A pair of elderly Miami cops overcome their own health problems to clear their captain's name in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the fourth installment of the Bad Boys franchise opening in theaters around the world this weekend. This is a bit more polished and satisfying in terms of a stylized action movie than the previous entry in the series, 2020's Bad Boys for Life, making it the franchise's best since director Michael Bay's 1995 original ( who appears here in a fun cameo).
Bad Boys for Life stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as Miami Police Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, who open the film in the middle of what at first seems like a high-speed chase that resets their conflicting personalities. . In reality, the couple is heading to Mike's wedding, which Marcus quickly makes it all about himself by having a heart attack.
Directors: Adil El Arbi, Bilall FallahWriters: Chris Bremner, Will Beall, George GalloStars: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens
Marcus's near-death experience gives him a new lease on life, which comes in handy after the deceased Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano, returning via pre-recorded video messages) is accused of having worked with drug cartels. the drug. Not knowing who to trust, Mike and Marcus go underground to clear their former captain's name... and their own.
Like the recent Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Bad Boys: Ride or Die suffers from a serious case of protagonist overload, with no less than a dozen characters given their own little story and a cut from the narrative. , competing with those of Smith and Lawrence. heroes for screen time.
Beyond the titular Bad Boys, there's (deep breath) Mike's estranged son Aretas (Jacob Scipio), who killed Captain Howard in the previous film, but has a redemption arc here; Marcus's son-in-law Reggie (Dennis Greene), who has the opportunity to deploy his military training to protect his family; Rhea Sheehorn as Howard's daughter, an American marshal who vows revenge on Aretas; Quinn Hemphill as Howard's other daughter, who becomes a hostage; new captain Rita Secada (Paola Núñez), who investigates Howard's past; Lockwood (Ioan Gruffudd), Rita's love interest and mayoral candidate, assisting in the investigation; Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens) and Dorn (Alexander Ludwig), the only Miami police officers Mike and Marcus can trust; and the barely sketched wives of Mike and Marcus (Melanie Liburd and Tasha Smith).
That's not including the supporting characters Mike and Marcus encounter during the course of their investigation, including the reformed Fletcher (John Salley, returning from Bad Boys 2), gang member Manny (DJ Khaled, returning from the film above) and Tiffany Haddish. like a stripper who has feelings for Mike.
There's a villain here too, played by Eric Dane, but so sketchy that his entire set-up seems superficial. Like the antagonist of the recent Madame Web, Dane's McGrath has no active criminal motivation: he just wants to prevent Mike and Marcus from discovering his vague past misdeeds. It's hard to muster much enthusiasm to support him, and his backstory only makes him more sympathetic.
Helping to save Bad Boys: Ride or Die from its overstuffed narrative are directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (credited as Adil & Bilali), who directed the previous film and give this one a greater sense of visual style reminiscent of Bay's work in the original. films. Contemporary Miami looks great here thanks to the liberal use of drone photography, with nighttime scenes bathed in pink and teal Miami Vice neon.
There's a bit more oomph to Bad Boys: Ride or Die's action scenes, which include some creative slow-motion camera work (Marcus tries to catch some flying Skittles in his mouth during a shootout), impressive stunts (the escape in a burning van is a wow) and over-the-top visual effects, including climactic first-person shooting sequences that pan around the camera so you know Smith and Lawrence are behind the massacre.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die saves the best for last, with a big action scene at the end that takes place in an amusement park called Gatorland (not the real Gatorland in Orlando), long abandoned but still haunted by predators, including a giant albino. alligator. It's a memorable action set piece that is impressively destroyed and culminates with a seaplane crashing into the location.
While Bad Boys: Ride or Die could have reduced the number of characters and given more motivation to its villain, it gives fans of the franchise everything they could want, including some great camaraderie between Smith and Lawrence.
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