Bad Boys for Life: After 25 Years, Still Bad Boys and Still Awesome

The first Bad Boys came out in 1995 and did well. Bad Boys 2 came out in 2003 and the audience jumped right back into the lives of Marcus Burnett played by Martin Lawrence and Mike Lowrey played by Will Smith. Michael Bay directed the first two but this time director's Adil and Balil step in and they do a great job.

Bad Boys for Life takes place in the middle age stage of Marcus and Mike's life. Even though the audience hasn’t seen these characters in seventeen years, when you first see them on screen together nothing has changed between them. Will and Martin still have great chemistry and Martin is still a great improve genius. This movie is more focused on Will Smith this time. After getting injured in the line of duty he wants to get back in the game. There is a new police unit called AMMO with younger cops. They do the whole old school vs new school schtick and it’s funny. Martin talks about retiring as always. Joe Pantoliano plays the police captain once more and his yelling and cursing at both cops is just as funny as previous movies. It seems like he ad libbed some of his famous rants. Due the the amount of time between the installments of this franchise it's refreshing to see the characters again as time has past and seeing them at different stages of life.

Bad Boys for Life has some great character development in this movie. Martin Lawrence is the Danny Glover character from Lethal Weapon, the family man that wants a quiet life. Will Smith is the Mel Gibson character, the ladies man who does reckless things and has no family. You can really see the bond that these characters have shared over the past twenty five years. The villain is well developed and relatable. I was surprised how developed an action movie villain was. The action is great and is intense because it’s spaced out through the movie. There are only a few big action scenes and some shootouts but they are complimented with dialogue and character scenes with the main characters. There is a nice balance or action and plot.

Usually I am skeptical about sequels made over ten years after the previous movie and to be honest the trailer for Bad Boys for Life didn’t get me all that excited. But this movie sticks to its strengths, which is the chemistry between Smith and Lawrence, and the action. The Bad Boys franchise has a formula that works. After twenty five years, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. 🍔🍔🍔🍔