Bad Boys for Life (2020) review

In 1995, Michael Bay made his directorial debut with the buddy cop comedy Bad Boys, which starred Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the lead roles of Miami Police Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett. Bolstered by the phenomenal camaraderie of its two leads, the film was a solid hit at the box-office and effectively launched Bay’s directorial career while also jumpstarting the film careers of both Smith and Lawrence, who were known more for their work on TV at the time. Eight years later, the three returned for a sequel, Bad Boys II. At this point, Bay’s definitively chaotic directorial style was now in full effect, which means that the film became the very definition of a ‘Michael Bay film’ that did about as well as you’d expect with critics. In other words, they hated it. However, just like its predecessor, Bad Boys II was a big hit with audiences to the point where even some of Bay’s biggest critics will go on record arguing that it’s one of his best films. Despite this, however, plans for a potential third Bad Boys film languished in development hell for several years, partially due to Bay and Smith demanding some of the highest salaries in the business. Thus, for the longest time, the closest bit of continuation that the franchise ever got was a spin-off TV series, L.A.’s Finest, that centered on the character Syd Burnett, played by Gabrielle Union, who made her series debut in Bad Boys II. But in 2019, production finally began on Bad Boys for Life… albeit without any direct involvement from Michael Bay. Instead, directorial duties go to the Belgian duo of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who are currently slated to relaunch another classic action franchise, Beverly Hills Cop. Until then, this duo has given audiences a chance to reunite with Mike and Marcus in a solidly entertaining follow-up that might just be the franchise’s best installment yet.

For the past 25 years, police detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) have continued to do what they do best (namely, causing a whole lot of mayhem and shooting a bunch of bad guys) in their efforts to protect the city of Miami. But while Mike intends to keep on “running down criminals until he’s 100”, Marcus admits that he’s recently been considering retirement, especially in the wake of him becoming a grandfather. And as fate would have it, Mike ends up getting shot in a drive-by by Armando Armas (Jacob Scipio), an assassin who operates under the orders of his mother Isabel Aretas (Kate del Castillo), a cartel leader who seeks revenge against Mike and the other prominent figures who orchestrated her arrest and the death of her husband. But while Mike manages to survive this near-fatal encounter, this is ultimately enough to convince Marcus to finally retire, effectively leaving Mike without a partner. Undeterred by this development, Mike promptly begins his one-man crusade to hunt down Armando, which then leads to Captain Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano) re-assigning him to Advanced Miami Metro Operations (AMMO), a newly formed tech unit run by Mike’s old flame Rita (Paola Nunez). However, when the case starts to delve into some truly personal territory (especially once the details behind Mike’s history with Isabel are revealed), Marcus decides to return to the field to help his longtime partner get the job done “one last time”.

While Michael Bay isn’t the director this time around, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah do maintain the general visual aesthetics of Bay’s films. Granted, Bad Boys for Life doesn’t go all out when it comes to replicating what critics have often referred to as ‘Bayhem’, but as to be expected from this franchise, its action sequences are incredibly over-the-top and are almost always filmed in an overly flashy manner. And yet, even with all the familiar Bay-esque shots (e.g. that classic 360° camera spin) and explosions, this film ends up feeling more in line with the generally laidback proceedings of the original Bad Boys rather than the unabashedly chaotic madness of Bad Boys II. For one thing, Bay’s ‘eccentric’ brand of humor that often leads to some very juvenile sexual/racial jokes isn’t as prevalent in this film and I’d dare say that the humor is a lot more consistent because of it. But when it comes to the most notable difference between Bad Boys for Life and the two Bay films, it’s that the former sports a plot that has a lot more depth to it compared to its predecessors. Now, to be clear, this is still Bad Boys we’re talking about, so it’s not like the material here is Oscar-worthy or anything, but when you factor in plotlines like the connection that Mike has with Armando and Isabel or Marcus turning to religion to try and help Mike’s recovery, this is easily the most maturely-written entry in the series. It does a very nice job of addressing how much time has passed since Bad Boys II and the ever-present subject of one’s own mortality, especially in the case of the supposedly invincible Mike Lowrey.

But, of course, the best aspect of this film is the triumphant return of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as Mike and Marcus. Even after nearly two decades since the release of Bad Boys II, their camaraderie is still just as tight-knit as ever and they very much carry the whole film… even if there’s about half an hour or so where they’re apart due to Marcus’ retirement. The two also benefit nicely from the more emotional angle that the story takes. The film also sees the return of some prominent series regulars including Theresa Randle as Marcus’ no-nonsense wife Theresa and Joe Pantoliano as Capt. Howard, who’s still just as stressed out as ever. Sadly, Gabrielle Union doesn’t return as Syd due to her commitment to the spin-off series, but Paola Nunez does a nice job in her place as Mike’s new love interest Rita thanks to her solid chemistry with Smith. This brings us to the biggest additions to the cast, Rita’s team at AMMO; weapons expert Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens), tech man Dom (Alexander Ludwig), and Rafe the muscle (Charles Melton). Yes, this is a rather blatant example of the ‘old school vs new school’ theme that often ends up being applied to long-running action franchises to try and spice things up, but in this instance, it’s handled okay. Hudgens, Ludwig, and Melton work well with Smith and Lawrence, and while they don’t get any major bits of character development to work with, Ludwig’s Dom does get one notable character beat that leads to a fun payoff at the end. Finally, while the Bad Boys films have never really been known for their villains, the duo of Isabel and her son Armando do fare a little better as this film’s main antagonists thanks to the big twist that reveals their history with Mike. It is worth noting, though, that this mainly applies more to Armando since Isabel ends up being one of those villains who primarily operates behind the scenes to the point where she doesn’t even share any scenes with Mike until the finale.

In the past, I’ve mentioned that I’m one of those rare critics who does like most of Michael Bay’s films. And yet, you may be surprised to find that his two Bad Boys films are, ironically, some of my lesser favorites when it comes to his filmography. Don’t get me wrong, I think they’re decently entertaining popcorn flicks, but at the same time, they’re not ones that I’d re-watch as often as The Rock or the first Transformers. With all that in mind, I find myself fully agreeing with those who have been calling Bad Boys for Life the best entry in the series. Now, with that said, I’m not going to simply attribute this to the change in directors, especially because of how easy it was to apply that same argument to Bumblebee AKA the Transformers film that Bay didn’t direct. However, while directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah do manage to pay considerable homage to Bay’s often imitated but never fully duplicated directorial style, they never go to some of the most extreme lengths that Bay went to when making Bad Boys II. And in this instance, I’d say that this is a good thing since I’ll admit that Bad Boys II is the only case where I personally feel that all that ‘Bayhem’ is a bit too much. But perhaps the most impressive thing to take from this new Bad Boys film is how it manages to craft a story that’s a lot more emotionally involved than either of its predecessors while never getting rid of any of the things that fans love about this franchise. This, of course, includes the iconic lead duo of Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett as Will Smith and Martin Lawrence continue to do what they do best even after all this time. In short, it’s easy to see why Bad Boys for Life has been such a big hit with audiences (even as a film that was released during the typically slow month of January) to the point where a fourth Bad Boys film is already in the works. Simply put, the third time’s a charm.

Rating: 4/5