When I saw the film title and the same two leads, I was not anticipating something “new” in addition to most of the contents in the trailer. I assumed that was pretty much it. Surprisingly, after a slowish start, I began to get comfortable with the humor once again, especially Martin Lawrence as he portrays Marcus Burnett, partner to Mike Lowrey (Will Smith).
Burnett and Lowrey are not portrayed as young cops in Miami, as they have aged like we all do, during the franchise approaching three decades. They are family men dedicated to their law enforcement career and more so when they learn that their late Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) is accused of being part of a corruption web. Burnett is shown to have a medical emergency and perhaps the filmmakers decided to use that to show his ageing and food choices might slow him down. He fights off any advice from medical professionals or his family. He is determined to be in the middle of the action, and he tends to go overboard. Action fans – there is so much to enjoy in this installment.
In efforts to clear the captain’s name, they track down information he stored about the corruption in the city with connections those who work with cartels. Lowrey finds that the one person who may know who that connection is leads back to his son in prison, Armando (Jacob Scipio). McGrath (Eric Dane) has no qualms killing off anyone getting in the way of his large sums of money. When Armando confirms it is McGrath, the three find themselves on the run to save themselves and loved ones.
The directing team of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah certainly has created many options to provide plenty of action and stunts to please those fans who love to see all that goes boom and/or catches on fire to light up the city. There’s comedy in the screenplay by Chris Bremner and Will Beall, but not in extreme amounts. I think the scene that got the largest and longest laughs is when Burnett and Lowrey have a moment – with Burnett trying to get Lowrey’s head back into the current fight they are in. I won’t spoil it for you.
The supporting cast includes returning actors Vanessa Hudgens as Kelly, Alexander Ludwig as Dorn and Paola Nuñez as Rita. Tiffany Haddish has the role of Tabitha, and she does not fail to entertain. She shows Lowrey how wrong he is about their friendship. After all, there is money involved. Rhea Seehorn (“Better Call Saul”) performs in the role a federal agent, Judy, who has a daughter, Callie (Quinn Hemphill). A standout actor in the film is Dennis Greene in the role of Reggie, Burnett’s son-in-law, who has a few lines and scenes, but he makes the most of them and is very memorable, from his serious action skills to family fun. Speaking of action, Jacob Scipio has a great scene in prison demonstrating skills on how he can defend himself. My hope is that IF there is another “Bad Boys” to come, Reggie will have more to do, or have his own show that will honor Burnett and Lowrey as law enforcement mentors who go toward retirement. And bring back Antonio too.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die has plenty of violence earning the R rating. The film premieres June 7 in US theaters.
Source: Colombia Pictures
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