No Surrender Cinema: Bad Boys for Life
It’s time to party in the city where the heat is on, because No Surrender Cinema is going to Miami! The Bad Boys are back, and they’ve brought along some old friends for a sequel that I’ve been anticipating along with millions of others for years. With the closest theater mere minutes from me, this edition is the freshest take you’ll find all weekend when it comes to the third film in the Bad Boys franchise. There will be some spoilers ahead, so read on at your own risk to see if Bad Boys For Life lived up to the hype!
We all knew that it would only be a matter of time before Will Smith and Martin Lawrence made another Bad Boys movie happen, but they got the band back together for this one! Obviously, the dynamic duo of Lowrey and Burnett have returned, but so have Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano), Marcus’ long suffering wife Theresa (Theresa Randle), and his daughter Megan (Bianca Bethune). Even Reggie is back, god damn it… REGGIE. And if you’re unfamiliar with that particular scene from Bad Boys II where Reggie (Dennis Greene) shows up to take Megan out, then you need to check yourself and start typing into your YouTube search bar.
In true Bad Boys fashion, Mike and Marcus spend equal time bonding and being at each other’s throats. Marcus keeps trying to keep things calm, having had enough of all the carnage that he and Mike have managed to create in their careers. Taking things easy is still a hard pill to swallow for Mr. Mike Lowrey, who doesn’t want to face the fact that he’s an older man clinging to his status as “the man”. The arrival of Marcus’ grandson only enhances his need to put down his badge and gun for good, but as things turn out in films of this genre, it’s not going to be that easy.
Miles away from Miami, in a Mexican women’s prison, one of the inmates manages to make her way out, aided by her son. She is Isabel Aretas, and she has a score to settle with many people, including Mike Lowrey. Given that this character has not appeared in either of the previous Bad Boys films we don’t know why, exactly, but her son Armando carries out her wishes to put everyone that she feels is responsible for her life behind bars into a casket. She leaves specific instructions to leave Lowrey for last, but Armando is too trigger happy, and the next thing you know he’s dressed up like The Wraith, zipping down the glowing Miami streets on a blacked out bike. He spies Mike and Marcus racing down the sidewalk (due to a challenge laid out by Lawrence’s character in a lighthearted bit), and the next thing you know bullets are flying, and one of our main men is struck down.
I don’t think you could call this Bad Boys For Life if one of them had theirs ended that quickly, so fear not; a slight time jump has Mike back on his feet with one thing on his mind: revenge. Captain Howard refuses to sign off on Lowrey looking into who shot him, but he finds some reluctant allies in AMMO (Advanced Miami Metro Operations), who are essentially a black ops division of the police force. Just when you think tension with his best friend is enough, it turns out that AMMO is led by Rita, a cop that Mike was involved with somewhere in between breaking up with Marcus’ sister (as seen in Bad Boys II) and this film. They’ve got their sexual tension, while Rafe (Charles Melton, who will be recognized by Riverdale fans for his portrayal of Reggie on the show) enjoys nothing more than rubbing Mike’s nose in the fact that he’s past his prime. Lowrey and Burnett’s friendly rivalry with AMMO lacks the charm of their wisecracking tit for tat with Sanchez and Ruiz in the original Bad Boys, but much like their fellow detectives did in that film’s climax, AMMO has Lowrey and Burnett’s back no matter what.
Just when you think too much is happening too fast in Bad Boys For Life, the movie takes a sharp turn with a twist that I should have seen coming, but didn’t. Maybe it will be obvious to others, but when it happened, I had a “holy shit” moment. It was something that seemed out of left field, but fit into the story being told perfectly. I won’t go into deeper details with it because of the nature of it, but it’s the scene that marked a turning point for the Burnett character, as he realized that he had to step up and step in so that the score could be settled once and for all. After all, this is Bad Boys For Life, and Lowrey and Burnett were going to ride together or die together.
Fans of the first two movies such as myself should enjoy the callbacks to things we’ve seen in the first and second entries. Bad Boys For Life has an opening that harkens back to the introductory moments of the first film, right down to the speeding car and driver/passenger banter. A reference is made to Mike breaking up with Marcus’ sister, explaining why she’s not here despite Mike putting it all on the line to save her from Johnny Tapia seventeen years ago. The aforementioned Reggie appearance had people in the theater I was in cracking up. Even the cinematography was stolen from parts 1 and 2, like the shot of the plane going over the Miami sign, or the slow motion close up on our heroes after a situation where shit gets real. There’s also a little bit of meta humor for that modern touch, like when AMMO is described as a “high school musical” something or other, and one of its members is played by Disney alumni Vanessa Hudgens, who first burst on the scene in the actual High School Musical franchise.
Bad Boys For Life does what Fast & Furious did for that franchise; it takes what we know, what we love, and what we’ve come to expect and enhances it. The new history that’s created for this installment doesn’t hurt anything that we’ve seen in the franchise, but it leaves a lot that can be built upon. The antagonists Isabel and Armando are formidable foes, and fall closer to the ruthless Fouchet from the first film than the cartoonish Tapia from Bad Boys II. There’s all of the excessive violence that’s to be expected from a Bad Boys film, and even that gets played for laughs when we find out that Dorn, the largest and most intimidating member of AMMO, is a pacifist due to an ill advised choice in his past. Most importantly of all, the chemistry between Smith and Lawrence is as strong as ever, whether it’s one of their sentimental scenes, or doing what they do best; bitch and moan at each other with quick, quotable lines that are fired out faster than their bullets.
The original Bad Boys is one of my favorite films of all time, and holds a sentimental spot in my heart as being the last “new” movie I saw with my older cousin before he passed away in 1996. Not only have I waited for this sequel since all the rumors of one started years ago, but now that it’s finally out, I had a chance to carry on “family tradition” and enjoyed it on opening night with my younger cousin. I guess that’s what you’d call coming full circle, which is a perfect description of Bad Boys For Life. Everything I loved about the original is here again, and the updates that the franchise was given here has left me wanting more. If the reaction in the theater tonight was any indication, it might be a while before Smith and Lawrence are able to retire the Bad Boys for good.
PS: You won’t want to head out of the theater right away. There’s an end credits scene that just might be an indicator of what could come from the franchise in the future.
