Bad Boys For Life Review

After the 17-year break and many false starts, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back for a third Bad Boys film.

There are big changes for Detectives Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) due to the birth of Marcus’ first grandchild. Marcus sees this as a sign that the pair should retire from the Miami Police Department. However, Mike’s past comes back to haunt him when a Mexican drug lord, Isabel Aretas (Kate del Castillo) escapes from prison and sets out to gain revenge against the people who locked up her.

The Bad Boys series has had an interesting trajectory. The first film was the little movie that could because it was made on a modest budget for an action film and helped turn Will Smith and Michael Bay into hot commodities in Hollywood, whilst Bad Boys II was a huge budget extravaganza. The third film was delayed because Smith and Bay commanded high paychecks and this saw some young blood taking over the series.

Bad Boys for Life was directed Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, a Belgian duo who were making their Hollywood debut with this film. This pair ended up making a better than what the big-name director ever produced. This was achieved in two ways: El Arbi and Fallah don’t have Bay’s juvenile sensibilities and the story having a personal edge.

Bay is a notorious director who makes films popular with audiences but hated by critics. He is known for his frenzy action sequences and his humour. Bad Boys II was a film where Bay was at his most unrestrained because it had some vile attempts at comedy. It was a film that featured Smith ogling a naked female corpse,  the main characters bullying a teenage boy, and an extended gay joke in an electronics store. El Arbi and Fallah don’t have anything as egregious in their sequel.

El Arbi and Fallah do keep to the Bay’s kinetic style but use it more wisely than Mr. Bay. They didn’t need to move the camera as much as Bay does, nor do they cut as much. This made the action scenes a lot easier to flow – a basic requirement for an action film. The big sequences were a chase in Miami in the middle of the night, and the final shootout in Mexico. Bad Boys for Life was also a bloody affair – there were shootings and stabbings. The blood made Bad Boys for Life seem more an actioneer from the ’80s and ’90s and it is refreshing considering how sanctified the modern action genre has become.

The previous two films focused on Mike and Marcus were bringing down drug barons – perfectly serviceable for a police procedural. The personal story in Bad Boys for Life gave it an extra bit of spice to the processing. The personal storyline where Mike was undercover and past coming back to haunt, along with Marcus being too old for this shit, was like a cross between Lethal Weapon and the third season of 24.

Whilst Bad Boys for Life has a solid plot and action there was still one lingering problem – the humour. This is properly down to my low tolerance to Martin Lawrence’s style of comedy.

Bad Boys for Life also had some shocking moments. This probably due to the influence of Joe Carnahan who was originally set to direct this film and still has a screenwriting credit. It’s surprising that the third Bad Boys film would make some daring moves.

Due to Smith and Lawrence’s advancing years, Bad Boys for Life introduced some young blood in the form of Vanessa Hudgens, Charles Melton, and Alexander Ludwig. They were apart of AMMO, an elite team of cops who invest complex crimes and organised crime. Hudgens was unrecognisable as the bad-ass chick and Vikings fans will find it amusing to see Ludwig play a gentle techie giant. An aspect I particularly liked in the film was AMMO actually did some police work by looking at ballistics, surveillance, and monitoring internet chatter, whilst Mike was an old-fashioned cop who beats information out Miami’s criminal underbelly.

There was some franchise regurgitation. In Bad Boys II Marcus tries to avoid violence as much as possible and he has the same dilemma in the third film. Although, in the third film the reasoning why Marcus avoids violence was more believable and personal.

Bad Boys for Life was a lot better than expected and shows there is still life in the franchise and Will Smith is still a credible action star.