Bad Boys for Life (2020)

Bad Boys came out mid-90s, in the height of the Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer phenomenon, a phenomenon completely lost on me. Their style and substance just never clicked for me so Bad Boys, with its smart ass sensibilities and slow mo over the top action was never my jam. Michael Bay was back for chapter 2 in 2003 and felt like a holdover from a trend that had already run its course. So now we're back for a third time around and the main question is why?

From the first moments Bad Boys for Life admits it is past its best before date. It acknowledges the age of parties and plays off those old tropes. One character even says "nothing sadder than old men revisiting the past." But the the film embraces this and explores the idea of finding a purpose past a certain age. In fact there was something refreshing about the approach the film took. Instead of just being all stylish explosions Bad Boys for Life tries to be about something. It's still a lot of stylish violence but there is just enough story there to sustain the length of the movie. 

Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are far more interesting film makers than Michael Bay and they both pay tribute to the style of the franchise but add in enough interesting elements to elevate it a bit. Bad Boys for Life turns out to be a much better movie than the series has produced up to this point. Don't get me wrong, it's still a Bad Boys movie with all that entails, well maybe not all... the gender politics are far more 2010s than 1990s... but it is still a testosterone filled ride and it still isn't Shakespeare. But it may just be the marriage between what fans of the series want and non-fans can stand.

Bad Boys for Life
Starring: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Joe Pantoliano, Paola Nunez, Venssa Hudgens, Charles Melton, Alexander Ludwig, Kate del Castillo
Directors: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Writers: Chris Bremner, Peter Craig, Joe Carnahan