Bad Boys: Ride or Die – Film Review
I wasn’t a big fan of 2020’s Bad Boys for Life and thought perhaps the franchise should call it a day. So imagine my complete surprise when the fourth instalment, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, turned out to be damn good!
The film reunites us with Miami PD detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) who have been best friends and colleagues for almost 30 years. When someone frames their late boss, Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano), and accuses him of working with the cartels, the duo sets out to clear his name and find the real corrupt individual in the police force.
Our titular bad boys have evolved. Mike has grown up and settled down and Marcus has a new lease of life after a near-death experience. He is no longer the scaredy cat of the previous films; he has no fear and is convinced he cannot die. That makes him hilarious and his rapport with Smith is as good as ever. The film also acknowledges that they’re not as young and infallible as they used to be, with an interesting mental health angle with Mike.
This film is thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining and I had an absolute blast. My expectations were low but it well and truly exceeded them, delivering a movie miles better than its predecessor. It feels like a return to form for the franchise and almost like it was made by Michael Bay, even though it was directed by Adil and Billal (who helmed the previous one).
The banter between Smith and Lawrence is genuinely very funny this time around. Yes, the comedy is very silly at times but it made me smile and laugh a lot so who cares? There are also major blockbuster action sequences and cool stunt setpieces, including one which was so satisfying that everyone in the audience whooped and cheered! Some moments are ridiculous, especially towards the end, but I had a ball so I couldn’t hold it against the film.
I had some small issues, of course. I didn’t particularly care about the overarching story and identified the secret snake immediately, there were some unnecessary and incongruous dream sequences, and some crazy camera moves from speedy drone shots to first-person shooter video game vibes.
It’s not perfect but I had such a ball with Bad Boys: Ride or Die that I didn’t care. This is a lot of fun!
In cinemas from Wednesday 5th June