Bad Boys: Ride or Die Movie Review

  

Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Synopsis: After their Captain is framed for being a drug dealer, Lowrey and Burnett do anything to clear their Captain's name, even if it means going on the run.

Director: Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah

Stars: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens & Joe Pantoliano

Runtime: 1 hour 50 mins

Genre: Action buddy-cop comedy

Coming four years after the franchise's previous entry Bad Boys for Life, this movie which see's directing duo Adil & Bilall return is Will Smith's first film in two years. The time it took between instalments was due to Smith & Lawrence making sure they had the right story, and a new story to tell. Let's see if it all worked out, or is it a slap in the face. 

Let's break it down..

Story and Plot

When Captain Conrad Howard (Pantoliano) gets linked to Miami drug cartels, wise cracking cops Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) embark on a dangerous mission to clear his name. 

My overall thoughts...

If memory serves I think I enjoyed Bad Boys for Life. Unfortunately I did not enjoy this movie. Whilst it had some funny moments, this movie just felt like a stab by Will Smith to re-invigorate his ailing career and has brought Lawrence along for the ride. 

It's a mess, it felt tired, formulaic, and tonally inconsistent (PTSD into raucous Bad Boy humour in a heartbeat). A dull script with the majority of the jokes falling flat and a story that's been told a thousand times. I very much had the feeling that I had seen this all before, it lacked originality and creativity.  

If you are a die-hard old school Bad Boys fan, you will (I'd say) like the movie but solely for the reason that you are well just that...a die-hard old school Bad Boys fan. If you just want to go and see an action comedy and are not particularly au fait with the franchise you will almost certainly be lost as to who some of the side characters (and their motivations) are. This is due to the plot hanging a lot of weight on characters from previous entries that if you are not up-to-speed with the franchise will leave you scratching your head. 

Cast

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence clearly love acting together but their performances were very stilted. It felt like the actors wanted to be anywhere else other than here. Whilst still in shape (He's 55 year's old) Smith it's getting a little long in the tooth to play the crack-shot hot cop routine. Lawrence who's character Burnett has a near death experience towards the start of the film is frankly a mess the entire movie. He tries to inject as much humour as possible but the jokes fall mostly flat, which is not surprising as the script is very poor.

As for the villain McGrath (Eric Dane) he is poorly defined and is an uninspired antagonist. 

On screen Action

The on-screen action in this movie is pretty chaotic. Hyper-kinetic photography, slo-motion and editing mask what are essentially very basic action set pieces that lack spontaneity. 

Filmed largely by drone or with the use of first person POV camera steadi-cams (Actually strapped onto the actors), the directors try to freshen up the franchise with unique camera angles. But the action is honestly pretty boring, and as I always say if I'm not involved in the story the action is just noise. 

Music and Score

Seasoned composer Lorne Balfe provides the score which is good and there were a few needle drops but no songs particularly come to mind.

 

Fans of the franchise will like it and whilst there are a few funny scenes and lines, Ride or Die felt like a cash grab to help Smith's ailing career. This movie is a mess. Formulaic, tonally inconsistent with it's main stars phoning their performances in. Mindless action with jokes that fall flat. Time will tell whether this movie will ride or die at the box office.

Verdict  - It's Fine