Movie Review: Bad Boys for Life

Bad Boys for Life *** / *****

Directed by: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.

Written by: Chris Bremner and Peter Craig and Joe Carnahan based on characters created by George Gallo.

Starring: Will Smith (Detective Mike Lowrey), Martin Lawrence (Detective Marcus Burnett), Paola Nuñez (Rita), Vanessa Hudgens (Kelly), Alexander Ludwig (Dorn), Joe Pantoliano (Captain Howard), Kate del Castillo (Isabel Aretas), Charles Melton (Rafe), Jacob Scipio (Armando Armas), Bianca Bethune (Megan Burnett), Nicky Jam (Zway-Lo), Happy Anderson (Jenkins), DJ Haled (Manny).

 

Bad Boys for Life has all the earmarks of quick, cynical cash grab for all involved. It resurrects an old franchise – whose first two installments were 25 and 17 years ago, it’s two stars not quite the draws they used to be. It has a January release date, where studios often dump their problem children. And not even the series’ original director – Michael Bay – is back, in anything other than a cameo – and this is the man who made five Transformers films, and whose latest outing was a barely discussed Netflix original. And yet while Bad Boys for Life isn’t exactly a great movie – it’s fun. For two hours, it is an action comedy that works – gliding on the natural charm of its two leads, and some well-directed action sequences. The film delivers what January movies are supposed to – but so rarely do – cheap, disposable fun, to give you a break after the very long, serious Oscar movies have mostly come and gone.

 

Much of the reason why the film works is because of Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. There is a reason they both became stars, and there is a reason why the first two movies made enough money that they felt the need to do it again. They have an easy chemistry together, needling each other with jokes and quips, but really at the heart sharing a deep love for one another. Quite simply put, when these two are onscreen together, playing these characters, it just works. I particularly liked Lawrence here – freed of vanity and not having an action movie star image to protect, sinking easily into his aging character, who just wants to sit at home and relax, and be Pop Pop to his new granddaughter. Smith still wants those action star roles, so he takes a more active, violent role – but he still allows some jokes thrown out at his expense due to age. These are two performers who know what they do well – and do it well here.

 

The screenplay kind of plays like the writers read the screenplay for Smith’s last movie, Gemini Man, and added in more humor to the situation. There are motorcycle chases, like the last one, and the main antagonist – Armando Armas (Jacob Scipio) – well, maybe I shouldn’t say since that ventures into spoiler territory. Armando is in Miami at the behest of his mother Isabel (Kate del Castillo), who just pulled off a daring prison escape in the film’s opening scenes. She wants Armando to kill everyone involved in killing her husband, his father – saving Smith’s Lowrey for last – although he doesn’t listen to that piece of advice, but apparently he is nice enough to wait six months for Lowrey to recover for his first attempt on his life. Scipio isn’t given much to do except for glower menacingly – which he does well enough – and drop some hints that will pay off in the last act. Kate del Castillo is so much fun as Isabel – who refers to herself as a witch – I wish they gave her more to do as well. The screenplay brings back Joe Pantoliano as the boys exasperated Captain, and he does his Joe Pantoliano thing very well. It also brings in a new, younger team of cops – led by Paola Nunez, and featuring among other Vanessa Hudgens, who use new-fangled technology to get the job done. Thankfully, there’s only a few scenes of Smith getting cranky with wanting to do things the old school way.

 

The film was directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who undeniably come from the Michael Bay school of filmmaking – lots of whip pans, and rapid editing. The difference is that they do it quite well – kind of how Bay used to, before he fell down this recent rabbit hole where his goal is seemingly to make every film he makes as visually incoherent as possible. The action sequences work – they are fun in that goofy sort of way, with lots of chases and explosions and collateral damage, that they at least acknowledge this time. And as in Bad Boys II, they do essentially invade another country for the big climax.

 

I’m not saying Bad Boys for Life is a great movie – not even a particularly good movie. I’m saying that it’s a fun one – a movie with no pretentions, no larger point to make, that just wants to blow stuff up and crack jokes for two hours. It is what it is.