‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ Review
Stars: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Eric Dance, Joe Pantoliano | Written by Chris Bremner, Will Beall | Directed by Adil & Bilall
When their late police captain Johnny gets linked to drug cartels after his death, joker Miami cops Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) undertake a dangerous mission to clear his name. Marcus suffers a serious health setback at Mike’s wedding, leading the pair to switch their personalities — Marcus gains a new perspective and wises up, while Mike begins to suffer from panic attacks when he realizes how his work puts who he loves in danger.
With four films under their belts and almost 30 years in between the release of the original and the latest installment, it should surprise anyone that a film franchise can live up to its past achievements. In the case of Bad Boys: Ride or Die, it goes one further, proving that Mike and Marcus’ latest cop escapades are actually better than the ones that came before. However, this comes with a caveat — they’re still far from being great. If their style of entertainment wasn’t your bag before, it certainly won’t be now.
Whereas many previous 2024 releases have either been obviously dire or striving for perfect brilliance, Bad Boys: Ride or Die flip-flops somewhere weirdly in the middle. You can neither say it’s an outstanding film nor a terrible one, and it has too many moments of genuine engagement for it to be considered middling. So where does this leave movie number 4? Much like life, it changes from one moment to the next, winning you over with a candid moment of friendship or epic action scene, then walking back all that progress with scenes that feel wrongly 1990s coded. It’s current and dated simultaneously, and it’s a fine balance between whether that’s a good thing or not.
What is clear is that Bad Boys: Ride or Die is a damn sight better than the majority of releases this year. Smith and Lawrence’s connection is as natural and reliable as it ever has been, with both highly-strung emotions and spontaneous jokes able to flow freely between them. For Smith in particular, the path to “redemption” has been carefully constructed, with a well-rounded performance in Bad Boys the ideal chance to remind the world exactly what he has to offer. He’s seen his chance, and he’s taken it.
If we’re really honest with ourselves, nobody was expecting Bad Boys: Ride or Die to be anything remotely worth remembering, so the fact that its classic plot, fumbling humor, and good-time vibes exceed those expectations is something to champion in itself. At the same time, moviegoers won’t be leaving cinemas feeling blown away or rejuvenated in a “movies are back, baby!” way, but Smith and Lawrence are diligently doing their job by getting you to leave their troubles at the door. Everybody involved appears to have learned from 2020’s Bad Boys for Life, and for that, we should be thankful.
*** 3/5
Bad Boys: Ride or Die is in cinemas now.
