Bad Boys for Life

Will Smith's early acting career started with 1990s tv sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air, which provided him great exposure on the small screen. On the big screen it took him some time to reach wider popularity until he starred alongside actor Martin Lawrence in the Michael Bay directed action comedy Bad Boys (1995). While it wasn't anything as big as Independence Day, which launched his popularity even higher, it was something entertaining enough to launch a series of movies for him. The two entries produced up until this point were pretty standard buddy cop flicks but the duo's chemistry usually helped out with the quality. After the second entry released in 2003, it would be over a decade with the third being in development hell...until now. This brings us to Bad Boys for Life, the new project for the main actors reunite but with new directors at the helm, Belgian filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilal Fallah. The marketing campaign caught my attention to try to and catch something funny to start off the 2020 movie slate on a positive note. I went into the theater ready to see what kind of shenanigans would be involved and left it having had a good time.

My thoughts on the previous adventures: I have never grew up watching those flicks as they came out when I was very young. I had decided to give them a watch on Netflix to see how they held up with time (and Michael Bay's directing days before he lost his mind/creativity with Transformers). The 1995 feature is a product of its time for both good and bad reasons with it being a funny time capsule of seeing Martin Lawrence before his weight gain, the wild editing used in quick cut shoot outs/weird slow-motion shots, and Bays growing adoration of having insane explosions in the action (before he even resorted to fireworks sparks later on). It's certainly better than the overlong 2003 sequel which I honestly stopped watching after a half hour in seeing more of the directors terrible habits be more apparent and feeling how unfunny it was.

What's it about? Taking place 17 years after the events of the predecessor, the story follows the detectives reuniting when a threat starts murdering pieces from an old case. The best way to describe this type of familiar narrative in this buddy cop feature is if you were served a good reliable bowl of chicken soup except some aspects have been adjusted to feel the same but more refined. It remembers what made the first adventure beloved by showing the audience it's not taking itself seriously right from the opening crazy scene. It should be noted that there's a surprising bit of drama for one of the characters to help add takes to the conflict at hand but it's not apparent until later on and should be commended for feeling like it will have an arc instead of a one-off. Considering the amount of time that has passed to this point, the story recognizes how old these protagonists are and will often poke fun at it. It may be a predictable standard affair like before, but the focused nature in having a slicker look with the outrageous action being maintained for the murder case they are pursuing.

That being said, it's also a Bad Boys flick to a fault where the flaws associated with the formula are a part of that flavorful design to hold things back. As mentioned before, the structure itself is easily telegraphed with it being something that's overused in other media. The cliches of having a bland love interest, minor running gags that don't land as well as they think they do, one of the villains not being much of a potent threat, and going through the same dynamic the pair share might get a little tiresome.

How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actors to focus on are Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Will doesn't take this return to an old role of his after a decade for granted as he brings his classic Smith charm and swagger to handsome detective archetype. Martin is having a fun time slipping back into his bad luck ridden married man with enough energy to surprise many after having a less than stellar luck in his career. The big star for this action comedy is the duo's chemistry that's a delight to watch between their humorous banter, dramatic moments, and honest brotherhood between them that feels like it never left as their strengths/faults complement each other. Honorable mentions go to Joe Pantoliano and Jacob Scipio for the former's return to his supportive role for the third adventure in a row and the latter's imposing physical combat as a looming threat.

Overall Consensus: Bad Boys for Life isn't a groundbreaking buddy cop comedy as its held back by its series cliches and predictability but it's a refined entertaining ride with charismatic lead performances, great action, and hilarious moments. ⭑⭑⭑1/2🎟 Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes R

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors/directors. You want to see solid banter and camaraderie between Smith and Lawrence.You enjoy silly over-the-top cop flicks with plenty of cliches you don't mind. You want to take a break from the serious dramas.

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors/directors. You are bored with banter and camaraderie between Smith and Lawrence.You hate silly over-the-top cop flicks with plenty of cliches you dislike.