Bad Boys: Ride or Die

A repeated joke is no longer funny, and that applies to the Bad Boys franchise, too. The third one was an interesting refresh after all those years, it had sleek slick visuals, cool Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in their 50s, and surprisingly solid action. The fourth one, however, already looks like a fluffy TV movie, recycling or even ripping off moments from previous episodes. Remember the bayou scene from the visually nasty second one, where the camera pans back and forth across the room during the shootout ? Almost a carbon copy of a scene in the fourth one, and there's more. The best moments are saved by minor and not very important characters, like the young marine or Captain Joe Pantoliano. The third film made sense, the fourth is completely unnecessary. I hope this franchise finally retires. (29/07/2024)

The fourth time didn't work so well. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are still an excellent duo, and they are opposed by a pretty decent villain, but what good is that when the plot revolves as much if not more around them as it does around completely uninteresting (old) new characters who don't have much to say. The film was worth seeing in the cinema mainly for the frantic action, which can probably turn into quite a mess at home on TV. (10/08/2024)

Bad Boys for Life was surprising with its fresh screenplay, which put new wind in the franchise’s sails. But without input from Joe Carnahan, the screenplay for Ride or Die gets sloppy. Forced jokes and a moderately interesting plot, routine action without a single memorable scene. The overwrought scene with a helicopter seems to have been flown in from the Fast & Furious franchise.  The fierceness and polish of Bay’s action style is history. However, Bay appears in one shot, DJ Khaled in a whole scene, and the central duo are still cool even without good jokes. The nostalgia, bolstered by Mark Mancina’s musical motif and the setting of Miami skyscrapers with Caribbean beaches and palm trees, simply works. And young Reggie rulez! (24/06/2024)

It probably wasn't entirely convenient to go to see Bad Boys: Ride or Die when I hadn't seen the previous film, which is referenced quite a bit, but it happened. Despite my initial disorientation with the characters and the relationships between them, I did enjoy the film in the cinema. Compared to the first and second parts, the characters of Mike and Marcus definitely struck me as more likeable, and their age-related vulnerability had a lot to do with that. I also enjoyed the action sequences, which often alternated shots of action with character perspectives, making it feel like a PC game at times, but in a good way. While I didn't outright roll around laughing, I did chuckle more than once, so the comedy level was also functional. Now all that's left to do is watch the third one! (24/06/2024)

As a generic action flick it's good enough, but to expect anything more is foolishness. Bad Boys: Ride or Die is a classic clichéd movie that offers perhaps not a single original element, is sentimental in every scene where it can be, relies too much on a kind of fatality and philosophical speeches, and equally tries too hard to exploit the nostalgia of the franchise. This then makes the result feel like a very typical film copied from the cookbook of blueprints for a classic action movie. However, despite all this, the film retains solid humour, has no dead spots and you actually enjoy watching the whole thing – I was most amused here by Martin Lawrence, who undergoes a kind of enlightenment at the beginning of the film and feels like he's immortal, so he performs solid suicide stunts throughout and his banter is downright brilliant in places. It doesn't offend, it doesn't excite, but it entertains; still, please put this franchise to rest forever, as from this point on, the more it recycles, the worse the legacy it leaves. (16/09/2024)