The month of January in film is known for cheap and underwhelming releases. Last year, that was Glass and the previous year was Proud Mary. Oh, and should we even mention 2017’s The Bye-Bye Man? Basically, no matter what film it is, it’s a rare occurrence that a film to be well received. Despite these films being thrown in the start of a new year, each outcome seems to be fatigued and one-dimensional. However, Bad Boys for Life might prove to be an unexpected good January film.
Bad Boys for Life is directed by the duo of Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah and stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrenece reprising their roles as Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett. Lowery and Burnett are back together to take down a drug cartel that wants Lowery dead. The script is well executed due to its blend of action and buddy-cop comedy, especially considering it is a franchise from the 1990’s returning to screen in the 2020’s. The return stars some new and old faces as well, each of which have great performances and vitality to the plot. The chemistry between Smith and Lawrence is hilarious; They clearly “still got it” with their laughable jokes and puns and haven’t missed a step as partners.
The most satisfying part of this film is its antagonists, played by Jacob Scipio and Kate del Castillo. Kate del Castillo, known for telenovelas and feature films such as La Reina del Sur and Ingobernables, tries her hardest to sell her character as this unstoppable force that the protagonists can’t defeat. The previous two Bad Boys films had featured some sort of drug cartel and the capture of an important character in relation to the protagonists only to find out that they get shot and end of movie. Here, this film executes the antagonist by having her be mysterious in the first and second act until there’s a certain flashback in relation with the antagonist and somebody else from her past.
However, this film has two minor issues that keeps it from being a great buddy-cop film: the transitions and the soundtrack. From time to time, small transitions revealing different parts of Miami feel like the film wanted to emphasize the atmosphere of Miami even though most of the movie is already in Miami. The transitions are unnecessary, especially in a film franchise such as Bad Boys, which doesn’t need transitions to keep the plot moving. As for the soundtrack, it’s just a mix of some new music that’s from generation Z and even then it was only used as background music for club scenes or transitions. This is in contrast to the first film, which provided some instrumental music that fit the tone of the film whereas here.
All I can say about this film is this- it’s a surprisingly good film that has a stellar cast, including a very strong antagonist, a well-executed plot, and laughable and interesting moments from Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett. While this film is the third entry of a twenty-five year old franchise, Bad Boys for Life tops the first two films out of the dust.
3/5 STARS