Cinematography:
Robrecht HeyvaertComposer:
Lorne BalfeCast:
Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Nuñez, Ioan Gruffudd, Jacob Scipio, Melanie Liburd, Rhea Seehorn, Eric Dane, Tasha Smith (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
This Summer, the world's favorite Bad Boys are back with their iconic mix of edge-of-your seat action and outrageous comedy but this time with a twist: Miami's finest are now on the run. (Sony Pictures)
Videos (5)
Reviews (7)
A repeated joke is no longer funny, and that applies to the Bad Boys franchise, too. The third one was an interesting refresh after all those years, it had sleek slick visuals, cool Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in their 50s, and surprisingly solid action. The fourth one, however, already looks like a fluffy TV movie, recycling or even ripping off moments from previous episodes. Remember the bayou scene from the visually nasty second one, where the camera pans back and forth across the room during the shootout ? Almost a carbon copy of a scene in the fourth one, and there's more. The best moments are saved by minor and not very important characters, like the young marine or Captain Joe Pantoliano. The third film made sense, the fourth is completely unnecessary. I hope this franchise finally retires.
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Bad Boys for Life was surprising with its fresh screenplay, which put new wind in the franchise’s sails. But without input from Joe Carnahan, the screenplay for Ride or Die gets sloppy. Forced jokes and a moderately interesting plot, routine action without a single memorable scene. The overwrought scene with a helicopter seems to have been flown in from the Fast & Furious franchise. The fierceness and polish of Bay’s action style is history. However, Bay appears in one shot, DJ Khaled in a whole scene, and the central duo are still cool even without good jokes. The nostalgia, bolstered by Mark Mancina’s musical motif and the setting of Miami skyscrapers with Caribbean beaches and palm trees, simply works. And young Reggie rulez!
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If you like this series, if you liked the third part, you should be satisfied here too. It's not a significant shift in quality, it's just a standard solid action comedy, where the mutual banter between Martin Lawrence and Will Smith works, but above all it's pulled by well-done action, which at times takes your breath away. Adil el Arbi and Bilall Fallah know their job. There are nice Miami visuals, a decent bad guy played by Eric Dane (Euphoria), decently brutal R-rated action with engaging camera forays, top visuals, some twist and turns and working one-liners. The whole film paces well with no deaf spots and it's exactly the right action entertainment that's missing in cinemas and you can take anyone to see it. If you expect a film with a well thought out plot, you won't be satisfied here, but if you know what to expect from a film, you can't be disappointed. 8/10.
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The fourth time didn't work so well. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are still an excellent duo, and they are opposed by a pretty decent villain, but what good is that when the plot revolves as much if not more around them as it does around completely uninteresting (old) new characters who don't have much to say. The film was worth seeing in the cinema mainly for the frantic action, which can probably turn into quite a mess at home on TV.
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Mike and Marcus are back, and since the captain calls from beyond the grave to tell them he has another case for them, they won't be bored. But you might be a little. The fourth outing of the Bad Boys attempts to build on previous installments not only in style, but more importantly in story, and sometimes overdoes it with the nostalgia, references and recalling small details from twenty years ago. The heroes haven't moved anywhere, they repeat what they've always done, just with a lot of new completely useless characters and the most boring villains of the series around them. The action, however, is top-notch. It just needs a little more care next time, even in the scenes where no one is shooting at anyone.
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