an interview at Georgetown after a college recruiter saw her performance at a mock trial. Her two best friends Nancy ( Brenda Song ) and Katie (Margo Harshman) offer to take her on their college road trip to Pittsburgh. Melanie is all set to go with her friends until her father surprises her with his own college road trip to Washington, D.C.

On their way, Melanie reluctantly visits Northwestern to take a tour. They meet an almost- too -happy father and daughter duo, Doug ( Donny Osmond ) and Wendy (Molly Ephraim), who are on their own college road trip. James has planted actors at Northwestern, one screaming at Melanie they lost an eye at Georgetown. Melanie almost falls for it until one of the actors says to her "Yeah, the chief's a pretty smart guy", since he never met Porter.

Their car soon breaks down and they find Trey in the trunk with Albert and a supply of oxygen. They stop at a hotel (thanks to Albert's navigating) but end up causing trouble when Albert eats coffee beans and becomes hyperactive. They run into Doug and Wendy again, who offer James and Melanie a ride since James' car broke down. Later, Melanie and her father ride on a tour bus where they try to work out their differences. At one destination, Nancy and Katie show up and take Melanie to a sorority house. James, due to a misunderstanding, and the owner not letting him in to check on her, sneaks into the house. After hearing that his daughter has faith in him, he decides to leave the next morning. Unfortunately, after Melanie leaves, he gets caught by the owner, brutally dazed, and arrested. James' mother comes to bail him out, calls him out on his overprotectiveness, and opens up about her own past fears when her son went to the Army, but still believed in her son to go his own path.

James and Melanie end up forgiving each other at the airport. After dropping off Trey, they skydive to make the interview at Georgetown. Melanie is nervous, but James tells her she can do it and that they didn't come all this way for nothing. She then is accepted into Georgetown, which Wendy is accepted into too.

In the end, James copes with letting go and the final scene shows the Porter and Greenhut families at Thanksgiving dinner. Melanie introduces her boyfriend Tracy (Benjamin Patterson), who turns out to be a male. James accepts this, and Wendy announces her engagement to Scooter ( Lucas Grabeel ) a chipper young man who behaves exactly like Doug. This causes Doug to finally snap and attack Scooter.

The New York Times movies listing lists among the cast:

• Martin Lawrence as Chief James Porter
• Raven-Symoné as Melaine Porter
• Eshaya Draper as Trey Porter
• Kym Whitley as Michelle Porter
• Donny Osmond as Doug
• Molly Ephraim as Wendy
• Brenda Song as Nancy Carter
• Arnetia Walker as Grandma Porter
• Margo Harshman as Katie
• Vincent Pastore as Freddy
• Lucas Grabeel as Scooter
• Will Sasso as Deputy O'Mally
• Kelly Coffield Park as Sorority House Mother
• Joseph R. Gannascoli as Mr. Arcarra
• Michael Landes as Donny
• Adam LeFevre as Judge
• Eugene Jones III as Hunter
• Josh Meyers as Stuart
• Lonny Ross as Student Guide

Critical reception [ ]

The film received mainly negative reviews from critics. The review aggregator at Rotten Tomatoes reported that 14% of critics gave the film positive reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 34 out of 100, based on 19 reviews. The New York Times gathered positive reviews toward the leading cast's performance. Martin Lawrence received positive reviews from several magazines, Rotten Tomatoes criticized his appearance yet again. 411 Mania gave it a final score of 7.5 out of 10 based on several reviews and managed to give it a positive DVD and film review. The film also received positive reviews from Blu-ray.com, Kansas City Star and several other publications including the Pittsburgh Post Gazette . The film also received negative reviews from USA Today and San Francisco Chronicle .

Box office performance [ ]

In its opening weekend, the film grossed approximately $14 million in 2,706 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #2 at the box office. As of mid-May 2008, it has earned nearly $45 million domestically so far, pulling in more than other teen fare that year such as Prom Night , which cooled after an initially more successful opening weekend. The movie brought in $13,651,758 on its opening weekend, and continued on to gross $31,117,834 to finish off the month, making it the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film to be released under 2000 screens. The movie is not only the highest-grossing movie on the day of its release, its also the highest-grossing kids movie and highest opening weekend during that month.

The following Monday, it pulled in $2,253,215. Among films that had fewer than 1,000 screens on opening day, the film ranked second. College Road Trip opened with $8.6 million on 683 screens. It averaged $45,560 per screen in its opening weekend, giving it the highest average per theater of all time for a limited release film. Because of the strong demand, Disney extended the film's run indefinitely. Internationally, the film is set for further release. There were rumors that the Philippines, reporting tickets selling out well in advance of its release and that its run there is extended due to popular demand. But it was never released in Philippine cinemas, and it was planned to go directly to home video.

Development [ ]

Production [ ].

Cinco Paul and partner Ken Daurio wrote the most recent draft. The movie was born out of the Disney Writers Program by Carrie Evans and Emi Mochizuki. The movie was produced by Andrew Gunn/Gunn Films and directed by Roger Kumble. Filming began July 9, 2007.

Promotion [ ]

To promote the movie in the United States, Raven-Symoné appeared on WWE WrestleMania XXIV, Chelsea Lately , MTV's TRL , Live with Regis and Kelly , The View , BET's 106 & Park , and The Oprah Winfrey Show . The theme song of the movie was "Double Dutch Bus", sung by Raven-Symoné. The music video for the song appeared on Disney Channel and was included in her self-titled album. The music video included scenes from the movie. Disney Channel TV spots were aired promoting the film in the United States.

The first trailer appeared alongside Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium and Enchanted . Advertising for the film used the tagline "They just can't get there fast enough."

Products [ ]

Dvd and blu-ray release [ ].

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on July 15, 2008. Both the DVD and Blu-ray releases will contain the following bonus features.

• Deleted scenes including alternate opening and ending
• "Double Dutch Bus" music video
• Audio commentary by director Roger Kumble, writers Carrie Evans and Emi Mochizuki, and stars
• Raven's Video Diary – Tag along on the set of the hot young stars from sensation Disney shows and movies
• On the Set: Double Dutch Bus – A behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the film's signature song

Specification [ ]

• Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
• French Language Track
• French and Spanish Subtitles
• Full Screen (1:33:1) and Widescreen (2.35:1)

College Road Trip sold 439,809 copies in the first week of release pulling in $8,030,648 of additional revenue for the franchise. It has sold a total of 1,004,834 copies since its release and made a total of $18,461,049 in DVD sales.

Billboard Top DVD Sales: #2

Billboard Top Video Rentals: #2

In May 2008, Disney Press released a book based on the movie written by Alice Alfonsi. The novel has the printed original movie poster as the cover.

• This is the third time Song and Raven-Symoné have worked together. The other projects being an episode of That's So Raven and an episode of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody .
• Raven-Symoné ( That's So Raven ), Song ( The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody , Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior , and other Disney projects), Grabeel ( High School Musical series) and Harshman ( Even Stevens ) have all starred in other Disney projects.
• The film did not receive a cinema release in Australia. Although promotions for the film aired on Disney Channel Australia a confirmed date for the movie to begin screening in theaters was never given. The film was released direct-to-DVD instead.
• Deleted scenes include an alternate opening where James foils a bank robbery and a phone conversation where Michelle hears Melanie's and James' complaints while trying to sell a house. The couple think she is talking to another buyer and decide to buy the house themselves.

External links [ ]

• Official Disney College Road Trip DVD and Blu-ray
• 1 Inside Out 2
• 3 Nostalgia

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College Road Trip

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• Boxoffice Magazine Amy Nicholson James' outlandish ruses to make his firstborn a Wildcat are fun; the push-pull parent-child dynamic generic, but sweet. But the writers comedy failsafe is "Cut to the pig!"
• AV Club Nathan Rabin Martin Lawrence's long, sad devolution from the poor man's young Eddie Murphy to the poor man's late-period Eddie Murphy continues.
• Chicago Sun-Times Darel Jevens College Road Trip is the best Martin Lawrence/Raven-Symone/Donny Osmond vehicle ever made.
• Boston Globe Ethan Gilsdorf It's a dark day indeed when a movie's funniest moments involve Donny Osmond.
• New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis Eyes popping and mouths agape, Martin Lawrence and Raven-Symon mug their way through College Road Trip as if it were a silent movie -- which, come to think of it, would have been a lot less irritating.
• Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand The whole project is a cloying, artificial mess. The slapstick comedy doesn't bite, and the formulaic sentimentality doesn't grip. This is strictly phi beta crappa.
• New York Post Kyle Smith College Road Trip is better than most Martin Lawrence movies -- much as strep throat is better than malaria.
• Austin Chronicle Steve Davis A Disney production that would seemingly be more at home on the Disney Channel than in the local multiplex.
• MovieFreak.com Sara Michelle Fetters Look, I realize a movie like College Road Trip isn't rocket science, but does it really have to play to such a dimwittedly low level that non-kid audiences are going to be in pain watching it?
• Ebert & Roeper Richard Roeper It is genuinely, consistently, indisputably putrid.
• Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall The comedian Sinbad once said that Hollywood seeks out original talents but then tries to make them just like everyone else. A case in point is Martin Lawrence.
• Entertainment Weekly Adam Markovitz College Road Trip is at its best when it drops any pretense of plot for sheer goof, and at its worst when Lawrence manages to out-ham even his porky four-legged costar.
• Seattle Times Ted Fry Even Donny Osmond's sparkling teeth seem a little dim compared with the unsullied gleam the movie presents as real life.
• Washington Post John Anderson Not that we expected much, when all is said and done. But College Road Trip ran out of ideas just after they came up with the title and had the inevitable meeting.
• San Francisco Chronicle Walter V. Addiego There's a nice pro-education theme struggling to emerge from oceans of clumsy humor here, so let's be generous and say the movie deserves about a C-minus.
• Slant Magazine Ed Gonzalez College Road Trip hurts more than just the eyes and ears, it wreaks havoc on one's humane sensibilities.
• Beliefnet Nell Minow [The] plot would make even the lightweight storylines of "That's So Raven" seem literary. It would make the lightweight storylines of a Bazooka Joe comic strip seem literary.
• USA Today Claudia Puig College Road Trip is nearly as hellish as taking a long trip with a bus full of karaoke-happy tourists. Actually, that's one of the gags.
• Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt Families seem to be extremely tolerant of taxing movie car trips. Perhaps the trick is that everyone is simply glad it's happening to another family and not theirs.

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5 best Martin Lawrence movies you need to see before 'Bad Boys: Ride or Die'

MIAMI, FLORIDA: ' Bad Boys: Ride or Die ' hits the theatres on June 7, 2024, the fourth installment of the popular ' Bad Boys ' franchise. This time our favorite Miami cops Mike Lowrey ( Will Smith ) and Marcus Burnett ( Martin Lawrence ) strive to clear their former captain of corruption charges. 

The latest installment in the franchise comes four years after 'Bad Boys for Life' which brought the franchise back on its feet after an exile of about 17 years. One of the reasons why this franchise is popular is the portrayal of Marcus Burnett by Marcus Burnett

Martin Lawrence is known the world over for his role in the 'Bad Boys' movies and he is well-respected for his impeccable comic timing and ability to create humor out of every situation. He has been entertaining audiences for over three decades as an entire generation has grown up being entertained by his comic prowess 

Here's a look at his five best films before his latest 'Bad Boys: Ride or Die' hits the theatres. 

Big Momma's House (2000)

Directed by Raja Gosnell, 'Big Momma's House' saw Martin Lawrence play the role of a detective who goes undercover as a large woman to catch a criminal. 

The movie is a whole-hearted comedy with situations creating seamless humor. Martin is exceptional in the role of the cop as well as the mother and his conflict is funniest when he finds himself in love with the old woman's granddaughter. 

The movie has attained cult status with Martin's performance being praised from all corners. 

'Bad Boys' (1995)

The first film of the franchise, 'Bad Boys' catapulted Martin to stardom in his performance as Marcus Burnett. The film's irony was that Marcus and Will Smith's character Mike Lowry had to play each other in the film to get a witness' assistance. 

Confusion creates comedy in this humorous yet thrilling movie where the boys are tasked to catch a drug consignment in 72 hours. What worked best for the movie was how well the characters were defined. 

The movie was so popular that it has been made into a franchise with both Will and Martin reprising their characters. 

'Mindcage' (2022)

Martin showed his versatility in Mindcage as he delved into the role of detective Jake Doyle in a psychological thriller about a copycat serial killer. Martin has played the detective many times in his career but this perhaps has to be his most serious role. 

The movie was not received very well by the audience as a whole but Martin's performance and its versatility were appreciated by his fans who praised him for being a shape-shifting genius. 

'Bad Boys II' (2003)

'Bad Boys II' multiplied the original film's action manifolds and combined it with the usual comedy created by Will Smith and Martin Lawrence to create an epic film that is still watched by audiences repeatedly.

This installment of the franchise sees Marcus facing the possibility of being separated from his partner Mike Lowry as a case sees him face personal and professional conflicts. Martin finds a way to make it funny in the face of all the adversities. 

'Death at a Funeral' (2010)

Martin joins Chris Rock in this epic comedy film where everything that could go wrong at a funeral goes wrong creating funny circumstances and situational comedy. 

Martin Lawrence plays a broke writer but that doesn't affect his arrogant self. The film is the typical comedy of errors that is full of dark but humorous moments. 

How to watch 'Bad Boys: Ride or Die'?

'Big Boys: Ride or Die' is releasing in theatres on June 7, 2024. Watch this space for all the streaming details as and when they are announced.

'Bad Boys: Ride or Die' Trailer 

'Bad Boys: Ride or Die' is releasing in theatres on June 7, 2024. 

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Will Smith is back in ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die,’ with Martin Lawrence riding shotgun

• Updated: Jun. 05, 2024, 1:55 p.m. |
• Published: Jun. 05, 2024, 7:51 a.m.

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Will Smith, left, and Martin Lawrence in "Bad Boys: Ride or Die." (Frank Masi/Columbia Pictures-Sony via AP) AP

• Associated Press

“Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” the fourth installment in the Will Smith-Martin Lawrence action-comedy series, is about a fight to redeem a tarnished legacy.

No, not that one. The reputation of Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano), the beloved captain of detectives Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence), has been posthumously besmirched. After his death, Conrad is framed as an informant for a Mexican drug cartel as a way to cloak more sinister corruption. Our detectives set out to clear his name.

Of course, the real image restoration that’s going on here is for Smith. “Ride or Die” was in development in 2022 when Smith strode onto the Oscar stage and smacked Chris Rock . The film was temporarily put on hold. Options were weighed. But 2020′s “Bad Boys for Life” made a hefty $424.6 million before COVID-19 shut down theaters. Watcha gonna do?

The result is the first movie Smith has made in that era defined as Post Slap. Here he is, back in the driver’s seat and flying around the Miami waterfront with Lawrence riding shotgun. That’s to say: Smith is very much back in his element.

“Ride or Die,” which opens in theaters Thursday, is an attempt to pretend there haven’t been any bumps in the road along the way. More than that, this “Bad Boys,” coming 29 years after the original, would like very much to act as if nothing much has changed in not just the last two years but in the previous three decades.

Some signs of age is creeping in “Ride or Die.” Marcus has a heart attack on the dance floor and Mike is suffering from panic attacks. But with the exception of a drone or two, this is a movie that feels like it exists in the 1990s. Jerry Bruckheimer is still a producer, while original director Michael Bay has, as he did in the previous one, steps aside for Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. (Bay returns for a cameo.) But “Ride or Die,” set against Miami nightclubs and alligator-crawling hideouts, has largely stuck to its old buddy-cop formula with all the requisite explosions and slow-mo’ed car chases mixed in.

As before, the key is the comic chemistry and endearing bond between Smith and Lawrence. And, really, as much as the response to “Ride or Die” is sure to be taken as a referendum on Smith’s recalibrated drawing power, Lawrence is the MVP of these movies. It’s his manic comic energy that propels them. The schtick may be a little stale at this point, but no one can deliver a line like “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!” in a gunfight with quite the same panache. “Ride or Die,” scripted by Chris Bremner and Will Beall, knows to prioritize crafting ripe situations for Lawrence. After his heart attack, Marcus wakes up with a new zest for life and a foolhardy feeling of invincibility.

The same might have once been said of Smith’s bulletproof screen presence, of course. Here, Smith seems a little less cocksure than he once did; those panic attacks keep coming for Mike. Smith is also playing more of a straight-man to Lawrence. If the slap caused a reassessment of Smith as a movie star, “Ride or Die” is the kind of the tailor-made vehicle that reminds you there haven’t been many better male American action stars in the last few decades.

None of this is enough to lift “Ride or Die” beyond its paint-by-numbers plotting, or prevent the film from being inevitably tethered to the Slap — not least because the film climaxes with Marcus smacking Mike with an open hand. But the directing duo of Adil & Bilall keep the pace moving quick enough to prevent you from dwelling too much on ridiculous details — like that Mike, as revealed in the last film, is the father to an imprisoned cartel assassin named Armando (Jacob Scipio), a prominent character this time around. And silliness is more of a feature than a bug in movies like “Bad Boys.”

You end up questioning less why Smith and Lawrence are still making “Bad Boys” movies than wondering why such breezily watchable genre movie-star platforms more or less don’t exist any longer. This summer will also bring back “Beverly Hills Cop,” with Eddie Murphy, another reminder that — outside something like the “Fast and Furious” films — the movie industry just hasn’t produced anything like these guys for years now. Will Smith might not be going anywhere, after all.

“Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” a Columbia Pictures release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “strong violence, language throughout and some sexual references.” Running time: 115 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

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Martin Lawrence (I)

IMDbPro Starmeter Top 5,000 461

• Contact info
• 7 wins & 11 nominations

The Rise of Martin Lawrence

• Martin Payne
• Sheneneh Jenkins
• Edna 'Mama' Payne
• Voice of Announcer
• 1992–1997 • 132 eps

• Detective Marcus Burnett

• Marcus Burnett

• Malcolm Turner
• J.B. (voice)
• Post-production
• Pre-production

• Lt. Marcus Burnett

• Captain Wack

• Marcus Jackson
• 10 episodes

• Bobby Davis

• story (creator)
• 132 episodes

• Writer (uncredited)

• executive producer

• 40 episodes

• In-development projects at IMDbPro

Personal details

• 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
• April 16 , 1965
• Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany
• Spouses Shamicka Lawrence July 10, 2010 - April 25, 2012 (divorced, 2 children)
• Children Iyanna Faith Lawrence
• Parents John Lawrence
• Relatives Rae Proctor (Sibling)
• Other works Appeared in Diana King 's music video, "Shy Guy".
• 1 Portrayal
• 4 Interviews
• 2 Pictorials

Did you know

• Trivia His teachers used to give him the last few minutes of class to make his classmates laugh.
• Quotes No one is immune to the trials and tribulations of life.
• Trademarks Often plays a policeman or a thief, sometimes both in the same film
• Salaries Bad Boys for Life ( 2020 ) $6,000,000
• How old is Martin Lawrence?
• When was Martin Lawrence born?
• Where was Martin Lawrence born?

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The 10 Best Movies To Watch if You Liked 'Bad Boys: Ride or Die'

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It’s no secret that 2024’s summer movie season has gotten off to a relatively slow start. While Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire were successful within the first half of the year, films like Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Fall Guy have fallen well short of expectations for proposed summer blockbusters. That being said, the latest legacy sequel, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, may be the crowd-pleasing favorite that gets audiences excited about going to the movie theater again. The franchise formula proved to be successful, with positive reviews indicating that the film should be more than satisfactory for massive fans of the franchise.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die sees directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah returning to the franchise after Bad Boys For Life became a hit in 2020. In the new sequel, Mike Lowery ( Will Smith ) and Marcus Burnett ( Martin Lawrence ) team up once again to clear the name of their departed captain, Conrad Howard ( Joe Pantaliano ). While it certainly relies on the mythology of the previous installments in the series, Bad Boys: Ride or Die is a throwback to classic buddy cop action blockbusters . Here are ten movies to watch if you like Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

10 ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ (1984)

Directed by martin brest.

The Bad Boys franchise has succeeded thus far thanks to the unmatched chemistry between Smith and Lawrence; even when the films’ plots are less satisfying, seeing these two fun characters interact is more than satisfying. Similarly, the original Beverly Hills Cop coasted on the charisma of Eddie Murphy when he was at the height of his powers. While Murphy had proven himself as a comedy star with 48 Hrs. and Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop was proof that he could be an action lead.

Although the film earned a surprise Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, Beverly Hills Cop is far more action-packed than it's remembered as being , and gets surprisingly dark in some instances. Although its two direct sequels failed to capture the same unique tone, there is a heavy amount of anticipation for the upcoming legacy sequel Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F that is scheduled to hit Netflix this summer.

Beverly Hills Cop

*Availability in US

Not available

9 ‘Running Scared’ (1986)

Directed by peter hyams.

The appeal of the Bad Boys films is that they pair two actors with completely different sensibilities on screen together; while Lawrence is well-known for appearing in broad slapstick comedies, Smith is more closely associated with action films like Independence Day and I Am Legend . When it comes to cop thrillers about mismatched partners, Running Scared succeeded by pitting two very different comedic actors against each other. Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines starred in this classic Chicago film about two cops that are tasked with pulling off one last case before their retirement.

Similar to Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Running Scared finds the perfect balance between action and comedy . Hyams, an underrated filmmaker behind gems like 2010: The Year We Made Contact and Capricorn One , manages to pull off some impressive stunt sequences. However, the great one-liners traded between Crystal and Hines ensure that the film never risks taking itself too seriously.

Watch on Amazon

8 ‘Midnight Run’ (1988)

Bad Boys may have been a successful franchise for nearly three decades, but buddy cop movies simply don’t get better than Midnight Run . After perfecting the genre with Beverly Hills Cop , director Martin Brest crafted this crowd-pleasing favorite about a hitman ( Robert De Niro ) who is forced to transport a prisoner ( Charles Grodin ) over the course of a long road trip. Wacky hijinks ensue, leading to an action spectacle that results in a surprising friendship.

The Bad Boys films have succeeded thus far because they show how the passage of time affects the characters. Similarly, Midnight Run succeeds compared to other action comedies because of its more heartfelt qualities. While De Niro and Grodin trade more than a few insults at each other’s expense, there’s a heartfelt connection that is bridged between them by the time the story wraps up.

Midnight Run

7 ‘the last boy scout’ (1991), directed by tony scott.

Considering that the original Bad Boys was released in 1995, all of its sequels retain the same kinetic, over-the-top style that defined one of the best decades in the history of action cinema . Tony Scott helmed many of these classics, but The Last Boy Scout is a unique buddy cop film that has grown a strong cult fanbase. The film centers on an idiosyncratic private investigator ( Bruce Willis ) who teams up with a popular athlete ( Damon Wayans ) to explore a political conspiracy mystery related to the NFL.

While Willis and Wayans are unmatched in their star power, The Last Boy Scout benefited from a great script from screenwriter Shane Black. Black, who would go on to write and direct such classics as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys , knows how to write cunning, snappy dialogue like no one else.

The Last Boy Scout

Rent on Amazon

6 ‘Lethal Weapon 4’ (1998)

Directed by richard donner.

One of the most impressive aspects of Bad Boys: Ride or Die is that it doesn’t simply feel like a “greatest hits” of previous entries; four entries in, and the Bad Boys series is still breaking new ground. While it's hard to retain enthusiasm for a franchise that already has a trilogy under its belt, Lethal Weapon 4 was a solid action sequel that brought the franchise to a satisfying conclusion. Although the dynamic between Riggs ( Mel Gibson ) and Murtaugh ( Danny Glover ) was enough for the film to succeed, Lethal Weapon 4 also introduced Jet Li and Chris Rock into the franchise.

Like Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Lethal Weapon 4 succeeded by adding more comedy to the series and acknowledging that the central duo had aged since their first adventure. While rumors persist that a fifth installment in the series could still be in development, Lethal Weapon 4 at least allowed for the beloved franchise to go out on a high note.

Lethal Weapon 4

5 ‘starsky & hutch’ (2004), directed by todd phillips.

One of the primary influences behind Bad Boys were many of the classic buddy cop action series from the 1970s. While the original show was a bit more grounded and serious, Todd Phillips ’ reimagining of the Starsky & Hutch show was a hilarious send-up of action comedies. The titular roles were played by Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, each of whom brought their singular comedic charm to the project. The film lampoons how completely incompetent and ill-equipped for their responsibilities the two protagonists really are.

While Phillips would eventually trek into more serious territory as a filmmaker with his Academy Award-nominated drama Joker and the underrated satire War Dogs , Starsky & Hutch contains much of the broad comedy that makes Bad Boys: Ride or Die so entertaining. Even the most intense moments of action and spectacle are undercut by clever one-liners.

Starsky & Hutch

4 ‘hot fuzz’ (2007), directed by edgar wright.

Bad Boys soon became so popular that it was placed on a shortlist of the greatest action films of the 1990s. Ironically, Bad Boys II is referenced specifically in Edgar Wright’s action comedy Hot Fuzz . Wright’s absurd satire of cop thrillers focuses on a big city police officer ( Simon Pegg ) who is forced to work with a mild-mannered cop ( Nick Frost ) in a small town, only to discover that there is a larger conspiracy at play. As with all of the films in Wright’s unofficial “Three Colors Trilogy,” Hot Fuzz ’s success rests on the chemistry between Frost and Pegg, who are best friends in real life.

Hot Fuzz is a love letter to action cinema and certainly doesn’t skimp on great set pieces. While it's subversive and silly in the way that many of Wright’s films are, Hot Fuzz makes full use of its R-rating during the bloody climax.

3 ‘Men in Black 3’ (2012)

Directed by barry sonnenfield.

The success of Bad Boys: Ride or Die is somewhat surprising, as Smith does not always do sequels; he famously did not reprise his roles in either Independence Day: Resurgence or The Suicide Squad , and the development of a sequel to I Am Legend has been stagnant since 2007. However, Men in Black 3 shows why Smith benefits from returning to play a character. While Men in Black II was a major disappointment, the third entry in Barry Sonnenfeld ’s science fiction comedy series took a more heartfelt approach to the material.

The third Men in Black film sees Smith’s Agent J traveling back in time to the 1960s, where he meets a younger version of his partner, Agent K ( Josh Brolin ). Men in Black 3 allowed Smith to exercise his charisma by playing one of his best characters. Unsurprisingly, the subsequent sequel, Men in Black International, failed without his involvement.

Men in Black 3

2 ‘the hitman’s bodyguard’ (2017), directed by patrick hughes.

Star power is a major reason why Bad Boys: Ride or Die lives up to the hype. While it may not reach the same heights as previous installments in the series, the new film is at its best when it allows Lawrence and Smith to bounce off each other's energies. There’s no better example of the importance of good casting in a buddy cop movie than The Hitman’s Bodyguard . The 2017 action film centers on a bodyguard ( Ryan Reynolds ) who is forced to protect a rival assassin ( Samuel L. Jackson ) as they await the trial of a dangerous dictator ( Gary Oldman ).

While it won’t win any points for originality, The Hitman’s Bodyguard succeeds thanks to the relentless charm of its two stars. Reynolds is perfect at playing snappy, sardonic action heroes, and no one delivers enraged profanities quite like Jackson. The film also served as a breakout for director Patrick Hughes , who returned to direct the underrated sequel, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard.

The Hitman's Bodyguard

1 ‘ambulance’ (2022), directed by michael bay.

While Michael Bay only directed the first two films in the Bad Boys series, the subsequent entries certainly retain some of his visual and aesthetic hallmarks. He may have wasted too many years making terrible Transformers sequels, but Bay made a serious comeback with his getaway thriller Ambulance . Set in Los Angeles, the film follows two lifelong friends ( Jake Gyllenhaal and Yayah Abdul Mateen II ) as they hijack an ambulance while eluding the cops.

Ambulance features all the haphazard mayhem and violence that Bay is best at , as he is free to utilize all the extravagance of an R-rating. Like in the original Bad Boys films, Bay succeeds because he never stops to question the absurdity of the situation. Between its frequent drone shots and jaw-dropping final set piece , Ambulance has already marked itself as one of Bay’s best, alongside The Rock and Armageddon.

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