Movie Review #2

Bad Boys For Life(2020)

                                                                                         Source: Google

Cast

·       Detective lieutenant Michael Eugene “Mike” Lowrey -> Will Smith

·       Detective Lieutenant Marcus Miles Burnett -> Martin Laurence

·       Rita Secada -> Paola Nunez

·       Kelly -> Vanessa Hudgens

·       Dorn -> Alexander Ludwig

·       Rafe -> Charles Melton

·       Armando Aritas-> Jacob scipio

·       Isabel “ La Bruja” Aretas -> kate dil castillo

·       Lorenzo “Zway-Lo” Rodriguez-> Nicky Jam

·       Captain Cornad  Howard-> Joe Pantoliano

·       Theresa Burnett , Marcus’ wife -> Theresa Randel

·       Lee Taglin-> Massi Furlan

·       Reggie -> Dennis Greene

·       Megan Burnett, Marcus’ daughter->Bianca Bethune

·       Wedding MC -> Michael Bay

·       Manny the Butcher-> DJ Khaled

Story

Marcus and Mike have to confront new issues (career changes and midlife crises), as they join the newly created elite team AMMO of the Miami police department to take down the ruthless Armando Armas, the vicious leader of a Miami drug cartel.

Review

Bad Boys director Michael Bay did not return to direct this movie; leaving the project to continue work on other endeavors. So, the directorial duties for Bad Boys for Life comes in the form of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, whose previous works includes such projects like Patser, Black, and Image. Given their previous background, Adil and Bilall make this particular film to be the most ambitious and star-studded Hollywood motion picture. To that end, the duo directors certainly find success; shaping this third installment in the action franchise in a way that won’t alienate its longtime fans, but makes it quite easy for newcomers to enjoy the feature by making it accessible and easy to digest . From that statement, Adil and Bilall approach Bad Boys for Life with a sense of appreciation for Michael Bay’s previous two films and certainly make this particular movie have a 90s style action nostalgia feeling that’s sort of wrapped  within today’s modern age of moviemaking. Thus, if you liked the past two Bad Boys movies, you’ll definitely like this one. Adil and Bilall also take a lot of variation from Bay’s work  and keeps the film straight forward with its action, which is still amped up to the level of large-scale action fun. If you’re an action junkie out there, Bad Boys for Life will deliver the goods as to what you’re looking for, with the movie staging plenty of them throughout the story’s narrative. Still, at the heart of the movie (as well as the entire franchise), is the partnership / relationship between the two Miami police detectives of Mike and Marcus, with Adil and Bilall always keeping that in the feature’s forefront presentation. Plus, the film’s comedy is quite spot on as the two directors certainly know how to play to the film’s strengths of having its two main leads bicker and banter with each other in a very fun and amusing way. Thus, in a nutshell, Bad Boys for Life doesn’t redefine the action genre for a new moviegoing age of viewers, but rather reinforces the idea of an old school 90s era action play.

Also, some might argue that the movie heavily borrows from the crazy “over the top” action nuances from the more recent Fast & Furious features, which have certainly become a parody staple of ridiculous action aesthetics and nuances. While I certainly agree with that, especially in trying to update the franchise material for a new generation, it didn’t bother me as much. I mean…. look at Bad Boys 2’s over the top action scenes…and that was released back in 2003; way before the Fast & Furious franchise became more larger-than-life in its action level heroics. So, it’s just depends on your personal taste. To me, the film’s action was great and, while it probably took some influence from the Fast & Furious series, it doesn’t go fully blown ridiculousness.

From what I saw, there were a few problems that I noticed with Bad Boys for Life that, while I still found the film to be entertaining, couldn’t overcome the hurdles that were presented / created in its undertaking. For the most part, the film’s narration of the story is quite predictable. From start to finish, it’s quite clear to see where the movie will be ultimately heading towards, with little to no unexpected twists along the way. Yes, there were one or two surprises that got my attention and fooled my expectations, but a great majority of the movie is pretty the standard formula of old school action flicks. This can be both a “good or bad” thing for some viewers (depending on how you look at it), but, while I was sort of expecting this to be the case, I kind of wanted to see a little bit more creative ingenuity in the storyboarding process of the film. I mean…the film literally had over seventeen years to shape a strong narrative and what’s given, which works, doesn’t really color outside the lines of the established bullet strewn Bad Boys world. Thus, the film’s script, which was credited to Chris Bremmer, Peter Craig, and Joe Carnahan, could’ve had a little bit better finessing in the formation process and storytelling. This coincides with the film’s main antagonist roles, which certainly have the villainy that Bad Boys for Life calls for, but fails to deliver a thorough main bad guy action scheme. Definitely could’ve been better written.

Additionally, the film’s pacing is a bit off at certain times. With the film clocking at 123 minutes (two hours and three minutes), Bad Boys for Life isn’t as bloated as Bad Boys 2, which had a runtime of 147 minutes (two hours and twenty-seven minutes), but still feels long and doesn’t have a consistent flow in certain areas. It’s not a complete train wreck that derails the feature, but sets up plenty of action scenes that are immediately slowed down by dialogue / character moments. Even Bay’s efforts on the previous two Bad Boys feature had a better understanding of pacing. All in all, nothing in the movie changes the ‘status quo” of the established Bad Boys formula, which is both a curse and blessing, with viewers will happily indulge in the film’s styles and others being turned off and seeing the film as a dated belated sequel.

Of course, the cast in Bad Boys for Life is a solid one, with plenty of recognizable talents attached to this project and certainly make the feature’s various players  to be fun  in this action movie motion picture. As with the previous two Bad Boys movies, the acting talents of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence headline the feature and once again reprising their roles as Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett respectfully. Much of the success of the previous two Bad Boys features have been credited to these two actors, with their comical banter and on-screen presence / chemistry with each other strengthen the character relationship between the two police detectives in this cinematic world. Bad Boys for Life continues that trends, with Smith and Lawrence easily sliding back into the character roles, despite it being seventeen years since they last played them. Smith, known for his roles in Independence Day, Men in Black, and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, has certainly been in the Hollywood spotlight for quite sometime and has continued to play the “charismatic” character, with the actor laying into his charming bravado / screen presence for a lot of his roles in movies. Thus, Smith’s return to Mike in Bad Boys for Life is terrific as actor continues to be the sort of “beating heart”  towards the film; finding the heart and humor to the feature’s story with the character of Mike, who definitely is the more “primary” focus of the movie’s narrative. On the other hand, Lawrence, known for his roles in Martin, Big Momma’s House, and Blue Streak, has sort of “stepped away” from cinema spotlight for most of the 2010s era, so it was sort of a treat to see him returning to the silver screen and playing one of his most iconic character roles of his career. In contrast to Smith, Lawrence has certainly put on a little weight on his face , but his comedic timing and chemistry he shares with co-star (i.e. Will Smith) has diminished, with the character of Marcus continuing to be the level-headed of the pair; complimenting Smith’s more loud and flashy Mike Lowery character. Collectively, these two are the best part of the Bad Boys franchise and their reteaming in this sequel movie is definitely worth the seventeen year wait, with plenty of back and forth comedic banter that’s quite hilarious. Behind the return of Smith and Lawrence, actor Joe Pantoliano  returns to reprise his role as Mike and Marcus’s boss, Captain Howard, and is once again the sort of “scene stealer” whenever his character appears on-screen, with much credited to Pantoliano’s creation of the character. As a side-note, actress Theresa Randle  reprises her role of Marcus’s wife, Theresa Burnett. Of the new characters that appear in the film, the ones that make the strongest impression is the inclusion of the AMMO team, a new division of the Miami Police department that is comprised of new millennial generation of police. Much like the film’s script promotes, AMMO represents that “new” approach to present day police work of playing by the rules and utilizing digital era technology to avoid unnecessary colleterial damage, which is a great and amusing foil to Mike and Marcus’s direct tactics of going in guns blazing. Leading the team is the character of Rita, who has a special relationship with Mike Lowery and who is played by actress Paola Nunez.The other members of AMMO, including actor Charles Melton  as hothead / hotshot Rafe, actress Vanessa Hudgens  as cool under pressure Kelly, and actor Alexander Ludwig as muscle bound tech wiz Dorn, have certainly make a fun inclusion in the film’s story, especially going up against the characters of Mike and Marcus’s seasoned detective work in a sort of “old meets new” of the police work. In the antagonist role, Bad Boys for Life has two, with actress Kate del Castillo  as Isabel Aretas and actor Jacob Scipio  as her son, Armando Aretas. Both are of a different variety, with Scipio’s Armando being the more physical presence in the movie, while del Castillo’s Isabel having the more “behind the scenes” mastermind role. They both certainly compliment that whole “bad guy” action villain of the movie, but I kind of felt that both could’ve been easily expanded upon. What’s presented works and both their acting talents are perfectly fine in the portrayals, but both Aretas characters could’ve been fleshed out more to be more memorable antagonist, especially compared to the likes of the previous Bad Boys villains of Fouchet and Johnny Tapa.

The introduction of AMMO certainly leaves the door open for the group to return in another Bad Boys movie or in a possible spin-off feature. Personally, I would like to see this happen. The AMMO team was likeable and could easily hold their own in their own personal standalone feature (a sort of Hobbs & Shaw type of endeavor in the Bad Boys universe) as the solo movie could flesh out their respective characters. So, will there be an AMMO film (i.e. AMMO: A Bad Boys Story) or have them be included in a possible Bad Boys 4.

Lastly, there are a few callbacks and small cameos from the previous Bad Boys, which are pretty funny to watch and, while I won’t spoil who or what they are, it definitely put a smile on my face and had me laughing out loud when they appeared.

 

Rating:  4 out of 5.