Of all the remakes and sequels that came out this year, I almost overlooked Bad Boys: Ride or Die, but this dependable franchise surprises with its familiar action set pieces and undeniable chemistry between actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
Even through age and scandals the Bad Boys franchise endures, this is the franchise’s fourth installment and we see Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) enter the same way they did in the third film (Bad Boys For Life) — in a speeding Porsche racing its way through the sun-kissed city of Miami. After seeing the third film just one day before, I was nervous that it would just be a rehash of the same film again. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it has the same DNA as the third installment, but it returned to the reason I like the franchise.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die Review
There is a formulaic way these films are made and that is OK. We come to these movies to see things blow up and laugh at the dynamic between the duo. What I found refreshing is that they brought back the fun part of Miles Burnett (Lawrence) as I felt in Bad Boys For Life, he was regulated to being the “old guy” and just an overall downer but not here. After having a life-threatening episode, it opens his mind and sort of acts like a magic cure for him to get back to being down with Mike (Smith). Obviously, this is all in Burnett’s head but it works for the film. I was really impressed with how great Lawrence’s performance was as the comic relief of the film, knowing just how much to sprinkle on each moment.
When it comes to Smith, I think the last two films have shifted away from his braggadocios nature to a deeper place. I think that can be good for the character, but bad for the audience. He’s just got a lot going on and it has felt like in the last two films, we are always trying to clean up his mess. You can’t have Bad Boys without either of these two and they both rely on each other to make up for the each other’s shortcomings.
As for the film itself, it sticks to the comedy-action formula. We find out that deceased police captain, Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano), was being set up before he died in the third film and a shadowy militarized group led by James McGrath (Eric Dane) is trying to pin drug money to the deceased captain. Does any of that matter at the halfway point of the film? No, it definitely does not. The plot is probably the weakest of the four films and there is one action set piece in particular I have an issue with. There is a helicopter scene where Mike and Marcus are transporting Mike’s convicted son Armando (Jacob Scipio) in a Chinook Helicopter owned by the US Marshall Service, which I could only ask two questions: “Why does the U.S. Marshall Service need a military helicopter like that?” and “How did McGrath get on the helicopter with zero questions?
Besides the over-the-top helicopter scene, I really enjoyed the other shootout scenes like the final shootout that takes place at an abandoned gator farm. Everything was abandoned but the gators including a legendary albino alligator that was properly set up by our guys in the surveillance truck and of course makes an appearance to eliminate one of them. The surprising sequence that I loved was when Reggie (Dennis Greene), Marcus’ son-in-law, has to spring into action and eliminate a whole task force by himself and the sequence was reminiscent of the gritty, close-action fight scenes from Bad Boys 2. It also served as a call back to Bad Boys 2 where the duo found a new respect for Reggie.
Adil Arbi and Bilall Fallah known as “Adil & Bilall” directed both Bad Boys For Life and Bad Boys: Ride or Die, which explains why the aesthetic is similar. One of the things that makes these films fun is the unique ways that they try to use the camera during fight sequences. I could see a few influences from Michael Bay’s latest films and the John Wick franchise — specifically the way they deploy drones as a way to enhance the set-pieces. I thought it was commendable to use a new rig to show Mike’s point of view and at times the point of view of a first-person shooter game. There were some behind-the-scenes videos surfaced to show how this was accomplished and while it was awesome to see, it didn’t entirely translate for me in the final cut.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die ultimately outshines its predecessor Bad Boys for Life. It has the esthetic and modern action DNA of the 2020s and can’t really be compared to the first two installments that were for me more well-done. As someone who was not optimistic going into the theater, I left knowing I had a good time, didn’t feel the movie ran too long and was extremely pleased with how funny Martin Lawrence still is. What is great about the Bad Boys franchise is that it knows what it is and when the action and comedy are clicking it’s one of the most undeniable films to catch in theaters.
— Written by VSiN’s Brian Ortega