Bad Boys: Ride or Die opens with a credit that calls it “A Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Production,” which is a particularly impressive feat since Don Simpson died in 1996, less than a year after the original’s release. Bad Boys. The involvement of a ghostly producer suits this sequel, which is concerned with – of all things! – the possibility of higher planes of spiritual existence, along with numerous scenes in which the heroes receive messages from beyond the grave from their long-dead boss.
These aren’t necessarily elements you’d expect from the third sequel to a Michael Bay action movie about violent drug cops. And still. Surprises work in Drive or diein favor, as they also did in 2020, unexpectedly satisfying Bad boys for life. Both this and Drive or die were managed by the Adil & Bilalwho continue to do an impressive job of maintaining the vibes of the old Bad Boysand getting committed performances from the series’ longtime stars, Will Smith It is Martinho Lourençowho continue to treat these films as more than an easy payday.
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The latest issue begins with the wedding of Smith’s Mike Lowery, who is finally ready to settle down after decades of being single. But Mike’s marital bliss is short-lived; her nuptials are rudely interrupted when her Miami police partner, Marcus Burnett (Lawrence), suffers a heart attack. When Marcus wakes up in the hospital after a surreal out-of-body experience, he brings back two things from the other side: a conviction that it is not yet his time to die, which manifests itself in unusually courageous and even reckless behavior because he now seems invincible and a warning to Mike: “A storm is coming.”
This may not qualify as incontrovertible proof of life after death, but Marcus is right: A few scenes later, Mike and Marcus’ dead boss, Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano), is framed by a drug cartel for crimes he did not commit. commit; Not long after this, Mike and Marcus are forced to go on the run after the thugs make it look like they are part of the same criminal conspiracy. The only person who can clear all their names is Armando (Jacob Scipio), the illegitimate son of Mike, a drug dealer serving time in federal prison for the murder of Captain Howard.
Do you remember that Will Smith’s character discovered he had an illegitimate child with a drug cartel queen in Bad boys for life? And that Mike Lowery’s drug dealer’s son killed Joey Pants? I am not. (In my defense: six weeks after seeing this film, a new coronavirus triggered a global pandemic, so my mind was preoccupied with other matters at the time.) To be honest, watching Bad Boys: Ride or Die I often had trouble remembering which characters were new and which ones I should recognize. Mike’s wife was introduced in Bad boys for life? (She wasn’t.) Did Marcus remarry at some point? (No, there is only one new actress, Tasha Smith, playing the character previously played by Theresa Randle.)
Sometimes the sheer number of characters and subplots in Drive or die it gets a little confusing. Paola Núñez plays the new boss of the Bad Boys, she, Vanessa Hudges and Alexander Ludwig had supporting roles in the last film. Tiffany Haddish’s strip club owner didn’t, despite her character alluding to a previous history with Mike. Even Marcus’s long-suffering son-in-law Reggie (Dennis Greene) gets his own (admittedly very audience-pleasing) moment to shine.
In other words, Bad Boys: Ride or Die is much more invested in the world and mythology than Bad Boys universe than I would have predicted (or, frankly, needed). You might want to revisit (or at least take a look the plot synopsis from Wikipedia) for Bad boys for life before going to the theater this weekend. (If not, Chris Bremner and Will Beall’s script does a good job of getting viewers back into the swing of things.)
Honestly, though, very little of the rigamarole about the supporting cast matters. That’s it Bad Boys. What matters is the action and chemistry between Smith and Lawrence, who after 30 years (30 years! of Bad Boys!!) is stronger than ever. As part of Marcus’ spiritual awakening, he comes to believe that he and Mike are soulmates who have spent countless lifetimes together. While this is just an excuse for Lawrence to endlessly riff on his past lives, the weight of the years between these two men radiates off the screen. Drive or dieTheir settings are certainly fun (the ending in an abandoned Gatorland-style theme park is especially wild), but it’s also fun to see them traveling around Miami together, talking about Skittles or donkeys or whatever nonsense is on their minds at any given moment. . time.
Marcus’s carefree attitude after his heart attack and his conviction that he cannot die made me think about how the Bad Boys the series itself is proof that he may be on the right path. (It also made me think of the Jeff Bridges film Fearlesswhich I assume someone involved Drive or die was quite familiar.) Bad Boys was discarded forever after Bad Boys II, and yet here we are, over 20 years later, with two solid sequels in four years. Somehow, these guys really did become Bad Boys for life. And maybe even beyond that.
Additional Considerations:
-Despite my overall positive feelings about the last two Bad Boys films, it remains an absolute travesty that this series wasted the title Bad boys for life in his third film. That the sequence should have been called Bad Boys 4 Life! Exposing a film’s subtitles too early was an act of negligence on the part of the franchise.
-If you’re wondering if this film will address the infamous Oscar slap in any way… well, in one scene, Marcus repeatedly slaps Mike to snap him out of an emotional funk during a particularly tense standoff . Does that count?
RATING: 6/10
Films that should have become franchises but didn’t
These movies were good enough to get sequels or entire franchises. But that never happened for several reasons.