Review of Bad Boys for Life (2020) by Markhreviews — 26 Feb 2020

This installment of “Bad Boys” is sassy, silly, sophomoric and sometimes savage. It’s also the most fun I’ve had at the movies in months.

In the hands of Directors Adil and Bilall, who previously partnered on “Black,” “Gangsta” and “Broeders,” this film is a fun mix of formulaic and self-aware. The plot is quite predictable. A Mexican drug cartel seeks vengeance on the cops who sent their leader to prison for life. Mike (Will Smith) is clearly in their sights. Mike enlists his long-time partner, Marcus (a puffy Martin Lawrence), to help him right wrongs and preserve truth and justice, while engaging in ceaseless, manly banter along the way. You could drive a truck through the holes in the plot – or in this case a steel-reinforced urban assault vehicle equipped with computers, GPS and rocket launchers.

This is a film that clearly enjoys skewering itself and the whole police genre. While there is the beleaguered Captain trying to keep Mike in line (an excellent Joe Pantoliano), it’s all over-the- top and played with a self-aware wink and a nod. The females are bosses and bad-asses (including Vanessa Hudgins, unrecognizable from her time in the “High School Musical” series), not just objects of desire or damsels in distress. There’s a hunky male cop (Alexander Ludwig) who seeks to avoid violence and strongly endorses the value of therapy in dealing with life’s inevitable issues. There are regular demonstrations that technology and brainpower may work better than Mike’s testosterone-driven macho posturing. And finally, there’s the explicit awareness that our hero is a lot closer to the end of his career than its beginning, despite his protests to the contrary. There’s also a necessary nod to the fact that Mike and Marcus are not the men they were when the series began in 1995. In fact, Marcus has been enjoying a fully domesticated retirement filled with minivans, baby wipes, grandchildren and a healthy fear of his wife, who seems more imposing than most of the bad guys.

The action sequences are generally first rate. Bombs, car chases, explosions – check. The film also includes a searing final scene that offers the best helicopter action since the musical “Miss Saigon.”.

Most valuable of all, this film is totally self-aware. There’s even a brief cameo involving Michael Bay, the director of the 1995 and 2003 installments in this franchise, as a benign wedding MC. This is a franchise that realized it desperately needed a re-boot, then took on the task with intelligence and humor.

Most of all, this is a film that adroitly addresses the existential themes of death, eternity … Oh, come on, already. Really!? Just sit back, relax and enjoy the banter, bravado and brio. There’s plenty to go around.