Bad Boys for Life - 2020
Above all else, there are two things that stand out most clearly after viewing Bad Boys for Life. I'll present them one after the other, from the mildly surprising to the truly shocking. The first is that BBFL is not a terrible, wholly unnecessary film. Not even remotely close. The second? It may actually be the BEST of the whole trinity.
Call it some anti-Bay sentiment, if you will, but I believe there is more resting on my conclusion. Sure, there are things about the '95 original that are unbeatable. The flashy cars and Michael Bay's unique ability to capture carnage on celluloid. The witty banter and laugh out loud guffaws of two comedic, dare I say, geniuses operating in their wheelhouse as buddy cops on a mission. Furthermore, the world was only learning of Will Smith the action star at the time, but Bad Boys started a heck of a run for him as that kind of leading man (even if this is the only one where he doesn't fight extraterrestrials). Miami as a city glistens, the actors sizzle, and the jokes jump off the page. And Tea Leoni...well, we'll just leave her in '95 for the time being.
Still, even given the adrenaline rush of the original, Bad Boys for Life is just a better picture. For starters, it continues to get all the winning "stuff" from the first two films right. Martin Lawrence is still hysterical as Marcus. Mike Loooowrey is still a bad ass who is as stubborn and reckless as he is fierce. There are fast cars and cool gadgets (more on this in a second) and all the latest munitions. Joey Pants is absolutely crushing it as the chief, doling out wisecracks and chugging Pepto with equal fervency. This is still a glistening action vehicle. The directors wisely knew not to reinvent the wheel.
But, surprisingly, it's what they ADDED to this one that makes it rise a cut above the others. How about genuine supporting characters, several of the female variety? Or real emotional stakes when it becomes apparent that age and death eventually come for us all? Then there are the new gadgets and toys, the new elite squad full of glistening bodies and youthful vigor. BBFL adeptly mines that aging hand-to-hand combat veteran cop vs. tekkie, drone-heads who fight from a distance trope to maximal effect. And even the villain is sinister enough to hold our attention and personally tied to the protagonists in a unique way.
I have to end by making one thing clear: This film does really nothing new. You can see the rise and fall of the plot coming miles away. Even as it tugs at our heartstrings, we have a real feeling of deja vu. We've been here before, be it in a late Tony Scott picture or something of that ilk. But sometimes, it's not about doing loads of novel things. Rather it's about returning to characters we grew to love and giving us a deeper glimpse of how they've aged and transformed. Bad Boys for Life does this just about as well as possible. Or...forget all I said and just strap yourself in to enjoy the hell out of the ride.
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