Thirty years ago Will Smith (Men in Black) and Martin Lawrence (Blue Streak) teamed up as Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett respectively to play lifelong friends turned Miami detectives in the Michael Bay film Bad Boys. They return for the fourth movie in the franchise, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, this week. Over the years we've watched as they have chased and taken down the bad guys, saw their families grow, and buried friends and colleagues. In a twist of fate, they now find themselves on the wrong side of the law and fugitives while trying to clear their names.
It has finally happened. I know I know... we thought we, and Marcus, would never see the day...Mike Lowrey getting married! I'll give you a minute to let that soak in and once you are over the shock, I'll tell you what happens...sort of.
Marcus gets a wake-up call (literally) and suddenly has a new lease on life. Things are great until they aren't. A few years after his death, Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano; The Matrix) is accused of being on the take. Of course, Mike and Marcus don't believe Evan as evidence is piling up against him.
Shockingly, Marcus and Mike get a text message from the Captain, where he tells them he has been set up and that there have been crooked cops in the precinct for over ten years. As they get closer to solving the mystery, they are accused of murdering US Marshalls and find themselves on the run. Suddenly, two of the best cops in Miami (at least in their minds) are running for their lives.
Let's face it, the Bad Boys franchise would be nothing without Smith and Lawrence. They make a great team, and their genuine friendship comes across onscreen even when arguing. They will go down as one of the great comedy duos of film.
This fourth film also sees the return of Jacob Scipio (The Expendables 4), Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical Franchise), Alexander Ludwig (Vikings), and Paola Núñez (The Purge). Charles Melton (May-December) is noticeably absent, but the others are very good, just as they were in movie number three. Additions include Eric Dane (Grey's Anatomy) as the villain and Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four) as Lockwood. There are also some fun cameos for the audience to enjoy.
Just like Bad Boys For Life, the directing team of Adil El Arbi and Bill Fallah (Rebel) return, and the shift from the explosion-loving Bay is obvious. They also try a few new tricks including a few POV shots during the action sequences. The result is a video game aesthetic that has become more popular of late. Unfortunately, those moments are disjointed and are distracting. However, most of the action is well done and consistent with the franchise overall.
Noticeably different is the amount of humor in this fourth offering. There has always been some amount of humor which is part of what makes the movies so much fun but, while the jokes are hilarious this time around, there seems to be an overabundance of them. The humor-to-action ratio seems to be askew making the film enjoyable on the one hand yet possibly alienating its core audience who loved the action in the first two films.
Lowrey and Burnett have become a part of pop culture and, although they are now 30 years older, Smith and Lawrence can still crank out a fun, action/comedy movie. Even though Bad Boys: Ride or Die doesn't quite meet the excellence of the first film, there is still enough enjoyment to warrant a fifth installment of this beloved franchise.
Grade: B
