Bad Boys for Life

Release Date: January 17, 2020
Runtime: 124 minutes
Rating: R
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Director: Adil (Adil El Arbi) & Bilall (Bilall Fallah)
Cast: Will Smith; Martin Lawrence; Joe Pantoliano; Paola Nuñez; Jacob Scipio; Kate del Castillo; Vanessa Hudgens; Alexander Ludwig; Charles Melton; Theresa Randle

At one point in Bad Boys For Life, the third installment of the Will Smith-Martin Lawrence buddy franchise, Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) poses to Mike Lowrey (Smith) that the two try and be good boys. Marcus sings a few alternative lines of their namesake anthem “Good Boys, Good Boys…whatcha gonna do?” Mike angrily disagrees, adding “Who the fuck wants to sing that song?”

Truer words have never been spoken – at least not in an action franchise. While Bad Boys For Life sees Mike and Marcus in the twilight stages of their crime-fighting careers – they move a little slower, their joints are not as malleable, they simply aren’t as indestructible as they once were – no one would go to a movie to see these guys help little old ladies cross the street and make trips to daycare. No, we want to see Smith and Lawrence riff off of each other as only brothers-from-another-mothers can. And that is what the directing team of Adil (Adil El Arbi) & Bilall (Bilall Fallah), assuming duties previously held by original and sequel helmer, Michael Bay, deliver in this enormously entertaining, over-the-top shoot ‘em up.

Unlike many franchise reboots that feel as though they have been resurrected in an obvious cash grab, Bad Boys For Life is a welcome reunion of two engaging personalities that have clear affection and respect for one another’s talents: Smith all macho swagger and confidence; Lawrence as the more nebbish and pragmatic wisecrack-slinger.

Approaching middle age, our “destructives” (combination destructors and detectives – very proud of that, thank you!) have reached a point, particularly after Mike is gunned down in a near-fatal drive-by, where a thorough reevaluation of their lives is due. Mike would just assume keep kicking ass as long as there are asses to be kicked, while Marcus sees things a bit more realistically and would be happy settling down and spoiling his new grandson. (A nice scene cross-cuts between the two men getting ready in the morning with Mike putting on his Miami Vice best and strutting out of the house and Marcus very comfortably settling into his easy chair for the day.)

Of course, there is a crime that needs fighting (otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a movie). The narrative framework is your standard “drug cartel seeks revenge on the one who killed the patriarch” trope. Without question, this plot is just an excuse for elaborate, stylized action set pieces that come standard in movies like this. I have no idea if Smith (51) and/or Lawrence (54) did their own stunts, but I’m sure they did some of them and they both are in great form all the while acutely aware that they are, in fact, “too old for this shit.”

Adil & Bilall continue in the Bad Boys tradition and do Michael Bay proud with bombastic explosions and grandiosity (Bay even makes a cameo at the wedding of Lawrence’s daughter, Megan (Bianca Bethune)). Adil & Bilall pay nice homage to the franchise in restaging some familiar shots from the first two films, such as the low-shot of the MIAMI billboard and the signature circular shot of Smith and Lawrence emerging beaten-but-not-broken from their car. It’s a nice touch.

A third film in a franchise exists, to some extent, due to cultivated chemistry of the cast (that’s partly the reason why the previous two films would have succeeded in the first place). In addition to Smith and Lawrence, it’s nice to see familiar faces like Theresa Randle as Marcus’s wife, Theresa, and Joe Pantoliano as their Pepto-swigging chief of police, Capt. Howard. All supporters (including Kate del Castillo, Paola Nuñez, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton) fit the material just fine. There’s even a fun twisty set-up for a sequel.

Bad Boys For Life reboots this buddy pic admirably, with characters (and actors) feeling their age but graciously accepting that passing the torch to younger whippersnappers may ultimately be on the horizon. Nevertheless, Smith and Lawrence are a blast playing off of one another and blowing shit up real good. Now that’s a movie I want to see!