Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Grade: D+

I’m not faulting Bad Boys: Ride or Die for having references/callbacks that went over my head. That’s on me for jumping into this one without having seen the previous three. You won’t be lost if this is your first one, but you won’t get things in ways that others would. BB:RoD would have been a hard pass for me, but I know somebody in the movie. My friend Nathan Hesse (credited as one of two “trailer park rednecks”) has a small but prominent role. He has a scene with the stars, and made it into the trailer. “Are y’all stealin’ our clothes?” That’s him. Not to virtue signal, but…the things we do for friends.

Even after his character’s death in a previous installment, they found a way to use Joe Pantoliano (Captain Howard) here. We see him via a video message he recorded and scheduled for later in case something happened to him. He also shows up in a dream, during Marcus’s (Martin Lawrence) near-death experience following a heart attack. Pantoliano, of course, tells him “It’s not your time,” and Lawrence wakes up in a hospital. For the rest of the film, he thinks he is invincible.

Marcus and Mike (Will Smith) are in their 50s now. The first Bad Boys was 29 years ago. Mike gets married at the beginning of the film, and Marcus’s son Reggie (who has some nice moments) is grown. Mike begins having panic attacks (about which Marcus mercilessly roasts him). The theme of aging and mental health – associated with these episodes – could have been an interesting avenue to acknowledge and explore more, but instead, it happens a couple of times and then is never brought up again. I’ve never been fully on board with Martin Lawrence. He has yet to grow on me, but might do so the more I see him. But for now, he has always been a comedic actor who has his moments in the midst of trying too hard. Smith, the straight man in the duo, is somehow funnier with better timing. Go figure.

They need to clear Captain Howard’s name. He is being framed for having had some shady involvement with cartels. Mike’s son killed Captain Howard, and Howard’s daughter worked with Mike and Marcus, so needless to say, there are complicated feelings here. The way it’s brought full circle in its resolution is one of the few aspects I liked. Most everything else is a mess. Frenetic camera work seems to want to camouflage the fact that Smith and Lawrence likely aren’t that involved with the action scenes. To show authority and generate intimidation, the camera is often down low pointing way up at someone’s face, and when we cut to the bad boys, it’s towering over them looking down. I’d love to see this tactic used in a Peter Dinklage movie where he’s the villain. Talk about forced perspective.

The fight scenes look almost animated. They have an A.I./video game quality, and we rarely get a good look at Smith or Lawrence, if we even see them at all. However they were filmed, it’s not convincing. The idea that a person, after just successfully dealing with some enemies, would stand there and salute a Ring camera – just in case someone is watching – really doesn’t ring [no pun intended] true. The most real bit of combat is in the scene where Will Smith gets slapped. It looked intentional, and obviously authentic. I wonder if it was an in-joke. The climax takes place at one of those abandoned amusement parks that hasn’t been touched in years, but nothing is broken, and the floors are perfectly secure. Once I’d already met the trailer park rednecks, and sat through everything else, I was glad to be out of Bad Boys: Ride or Die. If a friend suggests going to this movie, whatcha gonna do? Go see Furiosa instead.

Grade: D+