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 “Spy × Family Code: White (2024)“

  This movie is two hours of Spy X Family goodness! Everything you love from the show is in here: the fun family slice-of-life dynamic, the ridiculously fun comedy with wacky goofiness from lovable daughter Anya, the suave spy action from Loid, and badass fight action set pieces from Yor. The animation is mostly similar to the show, but there are moments in the final act where the animation is glorious! However, the story isn’t really much to write home about and the villain is very "underbaked” (pun intended). Overall, this is a very fun movie set in the Spy X Family universe. If you love the show, you’ll love the movie.
Post a Comment
Read more

A Review of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)”

  Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the best and most surprising things to come out of the MCU. They were an unknown group with heroes that were even more unknown than Iron Man (at the time). However, thanks to director James Gunn, he made them one of the most popular Marvel characters and team. I loved the first one and it is still up there in one of my favourite Marvel films. The second one is a great movie but not as good as the first one. There is a joke that the 3rd movie is always the worst which did occur with Ant-Man recently. Does Guardians of the Galaxy fall into this or does it deliver an epic trilogy? One of the core themes in the Guardian of the Galaxy movies is family and loss. This is still prevalent here and still as powerful. We see the Guardians feel closer as a family than ever but also argue a lot like family too. In terms of character arcs, Peter is still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Yondu and even his mother which is making him go to the bo...
Post a Comment
Read more

A “QUICK!” Review of “Until Dawn (2025)”

  It’s disappointing that this film is “Until Dawn” in name only and doesn’t truly adapt the game. However, the time loop element is intriguing, and I did enjoy the group’s camaraderie. Unfortunately, the horror is generic and uninspired, and the visuals are equally dull, marked by flat cinematography. Overall, it’s a shallow film that delivers a lackluster execution of what could have been an interesting concept.
Post a Comment
Read more