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REVIEW: ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ – Not that bad after all – Cinelinx

Editor’s Note: This review contains spoilers for Bad Boys: Ride or Die

The Bad boys films were a staple of the action film scene of the late 90s/early 2000s, with the 1995 films Bad boys a huge commercial success that launched not only the film careers of stars Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, but also that of director Michael Bay. The 2003 sequel Bad Boys II was a return to form and fortune for the trio, managing to become the tenth highest-grossing film of the year. With Bay moving on to the Transformers franchise and Smith stepping into the spotlight as a leading actor and crowd-pleaser, the Bad boys It seemed that films were doomed to become a memory of a bygone era.

Almost twenty years later, directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (working together under the name Adil & Bilall) reunited the Boys for Bad boys for life in 2020, and four years later followed Bad Boys: Ride or DieThis time the Boys are looking for a former Army Ranger James McGrath (played by Eric Dane of Grey’s Anatomy) to exonerate their recently deceased Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) from posthumous charges of corruption linked to Mexican cartels.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Directed by: Adil El Arbi, Bilal Fallah

Written by: Chris Bremner, Will Beall, George Gallo

Starring: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence

Release date: In theaters June 7, 2024

In the previous films, Detective Mike Lowrey (Smith) was the unhinged of all unhinged types, always ready to spring into action no matter the circumstances. Detective Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) played the good cop to Lowrey’s bad boy, doing his best to keep his partner’s antics in check.

In Ride or dieBut that dynamic is turned on its head. Lowrey is trying to enter a new phase in his life, settling down as a newlywed, but Burnett, after a sudden and unexpected brush with death that leaves him in a coma for a while, awakens with a new lease on life. Now seeing death as something he doesn’t think he’s ready for, Marcus becomes the more enthusiastic of the two, allowing Mike to take on the role of babysitter for the first time. It was great to see Lawrence go a little crazy this time around, and while Smith’s performance as the concerned partner was enjoyable, his dramatic moments were more reminiscent of his insistence on more serious roles in the years since this franchise was considered abandoned.

Martin Lawrence is brandishing two pistols and has a crazy look on his face.
Martin Lawrence stars in Columbia Pictures BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE. Photo by: Frank Masi

Action-driven plot

The plot itself is capable, if only just. The cartel-related plotline allowed Adil & Bilall to lure Jacob Scipio’s character from the previous film, Lowrey’s illegitimate son Armando, back into the action as a reluctant protagonist. It’s not uncommon for the plot of an action film to be little more than a vehicle to ferry the audience to each new set-piece action spectacle, and while it would be easy (and not inaccurate) to say the same of Ride or diethe existence of an unknown leader guiding McGrath provides enough mystery to keep viewers interested in more than just the next gunfight.

Yet the story is still largely propped up by the action scenes, a feeling that becomes all too noticeable in the less explosive second act, where the pace really begins to slacken. Even this is quickly turned around, however, when the third act opens with a tense nightmare scenario of home defense that is easily the best action scene in the film, if not the best the series has ever delivered.

It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that a film following in the footsteps of Michael Bay would be known primarily for its action and Ride or die does not disappoint in that regard. From the opening standoff to the final shootout, the film gives us all the gunfire, punches, and explosions we could ever want and then some.

There’s also a nice common thread running through these scenes: the first action scene, indeed the very first scene of the film, is almost entirely designed for laughs. When a man pulls out a gun to rob the convenience store where Marcus is shopping, it’s treated as an inconvenience, wasting precious time on the way to Mike’s wedding. From there, each action scene becomes progressively less funny, from Marcus pausing during a shootout to eat some stray jelly beans to a wild scene in a helicopter that could easily have been directed by Bay himself.

The seriousness reaches a peak in the aforementioned scene where Marcus defends his home, where Marcus’ son-in-law Reggie (Dennis Greene-McDonald) defends the family from intruders. This scene itself is an incredible evolution from Reggie’s original debut on the series in Bad Boys 2, in the iconic scene where Marcus and Mike beat him up in the doorway when he shows up to take Marcus’ daughter out on their first date.

This scene breaks up the tension that’s been building in the action scenes, but it also allows the final battle to perfectly combine the mix of action and humor that the series is best known for. All the stops are pulled out here: there are guns, there are bombs, there’s even a few alligators thrown in for good measure. Everyone present gets their moment to shine under the glow of the explosions, and the bits and one-liners punctuate the action with a cadence that’s no different than the gunfire that peppers the rest of the action.

Martin Lawrence and Will Smith bump fists as they look out over the Miami skyline.
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence star in Columbia Pictures BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE. Photo by: Frank Masi

The “buddy” in buddy comedy

Speaking of humor, Ride or die was definitely a return to form for the series in that regard. Bad boys for life wasn’t without its jokes, but there was an attempt at seriousness in the film that didn’t quite feel like it was channeling the same spirit of the original Bay films. Still, the easy chemistry between Lawrence and Smith was still going strong, and it continues into Ride or dieeven though their roles are reversed.

Much of the film’s humor is built on this chemistry, perhaps too much so, but the duo’s endless banter does provide for some serious laugh-out-loud moments. There are scenes that feel a little crude and out of place in the modern era, such as Marcus’ revelation to Mike that they’re “soulmates” and Mike’s particularly averse reaction to the idea. Even this joke, however, sets up a running gag for Marcus that could very well serve as the film’s entire comedic highlight reel, and even the soulmate joke is called back to a few times in ways that are made much funnier by its existence.

The performances in the film are generally about what you’d expect from this sort of film. Lawrence and Smith have the practiced ease you’d expect from two veterans in their fourth installment of a franchise, and Dane’s McGrath is as menacing and effective a villain as you’d need to be to foil such a duo. Better call SaulRhea Seehorn, always a delight, also appears as Conrad Howard’s daughter Judy, an FBI agent and secondary antagonist who will stop at nothing to avenge her father’s death. Scipio’s second performance as Armando Aretas was serviceable.

His action scenes were often top-notch, but outside of those scenes he rarely got much else to do. He does get an attempt at a dramatic scene near the end, and it’s not bad at all, but without giving anything away, the end result of the film makes it one of the most confusing choices the film makes.

Paola Núñez also returns from Bad boys for life in her new position as Captain, offering a more nuanced and fleshed out role than she previously had as Lowrey’s former lover. Perhaps the most impressive performance is Dennis Greene-McDonald coming into his own as Reggie. From being treated like an intruder to stopping actual intruders, McDonald’s performance really stands out, especially for an actor who doesn’t seem to have much else to his name at the moment.

Adil El Arbi, Will Smith and Bilall Fallah look at a camera monitor on set.
(from left to right) Director Adil El Arbi, Will Smith and director Bilall Fallah on the set of Columbia Pictures BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE. Photo by: Frank Masi

Top quality cinematography

Ultimately, however, it’s the film’s cinematography that steals the show. Adil & Bilall brought back their previous director of photography, Robrecht Heyvaert, and he really stepped up his game, pulling out all the stops to deliver the action in the most stylistic way possible every time. There are dramatic pans, subtle use of handcams, rolling dolly shots and swooping drone photography, and it rarely feels overdone or unnecessary.

Even the basic composition of scenes is often visually very appealing, whether it’s shot for humor or aesthetic effect. It’s not always a hit (there’s a first-person sequence in the final battle that didn’t sit well with me at all), but while I honestly can’t say I know the first thing about shooting movies, I do know what looks good when I see it, and Ride or die certainly met the requirements.

In 2020, Bad boys for life made us wonder how much life there could be left in the franchise after a 17-year absence. But Bad Boys: Ride or Die offers a much more satisfying send-off to the series, with a film filled with humor, action, and even an attempt at drama that doesn’t feel unwelcome. It won’t be a contender for Best Picture of 2024 anytime soon, but it’s a film well worth your time and easily stands on par with the now-classic original films.