Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024): A Nostalgic Joyride That Runs on Fumes

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Bad Boys: Ride or Die is the fourth installment of the Bad Boys film series, it was released in cinemas on the 20th of August 2024 and it was produced after 27 long years of the first Bad Boys film which came out in 1995. The movie was directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah; the same director from the previous Bad Boys movie in 2020 known as Bad Boys for Life. Main roles remain the same been Will Smith playing Mike Lowrey and Martin Lawrence playing the role of his partner Marcus Burnett, both are back on the force and together again in Miami as the OG Bad Boys. The movie also has Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Eric Dane and Jacob Scipio who is playing the role of Mike’s son Armando. Bad Boys: Ride or Die attempts to bring back the successful aspects of the first films, action, comedy and the buddy cop relationship between Smith and Lawrence, but at the same time it attempts to introduce some new elements, mainly action sequences shots, to keep the franchise going in 2024, but how successful they were?.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4919268/
• Platform: Amazon

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The Plot

The movie begins with Mike’s wedding to a woman unknown to the audience, however before Mike can have his honeymoon, Marcus suffers a heart attack at the wedding and litteray dies and goes to heaven where he meets their lost captain played by Joe Pantoliano. The movie is no strager of comedy and Martin Lawrence is the perfect guy to keep this aspect alive, when Marcus wakes up from the dead he believes that he cannot die, this is due to the fact that it is not his time yet, this leads to some funny scenes mainly due to the fact that Marcus becomes reckless and crazy, but then they discover that their favorite captain is being framed for corruption and having a direcct connection with drug dealers and Mike and Marcus have to set things straight and bring the real bad guys at the same time keeping everyone they love save. They also partner with Mike’s son Armando, who they imprisoned in the previous film and there is also a US Marshal performed by Rhea Seehorn, who is the captain’s daughter seeking vengeance on Armando for murdering her dad. Mike and Marcus had put a lot of men behind bars and the moment the streets know they working the case, a prices is put on their heads so every gang in Miami wants them dead. Source Source

The Action

The action scenes are quite hit and miss with most of them quite nice and have some innovative shots which prove that the directors can stage interesting scenes, a specific iconic scene is when Marcus son in law Reggie fights off home invaders who want to kidnap the family members. How Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah capture this scene is quite genius using the CCTV footage with the fight sequence in a seamless manner giving multiple angles to the audience like you are watching from every part of the house, on top having Mike and Marcus as part of the audience while they watch from their monitors. When delivering the big impact blows, they maintain the camera close to the fighters and when showing the flow, they pull back and it is like watching a dance. There is a scene that had been teasing the audience, its a type of first person shooter or fps video game when Will Smith has an entire filming right on him that moves on his direction of sight and the making of scenes demonstrate the elaborate work on the film stunts. We are shifted back and forth between the first person view of the character and the gun, the kills and the faces of the actors in the tension filled do or die situation.

Mike and Marcus are not portrayed as super cops, but just simple policemen, the film presents them as if they are almost immortal this concept probably comes form Marcus vision, thereby eradicating all chances of thrill out of the stunt because we already know they most likely not dying, are they going to keep making Bad Boys movies? come on. We never get the impression that they are in any actual danger, even when the bullets are flying and the cars blowing up around them, do they ever die?, lets be honest in an action movie what is violence and shooting if there are no consequences, no body count?, all main characters make it out?

Another problem is that some of the action scenes are shot and cut in a way that makes them barely comprehensible, which is a pity since Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah proved they are capable of much more in Bad Boys for Life. Its been mention online that for this installment of the franchise they also overuse the CGI and green screen especially for the larger stunts, they look fake and cartoonish.

So while Bad Boys: Ride or Die does have a couple of memorable action scenes that demonstrate the directors’ promise, but the action is uneven and there’s little of the raw energy or genuine feeling of danger if we already know only bad guys dying, yes its a Bad Boys movies cops always win movie but for part of the audience it makes it boring.

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How It Compares to the Previous Films

Compared to its predecessors, Bad Boys: Ride or Die can be said to be a film that is situating itself right in between, at this point in time it is not as revolutionary or iconic as the first movie which was released in 1995 and starred Will Smith and introduced him to the world of the Bad Boys franchise as two comedically inclined police officers who also love to blow things up in Miami. It is a film that I would consider less refine than its previous ones, Bad Boys II which took the excesses of the original film to the level of parody. Ride or Die attempts to find some common ground between the realistic buddy comedy of the first film and the explosive action of the second. It mostly achieves what it sets out to do to provide a fun action comedy story, although it does not innovate much, it is full of many recycle moments from the previous films and a lot of the characters story continuation.

For instance, as usual the major conflict is that Mike and Marcus have to prove their innocence after being accused of crimes they did not commit, and once again the show’s main theme of Mike as the reckless lone wolf is in contrast with Marcus, the family man. These are purely Bad Boys cliches and they are getting rather tired at this point especially for a fifth version.

The Bad

The film is a good one time watch and I can't call it a bad movie but it is not without some serious flaws, the first of which is the movie’s plot which is overly complicated, repetitive and twisted. There is a problem with the number of characters and their stories which are shown on screen, there are too many of them and some of them seem to be introduced only to take some of the screen time like Mike’s new wife or the dirty cop Eric Dane, the movie attempts to do a lot of things and some fall into lack of context, for example, Mike coming to terms with his son, Marcus’s terminal illness, the captain’s daughter seeking vengeance, and the issue of who framed the captain and why, it is like it could have been two different movies Mike and Marcus trying to prove their innocence and Mike’s family issues with Armando who I felt bad for the guy even though he come together with Mike he is still left to the side. Another problem is inconsistency, the film can be a silly comedy at one moment, a serious action movie at another and a cheesy family movie at yet another, it never gets the right mix. The villains are also quite lousy; there is no element of surprise that Eric Dane’s character is a bad guy and the main antagonist of the movie is hardly seen in the film, yes it sounds like everything went wrong with the movie and I'm the pessimist but if we zoom out the movie is nothing but just a couple of good action scenes with explosions, take for example Axel F, the understand is an action comedy and they stick to it keeping it simple, consider it is a similar story but way better movie over all.

In the end, Bad Boys: It is a movie that fans of the franchise are likely to enjoy because it continues in the same path as the previous movies but it is not likely to convince anyone who has not been a fan of the series to become one, I remember watching the 1995 movie when it came out. It is a movie that was trying to resuscitate the feel of the 90s and early 2000s but without any solid form formula for their target, it even looks like a film that does not aspire to be anything more than recyble old glories, and that's a sux, because with a better script and a more focused direction, this film could have been an entertaining closing chapter to the series but instead it merely becomes a dull addition to the franchise, I was mostly surprise when my wife ask me "Are they going to keep making Bad Boys movies"? after saying she was not impress, that confirm my theory it is not that great but only entertaining. If you're looking for a mindless action comedy to watch on a lazy weekend and it intrigue you what this film is all about the go watch it but do not expect to be amaze, there is nothing wrong with a movie to be entertaining and not been a hit, but considering this is the 4th movie of the franchise I was expecting a lot more.

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