Bad Boys For Life Review

The energetic and charismatic action generated throughout Bad Boys For Life directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah achieves worthwhile thrills and explosive set pieces despite a painfully formulaic storyline. The fast-paced filmmaking from El Arbi and Fallah offers refreshing visuals for the franchise, while the magnetic chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence remains entertaining and sincere. There’s enough throughout the film to please fans of action, and those familiar with Bad Boys and Bad Boys II, but Bad Boys For Life fails to bring anything new or imaginative to the series or genre. Instead, screenwriters Chris Bremner, Peter Craig, and Joe Carnahan have created a narrative that reinforces tired clichés and tropes. Smith and Lawrence consistently elevate the bland material through their natural wittiness. Still, the unrelentingly unimaginative story decides to stick with what it knows until each element has been entirely exhausted, resulting in an underwhelming plot and a third act that is easily predictable.

Set 17 years after Bad Boys II, Miami detective Mike Lowrey finds himself up against a vindictive Mexican drug lord who wishes death upon all who played a part in his imprisonment, including Lowrey. When Mike suddenly gets wounded from a targeted attack against him, he decides to ask his long-time partner Marcus Burnett for help arresting his assailants. But the duo soon finds that bringing the cartel to justice will take far more than the two of them.

Bad Boys For Life proves most enjoyable during the several adrenaline-fueled set pieces that it has to offer. Many of the film's action scenes are well produce and extremely enjoyable, creating big-budget spectacles that often act as effective crescendos. The film also finds success in its blend of action and humour but, unfortunately, relies heavily on the scenes tone and cast delivery for those elements to be vital. Despite Bad Boys For Life's generic structure, it nevertheless acts as an adequate foundation for the film's more memorable moments.

However, the film does eventually get frustrating due to its lack of depth and unwillingness to find ways to push its creativity. Bad Boys For Life is often too dependant on the elements that proved useful in its past installments, finding comfort in its beguiling mixture of over the top action and comedy that swiftly becomes mediocre. This results in various sections feeling disposable and uninteresting, forcing unwarranted patience on the audience as the film struggles to find its footing again.

Overall, Bad Boys For Life is a serviceable and relatively enjoyable film that becomes hindered from being too predictable. There are enough positives throughout the film to conjure a worthwhile experience, but the monotonous creative decisions that the cast and crew make ultimately results in a bland narrative that relies heavily on outdated and ineffective methods of storytelling.

Charismatic yet stubbornly uninventive, the enjoyable action scenes and electric chemistry from Smith and Lawrence prevents Bad Boys For Life from becoming a poor addition to the series.

Produced By: Columbia Pictures
Runtime: 123 minutes
Rating: R