Skip to main content

A Review of "Bad Boys for Life (2020)"

 

image

Bad Boys was the film that pretty much launched Will Smith into action fame. The first two films which were directed by Michael Bay were the most Michael Bayest film ever. Both films had cringe dialogue with fart jokes, sex jokes, penis jokes and treating women like objects with the dumbest and pervert camera shots for women with lots of explosions. Also an incredible amount of F-bombs. Honestly, the Bad Boys movies suck a lot and it baffles me that it managed to even get a third movie. However, this time it isn’t directed by Michael Bay and that was enough to get me interested in this movie.

image

25 years after the first movie I got to say that Will and Martin still have great chemistry and their banter is still one of the biggest highlights for this movie. I was worried about this as Martin Lawrence hasn’t been in a lot of films but this movie shows that they still got it. Additionally, the movie makes their characters have more depth instead of being loud over the top cops and that was very interesting. The action scenes also have a lot less shaky cam which makes it so much easier to know what is going on compared to the previous films. The movie also does comedy much better than the first two movies with moments that actually gave me a chuckle. There are still some sex jokes but penis jokes and fart jokes are gladly gone. Also, the story is actually a lot more compelling compared the first two movies by making it feel more personal instead of “hot girl gets kidnap by a bad person”. On that note, the villain is more memorable as it feels like they have a personality and has a believable motive instead of being a generic 80s cannon fodder. The stakes in these movies feel high and more important to the characters.

image

However, this movie feels very generic and conventional and doesn’t really add anything to the action genre. It’s just a typical action movie that is not as terrible as the first two. The action scenes while much more visible, lack a lot of the high octane energy from Michael Bay movies. I hate the first two movies but there is some pretty crazy action in them such as the freeway scene in Bad Boys 2 but in this movie, they are just really tame. Furthermore, the movie also has a surprising amount of blatant CGI and green screen which are very noticeable in action scenes. It’s very obvious when they green-screened a stunt double with Will Smith’s face or Martin’s face and it can take you out the movie sometimes. Finally, without spoiling the story, there is just one moment near the end of the movie that really irritates me when a character makes a choice that makes no sense as there was no proper build-up to it. It just happens and it doesn’t feel deserved or believable.

image

In conclusion, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. However, the franchise is still quite bad in my opinion and this movie doesn’t make me change my mind. Maybe the 4th movie which should be called Bad Boys 4ever steps up the plate and takes more risk. 


 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A “QUICK!” Review of “Kandahar (2023)”

  This is a 2023 action movie about a US operative having to fight his way out of Afghanistan with his interpreter while being hunted. Wait isn’t that the same plot as Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant? It’s a little weird that this movie came out just a month after The Covenant with almost the same plot. The 3rd act and the ending is also VERY similar. The difference comes in execution and unfortunately, Kandahar isn’t as good. The first hour is incredibly slow as it setups the whole plot but it takes ages. The relationship between the main lead and the interpreter isn’t that strong. The message isn’t delivered in a very meaningful way. There is also not a lot of action set pieces even though there is a stellar night sequence in this one. It’s just another passable movie starring Gerald Butler.
Post a Comment
Read more

A Review of “Wicked: Part I (2024)”

  I am not the biggest fan of musicals and it is the one genre in movies I rarely watch. I knew of the popularity of the Broadway show “Wicked” but I never brought myself to ever watch it. Now, there is finally a movie adaptation of the show. I did enjoy the legendary 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” and a prequel about the Witch is an interesting idea hence why I gave it a shot. Does this movie defy gravity or is it wickedly bad? Firstly, the production of this film is phenomenal. The song and dance numbers are all incredibly choreographed. It is impressively visually seeing close to 100 people all dancing in unison. The songs and dance feel very flamboyant and campy but it works in the film. In terms of the actual songs, I liked a fair amount of them, especially “Defying Gravity” at the end. I also appreciate how this movie uses lots of actual practical set design. It makes the world of Oz feel more real and believable. There are some genuinely huge-looking sets in this...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Review of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)”

  I once said after watching Black Panther, that it would be cool if there was an all Asian cast similar to it. There were some all Asian cast movies like Crazy Rich Asian (2018), but that is a romcom, and Mulan (2020), but that was bad. In comes Shang Chi which is the first Asian lead Superhero movie ever. The premise is “Martial-arts master Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) confronts the past he thought he left behind when he’s drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization”. So does Shang Chi succeed in giving us a good all Asian cast big blockbuster or is it just another failed attempt? Firstly, the action sequences and choreography are some of the best from Marvel since Captain America and the Winter Soldier (2014). Martial arts are the focus of the action scenes in Shang Chi and they are beautifully choreographed. We get the classic wire-fu/floating style of Crouching Tiger but we also get some Jackie Chan style with the utilization of the environment for the a...
Post a Comment
Read more