Bad Boys for Life
Bad boys for life… or at least until their AARP benefits kick in.
Cast of Characters:
Det. Mike Lowrey – Will Smith
Det. Marcus Burnett – Martin Lawrence
Kelly – Vanessa Hudgens
Dorn – Alexander Ludwig
Rafe – Charles Melton
Rita – Paola Nunez
Isabel Aretas – Kate del Castillo
Zway-Lo – Nicky Jam
Armando Armas – Jacob Scipio
Capt. Conrad Howard – Joe Pantoliano
Director – Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah
Screenplay – Chris Bremmer, Peter Craig & Joe Carnahan
Based on characters created by George Gallo
Producer – Jerry Bruckheimer, Will Smith & Doug Belgrad
Rated R for strong bloody violence, language throughout, sexual references and brief drug use.
The Rundown: Twenty-five years later and detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are still keeping the streets safe for the city of Miami. But just as both are beginning to contemplate the next phase of their life, Mike gets nearly taken down by Armando Armas (Jacob Scipio), an assassin funded by the Mexican cartel who’s kicking ass and taking names with many of the Miami authorities. That’s when shit just got personal for Lowrey and Burnett, and despite the hesitancy of their boss, Capt. Howard (Joe Pantoliano), the boys nevertheless suit up for one last ride together.
Unless this makes money, then in that case, we’ll see you again for another round in a couple of years.
Pre-Release Buzz: To put this movie’s development hell in perspective, Sony had a potential Bad Boys IV planned for a release date sometime last year. Scheduling conflicts, delayed production dates, release dates, star Martin Lawrence then stating the film probably won’t even be happening – it’s been two-and-a-half decades removed from the first film and Bad Boys for Life is finally here, with Will Smith and Lawrence both returning, while former director Michael Bay has moved on to direct shitty Transformer movies.
In recent years, we’ve been getting sequels to films that long succeed their predecessors. Both Mad Max: Fury Road and Blade Runner 2049 succeed their predecessors by at least three decades, and Mary Poppins Returns follows its original film by 54 years. Despite the distance in years between them and predecessors, those three films turned out to be great follow-ups. So does Bad Boys for Life follow suit, or should the series have just pulled the plug a while back?
The Good: While I was never a fan of the first two Michael
The supporting work is serviceable for what this film asks of them, which, for the most part, is almost nothing (poor Vanessa Hudgens is all but wasted here). Joe Pantoliano does provide some standout work, however, bringing his trademark, high-strung energy to Smith and Lawrence’s boss, a character’s he’s played since the beginning of the franchise (franchise mainstay Theresa Randle reprises her role as Lawrence’s wife as well, but she simply appears, says her lines and that’s about it). Pantoliano and Smith also share a brief but impactful moment in one of the film’s quieter scenes that, without giving anything way, earns some poignancy points.
The big difference this time around is the changing of the guard in the director’s chair. Michael Bay, who helmed the first two films, is gone (though he does pop up in a cameo as a wedding reception MC), being replaced by Belgian filmmaking duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. The switch does present a refreshing change not just in the way the humor is handled (Bay’s worst asset as a filmmaker), but also in the way the action is presented. Unlike Bay’s style of action – not-so affectionately coined “Bayhem” – which leans heavily on closeups and choppy, incoherent shots, Arbi and Fallah allow the action to breathe a little more, which provides a more coherent sense of what is going on during the sequence.
Not that the “Bayhem” is entirely absent. This is still a Bad Boys film, with a large fanbase that needs to be appeased, and resembles one as such. It’s not like people will be mistaking this for Denis Villeneuve or the next John Wick picture. Still, I was pleasantly surprised to an extent at how a little bit of restraint goes a long way.
The Bad: As has been the case with every Bad Boys movie, the villains are again forgettable and lightweight. That’s not for lack of any attempt to make them interesting. Attempts are made to provide stakes through these antagonists, and there is a third-act reveal that is meant to bring a level of depth to them, but none of it pays off like it should, playing out more like empty shock value than a revelation that is germane to the story and characters (though a slight upside is that the reveal does pave the way for a couple good jokes from Lawrence).
Also, without giving away spoilers, there is a decision made with one of the characters that, given the many, let’s call them “poor choices” he makes throughout the film, would never, ever, ever happen. It’s a moment that requires a leap of faith from you the viewer, and by leap, I’m talking Grand
Despite the slight upgrade in action, there are some very noticeable missteps taken in the use of CGI within the sequences. At times, it’s more than evident that we’re seeing the actors’ CGI faces masked over the stunt doubles (though not nearly as bad as Paul Walker’s floating head at the end of Fast & Furious 7), and poor green screen usage is glaringly obvious during a few sequences. While not wholly off-putting, the technical blunders do create a bit of a distraction that takes you out of the scene.
The Ugly: So these two think they’re going off together on one last ride? Not with that Miami crime rate, they’re not. Get back to work.
Consensus: Bad Boys for Life is shamelessly dumb and falls back on being more of the same more than it should, but the fun back-and-forth between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, and a refreshing dialing down of the “Bayhem” from a pair of new directors make this long-awaited third go-around a mildly enjoyable offering from the action franchise.
Is it the best of the franchise? Yes. Is that saying much, though? No… but I’ll take it.
Silver Screen Fanatic’s Verdict: I give Bad Boys for Life a C+ (★★½).
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