After seventeen years Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return in glorious form with Bad Boys for Life. By all accounts, fans are pleased with the third entry, and the early box office numbers aren't disappointing either. As great as the movie is, it is far from perfect, as the following list will show.
The ten entries below detail five reasons why Bad Boys for Life is the best in the series, and five reasons why it is the worst. Its flaws do little to hold it back, however, and give us hope for a fourth movie, which will up the ante and continue the franchise.
Best: More Heart
The first two films are irreverent blockbusters that introduced the world to Michael Bay, who would later go on to direct the massively successful and critically derided Transformers films. They are brimming with action and fast-paced dialog, but little substance exists within. It's hard to even feel the fraternity between Marcus Burnett and Michael Lowrey.
Bad Boys for Life dives deeper into their relationship than ever before, making the audience feel all the years they have been together. Maybe it is only three movies, but the two have been tackling the dangerous Miami streets together for more than twenty years.
Worst: Action Is On A Smaller Scale
Don't take this to mean the action is poor. It is still exciting compared to most other movies, but none of the set pieces compare to the ridiculous car chases from Bad Boys II. In some ways this is a positive.
Trying to top its predecessor would have either failed or relied too much on CGI. Still, anybody looking for a high octane experience should expect something on a smaller scale than the second film.
Best: Dynamic Between Leads Is As Strong As Ever
Martin Lawrence doesn't have the same popularity he used to, but this movie proves the actor still has the talent to make an audience laugh. The latter has kept his streak going since the '90s, but it is beautiful to see him back with Lawrence cracking jokes.
Right from the get go one sees their dynamic coming back in full force as if there was barely a year long gap between films, let alone a seventeen year one.
Worst: The First Half Is Slow
Most of the action is in the second half of the movie, while the first half spends time reacquainting to audience with the characters and introducing the villain. The jokes and plot move along at first, but a little dead weight in the middle could have used some trimming before the action picks up.
Perhaps one of the set pieces being moved to earlier in the movie would have helped with the pacing.
Best: Use Of Their Age
With the large gap between films, age is an undeniable factor in the story. Thankfully, they acknowledge it without making it an obnoxious gimmick or paying a distracting amount of attention to it. It is the source of many jokes, though, and one of the side plots involves the characters discussing retirement and the changing police force.
The recent Bond movies, for example, too heavily rely on the character's and series' age as a plot point, which makes less sense when one remembers Casino Royale as the iconic spy's first mission.
Worst: Some Of The Action Dialog Falls Flat
When a movie cracks as many jokes as a Bad Boys film, some of them are bound to fall flat. Many of the worst jokes happen during the action sequences.
Beyond some cheap one liners, far too many spectacular moments are followed by Marcus Burnett yelling out an expletive when the beat would have worked just as well without the reaction shot. It is notable how often this happens during the set pieces.
Best: New Directors
This new film is directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, newcomers to Hollywood who previously directed several features in their homeland of Belgium. Their prior works were crime capers on a significantly smaller scale, but they received acclaim back home and must have caught the eyes of the right people to get them the job of directing Bad Boys for Life.
The movie has a distinct style, and several of the action scenes have some impressive moments, so we would say they did an all around great job. The two are also attached to Beverly Hills Cop 4, so maybe they'll just end up directing every long awaited sequel to famous cop movies.
Worst: It's Too Long
While not the longest in the franchise - that distinction belong to the oversized Bad Boys II - it could have benefited from some trimming around the edges. These are action movies first and foremost, and one expects the action to come in a little sooner than it did in the final cut.
The movie wholly satisfying by its conclusion, and even has a sequel hook, but repeat viewings will suffer from slower pacing than one expects from the genre.
Best: Joe Carnahan
Joe Carnahan was originally attached to direct before passing. Despite this, he still has a story credit and contributed to the screenplay. Carnahan has a wealth of projects under his belt, including Stretch, Smokin' Aces, and The A-Team.
Arguably his best work is the gritty noir drama Narc, which has a decidedly different tone than most of his other work. His stamp on the story is tangible in the movie, and we hope he contributes something to the next film, if there is one.
Worst: The Genre Isn't What It Used To Be
Buddy cop movies used to be gold in the '80s and '90s. Movies like Lethal Weapon, 48 Hours, and the first Bad Boys were just a few in a string of mismatched pairs partnering up on the police force.
Unfortunately, they don't blaze the same box office trails anymore. Walter Hill's Bullet to the Head was a financial failure despite Sylvester Stallone's star power and a healthy marketing campaign. It's obviously no fault of the movie, and the genre's dry spell may even work to its advantage.
Fortunately, early box office returns show that the buddy cop trend's demise hasn't negatively effected its success.