Bad Boys for Life
Directed by: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Runtime: 124 by-the-book minutes
The point of Bad Boys for Life is not to provide something that audiences are not expecting. The third instalment in the Bad Boys series follows Miami police officers, Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) as they enforce their own kind of law against the seedy underbelly of a city they swear to serve and protect. The bad boys will go after the evil men by any means necessary.
Well, Marcus is slowing down. Martin Lawrence is no longer the action hero Smith is, and the film hides this well and incorporates it into its story. Supporting Smith are a new group of action heroes; the bad-ass girl played by Vanessa Hudgens, the strong guy that doesn’t want to hurt anyone but you know he will eventually have to (Alexander Ludwig), the guy with the attitude (Charles Melton), and their sexy-but-smart boss (Paola Núñez). They’re young, embrace technology, and head up a group called AMMO that uses “innovative investigation methods” which intimidate the old guard. They’re trying to catch a killer that’s taking out some of Miami’s elite lawmakers (played by Jacob Scipio, who carries himself like a real bad-ass, only for me to discover he used to host Kerwhizz on CBeebies).
Although the franchise is probably not noted for its acting, Bad Boys for Life does a great job at anchoring both Lawrence and Smith as actors. The film uses a more mature Lawrence to endear his Marcus Burnett, and a more polished and experienced Smith to add more depth to his Mike Lowrey. They get enough out of the characters to make you want to root for them, even as they pile up likely lawsuits against the city.
The script is nothing outstanding. It’s an action movie. It plays like a box-ticking exercise in exchanged one-liners and stock phrases. The things it does that are interesting are things that come off the production line now. It’s not exactly a bad thing. Chris Bremner, Peter Craig and Joe Carnhan know what they’re doing. They give the film an interesting female villain (Kate del Castillo). They give the speech to the captain (Joe Pantoliano) at the right time. There is one development I didn’t see coming, but if they had two up their sleeve they should save it for their next action film.
Bad Boys for Life is filled with explosions, car chases, gunfights, fistfights, knife fights, one-liners, and an “I love you, bro” or two. What else would you expect from a Bad Boys film? What else would you want? Why would you waste your time seeing this if you’re the sort of person who doesn’t want to see this? Why are you reading my review? What can I tell you that you don’t already know?
I saw Bad Boys for Life in 4DX. I’m not a big fan of cheap gimmicks, but I had quite a fun time with the experience. The motion was jarring at first, and a little sprinkle of water here or there doesn’t really compare with Will Smith being submerged in the ocean,. but there have been and will be more shameless gimmicks to get people into the cinema. Bad Boys for Life is far from the worst film to experience at the cinema. If you like action films, you’ll probably enjoy the movie for what it is, but you can probably get something out of the ride. Just don’t die.
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