Film Review - Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Images courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Whatchu gonna do when they…come back for a fourth one! Following the third film, Bad Boys: Ride or Die puts Miami police officers Mike (Will Smith) and Marcus (Martin Lawrence) up against the legacy of their late captain Conrad Howard (Joe “Joey Pants” Pantoliano) who has been framed for corruption by a disgraced soldier (Eric Dane). Through navigations of mortality and anxiety, Mike and Marcus come to realise the true depths of their bond in ways that often baffle (and barbecue!). It is no secret that the two leads are in a markedly different spot in their careers than even the previous film in 2020. Martin Lawrence’s career has been running on fumes for the past 20 years, and Will Smith was infamously embroiled in the controversy of his Oscars Slap - unfortunately any meta-jokes on that are limited to a scene where Martin Lawrence repeatedly slaps him in the face, though it was probably for the best. In this sense, Bad Boys: Ride or Die continues to show all the signs of a dying breed of action film that has been swiftly replaced by John Wick clones since the mid-2010s, and I think it's a genuine marvel that this series still exists with a formal style that was abandoned by most large-scale blockbusters over a decade ago. A genuine marvel still, that I greatly enjoyed it on its own terms.
So much of the identity I ascribe to the Bad Boys series is because of Michael Bay's violently hostile, post-9/11 misanthropic approach to visual storytelling shown off in the first two Bad Boys films, especially in the downright performance art of Bad Boys II (2003). I found it hard to separate this notion while recently watching the series’ middling third film Bad Boys for Life (2020) for the first time. Helmed by directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the duo started off directing Belgian films that were seldom released nor appreciated in English-speaking markets, but are now well known among English-speakers for their foray in comic book media, having directed the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel (2022) and being a key player in the outrage levied at Warner Bros. when their $90 million USD Batgirl film was cancelled during post-production out of cost-cutting measures. I batted for Ms. Marvel before the show clearly became moulded in the resin cast of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's assembly line, as happened to many talented directors, and Batgirl's cancellation prompted undying sympathy from me and many others. Bad Boys for Life was a fine film, unremarkable in many aspects but with just enough spirit to keep me from disliking it. That being said, what does the latest entry bring to the table?
There's a clear attention to the resuscitation of the series' meandering momentum here, and it brings me great delight to say that Bad Boys: Ride or Die has an edge to it. It’s nowhere near as good as Michael Bay’s better efforts in recent years - Pain and Gain (2013) and Ambulance (2022) are fantastic - but swiftly improving on the previous entry, the duo feel far more comfortable with their comedic and action pacing, and use a lot of vibrant and out-there camera tricks and abstract imagery that made me think of Michael B. Jordan doing the same thing in Creed III (2023)- not necessarily pulled off in a groundbreaking manner, but there's so much spirited passion behind these techniques that you can't help but love them. The action is full of ridiculous drone shots and lighting that makes everyone look sweaty, 9/11 is mentioned, there's a scene where Mike and Marcus have an encounter with racist hicks - it's got an absurd amount of Michael Bay hallmarks. POV shots a-plenty, abstract dream sequences where Joey Pants speaks to Martin Lawrence from the afterlife, in many ways some of the cinematographic flourishes feel like overcorrections from the previous film’s relatively flat look, often resorting to flashy transitions and movements, but I can't complain when it's so entertaining. It’s probably the most earnestly funny entry in the series too. There’s a scene involving a series of admittedly hilarious visual gags around Fletcher’s (John Salley) 6’11” stature, as well as an excellent bit where Marcus’ son-in-law Reggie (Dennis Greene) locks in and wipes out fifteen bad guys, fulfilling a mere throwaway gag from Bad Boys II and continuing Adil and Bilall’s charming fascinating with this character. Also humorous is the doubling-down on Mike’s inability to hold a relationship for more than one film - Ride or Die opens with a marriage between him and wholly new character Christine (Melanie Liburd), who gets pushed to the wayside to make way for a reckoning with the relationship with Rita (Paola Nuñez) from the previous film, who is now married to new character Lockwood (Ioan Gruffudd). This evolution signals a doubling-down of the series that began in Bad Boys for Life to a more large-scale drama-centric script less akin to the scrappy straightforward buddy cop shenanigans of the Bay films, and it works!
Acting-wise, everyone’s doing a fine enough job, notably Joey Pants in a more solemn performance compared to his manic fits in the previous films, who unfortunately comes off as phoning it in, and Rhea Seehorn hot off the heels of her killer Better Call Saul (2015 - 2022) run in a criminally underutilised role as an FBI agent. Look out for the guy driving the 90s Porsche who almost runs over Martin Lawrence, and DJ Khaled making a surprise return from his cameo in the previous film. Rafe (Charles Melton) is notably absent after his supporting role in the last entry, though Melton is far better off killing it with Todd Haynes. Admittedly I've grown quite fond of these characters and enjoy this on a level of which is embodied by a remark I made to my friend before the screening: I was concerned for Marcus’s sex life with his wife Theresa (Theresa Randle). Watching and enjoying these films does this to you and I don't mean that as an insult.
At the end of the day this is a reasonably satisfying and serviceable entry in the series, a Jerry Bruckheimer production through and through, and possibly my second favourite behind Bad Boys II. It’s nowhere near the formally interesting bounds of the best of Bad Boys I and II director Michael Bay’s other films, but it’s notably promising for Adil and Bilall as continued journeymen in an action world dominated by a dying art and reckoning with the spectacle.
Whatchu gonna do…
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Bad Boys: Ride or Die is screening in cinemas now. For tickets and more info, click here.