Bad boys bad boys. What you gonna do? What you gonna do when BQB leaves a review?
Hey 3.5 readers. Your old pal BQB here with a review of the latest installment of the Bad Boys franchise.
It’s funny but I lead most reviews off now with my observations on how the film did at my local theater. I fear the theater industry is on life support and I hope the industry will do something to solve that because I don’t want theaters to become a thing of the past.
The past few films I’ve seen in the theater had sparse attendance whereas this one played to a packed house at my local theater. It was nice to see everyone having a great time and laughing at a film with plenty of jokes. At this point, Bad Boys is one of those flicks where viewers know what they’re getting. You probably won’t think much of it a day later, but you’ll have a fun time during the show.
The plot? Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back as buddy cops Mike and Marcus. This time they are out to clear the name of their deceased Captain Conrad. A cabal of crooked operatives working with crooked cops, Miami city officials and a drug cartel have pinned their crimes on the late captain who died in the last film but returns in flashbacks and recorded messages, played by Joe Pantaliono.
The script is a bit flipped – because of a recent heart attack that he survives, Marcus gets a new lease on life that causes him to take insane risks, much to the chagrin of Mike. Usually, Mike is the risk taker and Marcus is the one to complain about the danger.
I enjoyed this. Lots of good action, special effects. It just seems rare to get a good cop action flick these days. And if you can recall the previous films, hard because the first one came out in 1995, there’s continuity with old familiar faces and fan favorites stopping by.
One thing I’ll give this franchise credit for. I’ve always felt this franchise handles race well. You have white, black, latino and other races, all working together. They care about each other, back each other up, go to bat for one another and sure, there are jokes about race but its never heavy handed or in your face the way you’d see it on Netflix or any of the other super woke streaming services these days.
The downside? Martin and Will are getting a little long in the tooth and it makes me sad to see that given I feel like I saw their first adventure just yesterday. Where does the time go? Also, I always liked Will Smith so much that whenever I saw him on screen it was like seeing an old friend. This was his first movie post the Oscars Chris Rock slap and as a fan, I’ll just never be able to look at him the same way again. I suppose its akin to having a long time friend who did something wrong – you still want him to do well, but you know he should experience some consequences for his actions. What is the right call? Should he never be in a movie ever again? Would that be too much? Probably but maybe he should have sat out another year or two. IDK.
All in all, a decent action flick. Good but not great.
STATUS: Shelf worthy.
Bookshelf Battle 
An excellent review. I’m not sure if I will watch this movie mainly because of the leading actor. I’ve always been a fan of Will Smith and adore his movies from the early 2000’s. However, my views of the actor forever changed following the Oscars slap incident. It was behaviour that altered my perception of the actor. So, I find it hard to bring myself to see his latest movies. I suppose it’s hard to separate the artist from his art.
That being said, there’s no denying that Smith can still give great performances. For instance, I adored his performance in “King Richard”. Here’s why I loved that film: