“Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” the fourth episode of the Will Smith-Martin Lawrence action comedy series, is about a fight to redeem a tarnished legacy.
No, not that one. The reputation of Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano), the beloved captain of detectives Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence), was tarnished posthumously. After his death, Conrad is accused of being an informant for a Mexican drug cartel as a way of covering up more sinister corruption. Our detectives decided to clear his name.
Clear, the restoration of the real image what’s happening here is for Smith. “Ride or Die” was in development in 2022 when Smith went on stage at the Oscars and slapped Chris Rock. The film has been temporarily suspended. The options were heavy. But 2020’s “Bad Boys for Life” grossed a robust $424.6 million before COVID-19 shuttered theaters. What will you do?
The result is the first film Smith made in that era defined as Post Slap. Here he is, back in the driver’s seat and flying along the Miami waterfront with Lawrence riding shotgun. Which is to say: Smith is back in his element.
“Ride or Die”, which opens in theaters on Thursday, is an attempt to pretend that there were no obstacles in the way. More than that, these “Bad Boys,” arriving 29 years after the original, would very much like to act as if nothing had changed not just in the last two years, but in the previous three decades.
Some signs of age are showing in “Ride or Die.” Marcus has a heart attack on the dance floor and Mike is suffering from panic attacks. But with the exception of a drone or two, this is a film that feels like it existed in the 1990s, Jerry Bruckheimer is still a producer, while original director Michael Bay, as he did on the previous film, departs to Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah ( Bay returns for a cameo). Set in Miami nightclubs and alligator hideouts, it largely stayed true to its old buddy cop formula, with all the requisite explosions and slow-motion car chases mixed in.
As before, the key is the comedic chemistry and endearing bond between Smith and Lawrence. And really, as much as the response to “Ride or Die” will certainly be taken as a referendum on Smith’s recalibrated drawing power, Lawrence is the MVP of those films. It’s their manic comedic energy that drives them. The gimmick might be a little stale at this point, but no one can say a phrase like “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!” in a shootout with the same panache. “Ride or Die”, scripted by Chris Bremner and Will Beall, knows how to prioritize creating favorable situations for Lawrence. After his heart attack, Marcus wakes up with a new zest for life and a reckless sense of invincibility.
The same could have been said of Smith’s bulletproof screen presence, of course. Here, Smith seems a little less assured than before; These panic attacks keep coming for Mike. Smith is also playing a straighter man to Lawrence. If the slap caused a reevaluation of Smith as a movie star, “Ride or Die” is the kind of tailor-made vehicle that reminds you that there haven’t been many better American action stars in recent decades.
None of this is enough to take “Ride or Die” beyond its paint-by-numbers plot, or prevent the film from inevitably being tied to the slap – especially since the film culminates with Marcus hitting Mike with an open hand. But Adil’s directorial duo & Bilall keeps the pace brisk enough to keep you from dwelling too much on ridiculous details – like that Mike, as revealed in the last film, is the father of an imprisoned cartel hitman named Armando (Jacob Scipio), a prominent character this time around. . And silliness is more of a feature than a bug in films like “Bad Boys.”
You end up questioning less why Smith and Lawrence are still making “Bad Boys” movies than wondering why such easily watchable genre movie star platforms don’t more or less exist. This summer will also bring back “Beverly Hills Cop” with Eddie Murphy, another reminder that — outside of something like the “Fast and Furious” movies — the film industry simply hasn’t produced anything like these guys in years. Will Smith may not be going anywhere after all.
“Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” a Columbia Pictures release, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “strong violence, language and some sexual references.” Running time: 115 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
