Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Somehow, 29 years after it started, the Bad Boys series keeps getting better and better, with this fourth instalment blending the action and comedy that the series has always been known for, with the unexpectedly emotional depth that Bad Boys For Life began to introduce.
Premise: With the death of Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) still weighing heavily on Mike Lowrey (Will Smith), and with Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) finding a new lust for life after a health scare, both are shocked to learn that the FBI believe that Captain Howard was a corrupt cop who’d been working for the drug cartels for years. Believing he’s being framed, Lowrey and Burnett set out to prove his innocence, with or without the help of the Miami Police Department.
Review:
I was a huge fan of 1995’s Bad Boys and 2003’s Bad Boys II back in the day, but when Bad Boys For Life was released in 2020 my expectations were low – after a gap of 17 years, I wondered it they would really be able to recapture the alchemy that made the original films so enjoyable, especially given that the original director Michael Bay had moved on. Thankfully, Bad Boys For Life turned out to be so much more than I think anyone was expecting – for fans of the series, it was the film we’d been waiting nearly two decades to see, but the new directors Adil & Bilall also injected fresh life and energy into the series, offering plenty that appealed to all fans of the action-comedy genre. It felt like everyone who worked on Bad Boys For Life upped their game in every department – script, acting, and direction – to produce what was arguably the best instalment in the series so far.
So the good news is that Bad Boys: Ride or Die is, if anything, an improvement on the previous instalment, giving fans everything they loved about Bad Boys For Life while also dialling everything up a notch at the same time. If I had one quibble about Bad Boys For Life, it’s that the plot kept Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) apart for a large section in the middle of the film, which was a shame given that the camaraderie between Mike and Marcus (fuelled by the real-life 30-year friendship between Smith and Lawrence) is the beating heart of the series.
“…the partnership between Mike & Marcus is front & centre to the plot…”
Thankfully, Bad Boys: Ride or Die doubles down on the relationship between Mike and Marcus and keeps their partnership front and centre to the plot. That’s not to say that the film doesn’t make good use of its supporting cast, it’s just that they are very much supporting characters here, without having to split up Mike and Marcus like the last film did. Paola Núñez is back as Rita, now promoted to Captain, while Alexander Ludwig and Vanessa Hudgens are also back as Dorn and Kelly from the AMMO team, and they both get a little more to do this time around too. The film is also packed with loving nods to the earlier instalments, like bringing back Reggie (Dennis Mcdonald) from the Bad Boys II and Bad Boys For Life, and Fletcher (John Salley) from the first two films. Even Joe Pantoliano gets a chance to make a brief appearance as the deceased Captain Howard – and it’s nice that his character, and his character’s absence, is so central to the plot of this instalment.
In terms of new characters, Ioan Gruffudd plays a District Attorney considering running for Mayor of Miami, while Rhea Seehorn joins the cast as Captain Howard’s daughter, who’s a U.S. Marshall. Meanwhile, Eric Dane plays the main villain, and gets plenty of opportunities to chew the scenery, as all the best villains in this series have done. Returning from Bad Boys For Life is Jacob Scipio as Mike’s illegitimate son Armando Aretas, and given that the ending of the previous film already lined him up as a character in search of redemption, his arc gets explored further in Bad Boys: Ride or Die.
“…the relationship between Mike & Marcus – and between Will Smith & Martin Lawrence – shines through at all times…”
But as engaging as the supporting characters are, Bad Boys: Ride or Die ensures that the focus is never off Mike and Marcus for too long. Whether it’s their bickering in the traditional pre-credits sequence, or their amusing role-reversal after Marcus’ health scare leads him to believe ha cannot die, the relationship between Mike and Marcus – and between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence – shines through at all times.
Alongside the comedy, Bad Boys For Life doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the action, with three particularly impressive extended set-pieces especially standing out. Directors Adil & Bilall bring tonnes of energy and inventiveness to the action, combining drone shots, POV shots and a constantly moving camera to give the sequences a uniquely frenetic sense of motion – one action sequence in a lift, for example, is staged in a way unlike anything I’ve seen before, and is easily the most visually inventive elevator-based fight scene since Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
“…directors Adil & Bilall bring tonnes of energy & inventiveness to the action…”
Also back from Bad Boys For Life is composer Lorne Balfe, who once again has produced a score that combines Mark Mancina's classic themes from the original film, with the propulsive percussions that he brought to the recent Mission: Impossible films. Add to that a soundtrack with some great Latin-flavoured tunes, and it’s little wonder that I’ve been listening to both the score and the soundtrack on loop since I got back from the cinema.
Overall, this is pure, popcorn entertainment, and although it’s not trying to be anything more than that, it does bring some surprising depth and layers alongside the action and the comedy. It may not be for everyone, but casual fans of the genre should find plenty to enjoy, and die hard Bad Boys fans like me should love this.
