BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE Reviewed by GREG KING
Directors: Adil El Arbi and Billal Fallah
Stars: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Jacob Scipio, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Vanessa Hudgens, Joe Pantoliano, Rhea Seahorn, Alexander Lustig, Paoloa Nunez, D J Khaled, Tasha Smith, Melanie Liburd, Tiffany Haddish, John Salley, Dennis Greene.
Following his controversial altercation with host Chris Rock at the Oscars in 2022, Will Smith’s career has stalled. He desperately needs a hit to try and reverse his fall from grace, and what better way to achieve this than by revisiting one of his most successful franchises – Bad Boys.
The formulaic buddy cop action-comedy Bad Boys, which centred around two maverick Miami detectives Mike Lowery (played by Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence), hit cinemas in 1995. The film was directed by Michael Bay with all of his signature flourishes, the flashy visual style, the kinetic editing style and the pyrotechnics of the well staged and muscular action sequences. Bay also helmed the sequel Bad Boys II. But for 2020’s sequel Bad Boys For Life Bay handed over the reins of the franchise to a duo of Belgian filmmakers in Adil El Arbi and Billal Fallah, who effortlessly replicated his bombastic and hyperkinetic approach to the material. It was also the highest grossing entry in the series to date. The pair also return to helm this fourth film in the series (and Bay himself contributes a brief cameo), which works as a direct sequel.
When the film opens Lowery is marrying his physical therapist Christine (Melanie Liburd), while junk food addict Marcus suffers a heart attack during the celebrations and has an out of body experience while recovering in the hospital. Marcus survives but believes that he is invincible. And Mike begins to suffer from panic attacks that see him freeze up during shootouts.
The main plot kicks in though when their former boss Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano, seen mainly in flashbacks) is posthumously accused of being corrupt and in league with the drug cartels and becomes the subject of an FBI investigation. Key to cracking the conspiracy is Mike’s estranged son Armando (Jacob Scipio, from The Expendables 4, etc), the cartel assassin who shot Howard and is now serving time in a federal prison.
But Mike’s actions also bring the pair into conflict with Howard’s daughter Judy (Rhea Seehorn, from the tv series Better Call Saul, etc), a federal marshal intent on clearing her father’s reputation, and an ambitious and smooth mayoral candidate in Adam Lockwood (Ioan Gruffudd, the Hornblower series of tv movies, etc). The search for the truth also brings them into conflict with McGrath (Eric Dane), a former mercenary who is trying to control the local drug trade. As it turns out though, Howard was investigating corruption within the police department itself and has left behind a series of video clues for Mike and Marcus to follow.
Before long Lowery and Burnett find themselves on the run with Armando and hunted by the combined forces of the FBI, the Miami police department, the US Marshals, McGrath’s private army and even various gangs from Miami’s criminal underworld after McGrath puts a bounty on their heads.
Bad Boys: Ride Or Die has been written by Chris Bremner (Bad Boys For Life, etc) and Will Beall (Gangster Squad, etc) and is full of the usual over the top action, car chases and shootouts and easily captures the vibe and dynamics of those buddy cop action comedies from the 90s. And they introduce a number of new characters and lots of subplots that eventually make the film seem overcrowded. So cliched are the characters that it is not hard to pick who is the villain here either.
But the plot is merely a device on which to hang a number of over-the-top action sequences which are staged with gusto and energy. However, at times the violence has an almost cartoonish feel to it. Three scenes in particular stand out amidst the mayhem and carnage. The first is a spectacular helicopter crash. The second is when Reggie (Dennis Greene), Marcus’ marine son-in-law who is home on holidays, takes down a squad of heavily armed home invaders while Mike and Marcus watch helplessly via a live video feed. The third is the climactic confrontation set in an abandoned alligator theme park in which a live alligator still prowls the waters. Cinematographer Robrecht Heyvaert (Revenge, etc) does a great job of capturing the action.
Performances are pretty perfunctory throughout, although Dane makes for a menacing albeit cliched villain. There is plenty of the usual profanity laden banter between Smith and Lawrence, and although the rapport between the pair is as strong as ever, here much of their dialogue seems to be shouted.
Bad Boys: Ride Or Die is formulaic stuff, and it is probably best to leave your brain at the cinema door.
★★★
