Bad Boys for Life

An unbelievably pleasant surprise. The directors found a way how to film a high quality nineties action movie with a contemporary feeling and in some places even an innovative camera during the action scenes. I almost have a feeling that this is one of the few comebacks from the nineties which was really great. The story is fine, the action is great and with the performances it got back to time of the first two movies. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are even after 20 years the same cool guys with great lines that the viewer enjoys a lot. One of the biggest surprises that Hollywood had in store for me in the last few years. (24/09/2020)

I spent a weekend with the whole trilogy and I’m raising my rating of the third instalment to four stars. At the cinema, I was bothered by the cheap digital visuals of the action scenes, which weren’t so noticeable on a large TV screen. The movie lacks Bay’s trademarks and compositional uniqueness, but when we take the third film’s screenplay into consideration, we see that the trademarks and visuals of the preceding films were really the only things that made them interesting. That’s true especially of the second one. Bad Boys for Life has the best screenplay by far, as it tastefully incorporates historical motifs, works cleverly and sympathetically with the characters, including the supporting characters such as the police team leaders and the distinctive bad guys, and even aptly makes fun of itself (“This is some serious telenovela shit!”). And the new, fresh team spirit evokes the beginning of a new Bad Boys era, which I believe will not eventually slip into the realm of retardation like the Fast & Furious franchise. At least as long as Arbi and Fallah are in charge. (22/01/2020)

The best episode. A consistent, funny and very entertaining sequel that makes sense script-wise and doesn't offend with its action. Understandably, it lacks Michael Bay's signature style, so there's a lot less banging and iconic shots. But the unknown director duo have come up with a playful sequel that makes the most of the bare minimum and everything they touch works. Whether Bruckheimer held it together is hard to say, but it doesn't really matter. Bad Boys 4? I’m up. (19/01/2020)

The ending is like something out of a Mexican telenovela on a (good) trip. The Bad Boys are back for one last escapade, but surprisingly it seems like more of a toned-down version of the first one with emphasis placed on the story. The effective storyline around Mike is brimming with death. Smith really needed this role again, which might well restart his career. And Lawrence will never land a better role. The AMMO team is unexpectedly fine and the chemistry between the old and the new works unexpectedly well. Even the new directors know their stuff. They can’t yet compete with the big boss, but they have style. And Bay’s cameo was also good to see. P.S. Paola Nuñez is awesome. (01/02/2020)

A fine, Nineties-style Bruckheimer-esque flick with all of the strengths and weaknesses that we haven’t seen for a long time. Furthermore, it's a sequel that is, within limits, not likably not over the top (except for the scene with the armed sidecar). With its style and scale, the duo of music-video directors definitely come closer to the first movie than to the crazy second one. If there had not been pointless filler and the slow paced middle sequences resulting from it and rather slow action, there wouldn't be much to fault them for apart from trying to copy early Bay (albeit successfully). But the most important thing is that, surprisingly, this is not the worst movie of the trilogy. Taking into account that the main roles are played by two 50-year-old actors (one is fat and the other is past his prime) after almost two decades, that is encouraging as well as surprising. (17/01/2020)