Bad Boys for Life (Review)
Bad Boys for Life Proves there’s Nothing Cute About Men Acting Like Boys.
Just for the sake of honesty, I’ll admit that Bad Boys for Life probably doesn’t hold the same nostalgic value for me that it might for a lot of you out there. Sure, I grew up in the 90s, but I wasn’t exposed to the franchise until the sequel years later. By then, I was old enough to know that Michael Bay wasn’t exactly a cinematic genius (though I would definitely call him an auteur). His reliance on slow motion, over the top action, and melodrama were starting to make his movies more laughable than awe-inspiring for me. Bad Boys for Life might not be directed by Bay, but the new directors, Adil El Arb and Bilall Fallah, seem to have been given a handy checklist to follow in order to capture the spirit of the previous two films. Needless to say, fans of the originals will probably find a lot to love about Bad Boys for Life.
Like so many other iconic movie police partners, Mike Lawrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are dusted off for one last adventure. When an elite killer (Jacob Scipio) comes to Miami to settle an old score on behalf of a woman from Mike’s past (Kate del Castillo) the two realize this might be more than they can handle on their own. Luckily, an old flame (Paola Nuñez) has a team of elite up and coming cops that are chomping at the bit to help (Charles Melton, Vanessa Hudgens, and Alexander Ludwig). While the two super cops decide to join forces for one last ride, there’s no way of knowing if they’ll make it to the finish line alive or not.
Bad Boys for Life definitely plays to the strengths of the series, but I’m not sure if that’s necessarily a good thing or not. A good chunk of my adolescence was spent in the 90s and I used to think a lot of things were “radical” at the time. Now that I’m a little older and a little wiser, I can honestly say that looking back at the decade, I cringe at some of the things I used to think were cool (jnco jeans, pogs, Rob Liefeld, etc). So, the fact that Bad Boys for Life seems to be stuck in the same mindset that the franchise always had felt a bit juvenile. Smith and Lawrence slip back into the roles like old suits, but that’s kind of the thing, they’re old. The fact that both leads are now in their 50s kinda makes the “bad boys” aspect a little off-putting. That’s not to say that older men can’t be confident badasses in movies (see John Wick), but the cocky attitudes are less charming and more arrogant this time around.
I can appreciate a mindless action flick as much as anyone. After all, as the founder of Stars & Popcorn, I know that not all great movies are good. There’s nothing wrong with a film having the sole purpose of simply entertaining the masses to enable them to escape from the monotony of their everyday lives for a few hours. That being said, I can only turn my brain off so much before my vital functions start to shut down. Bad Boys for Life raises a number of questions for me that became distracting after a while. For one, how to police officers afford brand new Porches, penthouse apartments, and suits that cost thousands of dollars? The film is filled with an extravagance that lacks any comprehension as to what a civil servant makes in a year. I also found myself wondering about collateral damage in a number of scenes, especially during the car chase sequences where Smith and Lawrence open fire on their quarry with little regard for civilians. Why was Mike’s constant disrespect and self-centeredness tolerated by those around him? I hate to be a killjoy when it comes to a fanciful action movie like Bad Boys for Life, but it would have been nice to at least address some of these issues at one point. For me, these questions kept causing my mind to wander. Then again, the plot is so thin that I didn’t miss out on much mulling these thoughts over.
I mentioned before that the directors seemed to have a checklist for Bad Boys for Life. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing at all since popcorn movies like this tend to be pretty formulaic, but it’s a lot like cooking. Sure, if you follow the recipe to the T, you’ll end up with the dish you expect, but it probably won’t “wow” anyone. The best chefs understand the dish they are creating, consult the recipe and then add a flair of their own to it. Don’t get me wrong, Bad Boys for Life has some pretty exciting gun battles, plenty of quips, and some pretty cool fistfights. Actually, there were a number of things I did like about it, especially the fact that it had a pretty good villain in Scipio’s deadly assassin. I always say that a hero is only as good as there villain, and he goes a long way in raising the stakes for the heroes over the course of the film. But the film feels more like a microwave dinner than a homecooked meal.
Bad Boys for Life will definitely be a hit among fans of the series. Other members of the audience were delighted by the chemistry between Lawrence and Smith. I wasn’t quite as enamored with the film, but that was mostly because it was easy to see every twist and turn coming from a mile away. I definitely enjoyed a lot of the back and forth between the two leads (though I thought Smith was much better), but a lot of the heartfelt moments felt tacked on as afterthoughts. The same can be said for the relationships in the film and the backstories for some of the newer characters that were cool but deserved more. None of that really matters for people that are just there for the car chases, gunfights, and gratuitous explosions. I’ll be willing to say that Bad Boys for Life is enjoyable, but it is by no stretch of the imagination a “good” movie. Don’t let that stop you though.
