Bad Boys: Ride or Die – Film Review

Directors – Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah
Writers – Chris Bremner, Will Beall, George Gallo
Stars – Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens

“Buddy cop is a film and television genre with plots involving two people of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process.”

We meet our two buddy cops in a rush! Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) drives his Porsche (standard-issue police car) at breakneck speed through the streets of Miami. After a brief interlude, we see that the confirmed bachelor Lowrey is late for his own wedding! He’s found the love of his life in the form of Christine (Melanie Liburd). At the wedding reception, best man Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) tumbles to the ground, clutching his chest. Yes, he’s had a heart attack, but not one of those ones that involves months of extensive recuperation and treatment, instead, it’s a Hollywood heart attack that involves not eating junk food! It’s a buddy cop film, so don’t question it too thoroughly.

If you’re looking for the plot, it’s largely about their recently deceased ex-captain being framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and their attempts to clear his name. This also involves the return of Armando (Jacob Scipio), Mike’s son who featured in part three of this sprawling saga.

This is the 4th incarnation of the franchise, which dates back to Bad Boys (1995). There were further episodes in 2003 and in 2020. This is only the second feature Will Smith has released since the infamous Oscar slap (March 27, 2022). He released Emancipation on Apple TV+ in December 2022. It’s interesting to see how quickly the viewing public forgives his indiscretion but I suspect most have already forgotten the event. He certainly has enough credit in his account to avoid the worst fate of all, being cancelled!

After a summer of box office flops, it will be interesting to see how this does. With a budget speculated to be €90m and very little CGI on display, this is not quite as major a release as your average superhero movie, but it still needs to put bums on seats. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Fall Guy have both struggled at the box office despite largely positive critical reviews.

The plot hops, skips and jumps along with some light-hearted banter/comedy scenes between Will and Martin, dotted between assorted action sequences involving cars and guns. They have introduced a few new characters to broaden the world, including a burly tech guy who controls drones and moves the plot along where required. The main thought of the filmmakers is to give the public what they want, car chases and gags. In truth, there is not much change from the previous versions of this franchise, but if it ain’t broke…