Cast:
Will Smith Mike
Martin Lawrence Marcus
Vanessa Hudgens Kelly
Alexander Ludwig Dorn
Charles Melton Rafe
Paula Nunez Rita
Kate Del Castillo Isabel Aretas
Joe Pantoliano Captain Howard
Jacob Scipio Armando Aretas
Friday night is upon us again and it is time for another Movie to entertain us. While our home province has now entered it’s third lockdown since the pandemic has begun, we have become quite adept at selecting films and tv-shows to pass the time. For this week, we selected Bad Boys for Life. This is the 3rdinstallment in the Bad Boys franchise and reunites Martin Lawrence and Will Smith again as “Edgy cops who will stop at nothing to catch the villain”. While this is a very formula driven film, it has also consistently produced good results and ensures that all are relatively entertained while watching it.
This film starts 25 years after the original Bad Boys (1995), and Marcus (Lawrence) and Mike (Smith) are racing through the city of Miami yet again. Tires are screeching, sirens wailing, and sarcastic quips are flying between our two main characters. This style of dialogue works for Lawrence and Smith, sure it has been 25 years since the first installment and 17 since Bad Boys 2, but their chemistry is still strong. They have aged, (who hasn’t in 25 years) gotten a little heavier (especially Lawrence) again, who hasn’t; but their rapid fire one-liners are still as strong as ever. While this is a standard cop buddy movie (as were the last 2), this one seemed to remind me of 2 other films predominately, Lethal Weapon and Smith’s previous film “Gemini Man”. Many concepts and sub-plots were similar as well as the action sequences. Oh well, you can’t have originality every time…especially when it is the 3rdfilm in the trilogy.
Back to the plot; we find out Marcus (Lawrence) is a new grandfather and has decided to retire from the force, much to Mike’s (Smith) chagrin. Concurrently, we are introduced to the villainess for the movie Isabel Aretas (Del Castillo), who is trapped in prison….well sort-of. She manages to escape in a very bloody fashion in order to return to her son and the Cartel that she once ran with her husband. Seeking vengeance for her incarceration, she dispatches her son to eradicate all who were involved in her capture and imprisonment. At this point we see her son has more skill in the assassination department than all of Seal Team 6 and Spetsnaz combined. Able to ride a motorcycle while sniping distant targets, more moves than Bruce Lee and accuracy better than Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry, the prodigal son of Aretas (Del Castillo), Armando (Scipio) is all of these rolled up into one. Giving a little spoiler here, Armando (Scipio) manages to wreak vengeance for his mother except when it comes to Mike (Smith). He is severely wounded and is touch and go in the hospital.
While on his deathbed, Marcus (Lawrence) prays to the almighty to save his friend and partner, and if he does, then he will forgo violence for the remainder of his life. Showing the strength of prayer, Mike (Smith) recovers and joins his former girlfriend, Lt Rita (Nunez) and her new team of hot shot crime fighters called AMMO (seriously, who comes up with some of these acronyms) who use technology instead of street smarts to capture the bad guys. Somewhat unwillingly we find Marcus (Lawrence) join the team and all of them go forth to battle the Cartel, The Cartel’s boss and prodigal son, with their main goal to trike vengeance for the loss of their comrades, while remaining lawful all the time.
Sure, I gave a bit of the story line out, but c’mon, it follows the traditional buddy-cop movie formula, especially once we are in the state of multiple sequels. We all know how it is going to end, there are a few twists and turns in the pursuit that most people will have seen coming, and a mild surprise or two. Did this takeaway from the film? Not really, we found the film action packed, with a lot of excitement. Great special effects were used in combination with a snappy dialogue, and highly charged action sequences. While we had a good idea on what would happen throughout the film, it was still fun to watch it unveil as the film progressed. The chemistry between all the characters were clearly evident, especially between our two heroes (Marcus (Lawrence) and Mike (Smith)). All of the supporting cast reacted and interacted well with each other as well. Even the fact that our heroes were getting a little older, their physical actions were not too far beyond belief. I especially enjoyed watching Lawrence as the aging cop…he reminded me a great deal of Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon and if he was playing an homage to that role, then it was well done!
While on the subject of the cast, lets take a look at the main players in this film.
Will Smith as Mike: I have been a fan of Smith since his “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” days. He is an extremely versatile actor who can play the cut-up or a dramatic role with equal ease. For the most part, I really enjoy his films, sure there have been a few stinkers…I am thinking “After Earth” as a prime example, but he has also made some fantastic films in my opinion. In the case of Bad Boys for Life, Smith was back too normal and provided a very admirable performance. Even though he is in his mid-50’s, he can still carry the action portion of a film and his sense of humour has not waned. Quick with the fists, guns or quips he was fun to watch in this film. As I mentioned previously, his chemistry with Lawrence is proven and continues to entertain. While this is not his best performance, it is still fun to watch and if you are a fan of the genre and Smith, then this film is for you.
Martin Lawrence as Marcus: Though not a great fan of Lawrence overall, I find his performances with Smith is where he is best. Buddy films where he can bounce his own wit off of his co-stars is right in his wheelhouse, and in Bad Boys, he does it extremely well. I did appreciate the fact that he played off of the fact that he is not 25 years old, and he can’t move like he used to. It helped make his character believable in this film. As stated above, he does have a great chemistry with Smith, and I do enjoy when they do something together.
Vanessa Hudgens as Kelly: Hudgnis played Kelly, one of the AMMO crowd. In this film, she was supposed to be the tough cop, who looked cute and could flirt or shoot a gun with equal ease. Well, to me, I found her character lacking and actually kind of annoying. I have not really cared for her characters in many of the roles I have seen her in previously, but that could just be my taste in films. I had a hard time buying her character (or her) in this role, maybe casting Michelle Rodriguez would have been a better choice, except that she is a bit older to play a young smart-ass cop. But Rodriguez does have the attitude that would have helped the character. Hudgens’ character was a smaller supporting role, so it looks like she is using roles like this to develop a persona that can be called upon for action roles of the future. Personally, I found her performance lacking and she requires more time and experience in action flicks to carry off a believable performance.
Alexander Ludwig as Dorn: Another of the AMMO crowd, Ludwig’s character Dorn, was the big burly Viking who is scared to cause to much damage, that is why he works with the computers all the time. I appreciated this version and role and found it to be a nice change from his roles of late (i.e. Vikings). I liked his character, and even though it did not have a lot of screen time, I found his scenes were done well.
Charles Meltonas Rafe: Rafe was another member of AMMO and played the annoying young guy very well. He was pretty new to me and I had to look him up on IMDB and found that I had seen him on Riverdale (for at least the few episodes that I could stand). However, having said that, Melton’s version of Rafe was pretty good, I especially liked the ‘conflict” between him and Mike (Smith) trying too out-hotshot each other. Those scenes were funny and well presented. I am looking forward to seeing him in some future production where he may have a greater role.
Paula Nunez as Rita: Nunez’s portrayal of Lt Rita, the AMMO team leader, and also old flame of Mike (Smith) was ok. I found her scenes as the Team leader to be less believable than that of being Mike’s ex girlfriend. I just did not get the “tough” vibe from her, again as far as casting choices, maybe Alice Braga from “Queen of the South” would have been a better choice. As a Latina actress who has predominately done Mexican productions, I have no gauge to judge her against any previous performances. However, having said that, I had seen her in only one other feature and that was the series “The Purge” where I though she did quite well.
Kate Del Castillo as Isabel Aretas: As the principal villainess, Del Castillo carried that performance and role very well. She came across as evil very easily, adding just a hint of sexiness. Good casting in my opinion. I also found her scenes with Smith to be done quite well and it felt that the history between them was believable. I had only seen her in a few roles previously, but I did like her in this film. My wife and I both found that her version of the villain for the film was quite well done.
Joe Pantoliano as Captain Howard: What can I say about Pantoliano, as a character actor, he excels. This is his third foray as Captain Howard and he wears it like a comfortable shoe. He has chemistry with the two prime characters and continues to entertain as the blustery Captain, who always ultimately gives in too his favourite protégés. A fun performance from a solid supporting character actor.
Jacob Scipio as Armando Aretas: Scipio did an admirable job as the son of the villainess. His action scenes were well done, and his interactions with his mother as well as with Mike (Smith) were admirable for a relatively new actor. I have not seen him in any other production so I can’t compare this role to anything done previously, but I feel that he has the potential to have a pretty good action career. However, this role was supporting, and required him to mainly shoot, punch, kick or ride a motorcycle, so we did not really get the opportunity to see his full range. Maybe in a future film we will see some diversity from him. I will be looking to see what he does in the future, I see he is in a show that I want to watch “Tom Clancy’s: Without Remorse”, and I will pay attention to his character to see if there is any growth in skill.
Overall, were we entertained? Yes, we were. My wife and I enjoyed Bad Boys for Life, it was full of action, witty dialogue and a true and tried storyline. Sure, there was some rip-offs from other films, (i.e. Lethal Weapon), but it was ok. I did not expect an Oscar Award performance or film, just a film that I could lose a few hours and enjoy the ride. I would recommend this film to anyone who likes action movies (especially cop-buddy films) or is a fan of Smith. To us, this film was better than the 2ndone, but not as good as the first, so at least it did not fall under the trilogy curse. So if you are skimming through your NETFLIX menu, and if you have not checked this one out yet, give it a try and enjoy the ride.
Our rating 6.5/10
If you are interested in other films with the key actors, please consider the following recommendations.
Will Smith I am Legend, Men in Black, Bad Boys, I Robot, Concussion, Ali, The Pursuit of Happyness, Hitch
Martin Lawrence Bad Boys, Bad Boys 2, Death at a Funeral
Alexander Ludwig Vikings (series), Lone Survivor, Hunger Games
Paula Nunez The Purge (series)
Kate Del Castillo Jane the Virgin (series), Weeds (series), The 33
Joe Pantoliano The Sopranos (series), The Fugitive, Bad Boys, Congo, U.S. Marshalls, The Matrix,
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