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Martin Lawrence is an entertaining comedian who will keep you rolling laughing with his hysterical personality.
FOX / Via giphy.com
Since the 1990s, the original Def Comedy Jam host has been bringing humor to the masses through several movies and his renowned NAACP-winning television series Martin — which is still nationally syndicated.
Although Martin Lawrence is comparable to major comedian actors like Eddie Murphy and Dave Chapelle, Lawrence is still in a league of his own. My love for Martin Lawrence movies has inspired me to rank 19 of his movies from hilarious to just kinda funny.
1. Big Momma’s House
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Everything from this movie is too hilarious, especially Martin Lawrence going undercover in a full woman suit, imitating a typical old-school Black grandmother, a.k.a a "big momma." Big Momma's House was a great character comedy with buddy cop genre undertones.
2. Blue Streak
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By far, Blue Streak is one of Martin Lawrence's funniest films. This entire movie was filled with comical characters, including the legendary comedian Dave Chapelle. Lawrence had the right comedic timing without going overboard, and his costar Luke Wilson complemented Martin Lawrence's silliness well.
3. Black Knight
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Black Knight is one of the funniest movies with a time travel plotline ever. Martin Lawrence using anachronism for comedic effect was *chef's kiss*.
4. Bad Boys
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Bad Boys is the ultimate buddy cop film, and Martin Lawrence was the ultimate side-kick. As funny as Will Smith was in this role, Martin Lawrence stole the show with his humorous comebacks.
5. Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins
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Not only was Martin Lawrence funny in Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins, but so was the entire ensemble cast. Lawrence has a great habit of allowing other comedians to shine with him in his movies, and as a result, what is a funny movie becomes an epically hilarious movie. Having Mo'Nique, Mike Epps, and Cedric the Entertainer in Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins made Lawrence's movie a really superb comedy.
6. Big Momma’s House 2
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Big Momma's House 2 is a hysterical follow-up to Big Momma's House. Going undercover again as "Big Momma," but this time as a caretaker for potential suspect's family, Martin Lawrence produces another classic comedy. His re-creation of Bo Derek's beach run scene is a nice touch to the film as well.
7. Bad Boys II
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It's hard for a sequel to outdo the debut film, but Bad Boys II comes close. The same funny rapport was captured in Bad Boys II as it was in Bad Boys. Thanks to social media, the interrogation of Mike's daughter's date scene has become a viral moment from the film.
8. National Security
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Satire is always a great tool utilized by comedians, and Martin Lawrence used it well in his film National Security. Although some scenes were excessively silly, the movie is still good and will keep you laughing.
9. Rebound
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Rebound was pretty funny, mostly because of the kids on the basketball team that Martin Lawrence coaches in the film. Martin Lawrence's funniness radiates throughout the entire movie though.
10. Life
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Martin Lawrence was awesome as Eddie Murphy's costar in Life. The movie is on the serious side, but has many funny moments inserted for comedic relief. Life is a great movie, but it isn't Murphy's nor Lawrence's funniest work. Albeit Michael Taliferro's cornbread fight scene with Murphy and Lawrence is too funny.
11. Big Momma's House: Like Father, Like Son
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This last installment of the Big Momma series is funny, however has minimal scenes with Martin Lawrence as Big Momma. Instead, the film focuses on his stepson Trent as he goes undercover as a college girl after witnessing the murder of a cop by a Russian gangster. Of course, Trent (Brandon T. Jackson) was comedic; however, his role wasn't as hysterical as Martin Lawrence's Big Momma character.
12. College Road Trip
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College Road Trip is a cute daddy-daughter film that features Raven Symoné's character as the daughter of Martin Lawrence's character. The movie is a cute comical representation of an overprotective and overbearing father who wants the best for his headstrong and ambitious daughter. Both Lawrence and Raven acted well together, coming across like an actual daddy-daughter duo. College Road Trip was funny, but in a kiddy way.
13. Nothing to Lose
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Nothing to Lose is funny, but it felt a bit like it was trying too hard to be funny.
14. Bad Boys for Life
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Bad Boys for Life had an extreme plot twist compared the first two Bad Boys, as well as some shocking revelations. This was a funny movie that took you more on an emotional roller coaster ride than on a linear laugh train. Don't get me wrong — Bad Boys for Life is filled with humor, but both Lawrence and Smith have given funnier performances in other movies. I only laughed some of the time at Lawrence during this movie.
15. House Party
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Now Martin Lawrence as the DJ in House Party had some funny comments and clapbacks; however, this role didn't display his true abilities as a comedic character.
16. Boomerang
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Again, Martin Lawrence was only a side character, so he wasn't able to be his hilarious self full force. However, just because he wasn't completely exercising all of his comedy chops in Boomerang, doesn't mean he didn't use his character to make the movie super funny. I rank this movie as only kinda funny simply because Martin Lawrence produced funnier movies when he became the one greenlighting them.
17. House Party 2
New Line Cinema / Via Twitter: @imshanamangatal
Martin Lawrence in House Party 2 was more annoyingly funny. Albeit his character was supposed to be an annoyance, too much of an irritating side character can dampen the funniness of the character overall. Thus why I rate this one of Lawrence's only kinda funny films.
18. Death at a Funeral
Sidney Kimmel Entertainment / Via theglobeandmail.com
Martin Lawrence's comical expression was toned down in Death at a Funeral compared to his other movies. In this film, Martin Lawrence was only kinda funny, but not standout humorous.
19. Wild Hogs
Buena Vista Pictures / Via gfycat.com
Wild Hogs was pretty funny, but was more of a blasé comedy for Martin Lawrence.
Do you agree with my list? Let me know what you think in the comments section below!
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Kathy Hoang / BuzzFeed

4 years ago
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