When their late police captain, Capt. Howard (Joe Pantoliano) gets linked to drug cartels, wisecracking Miami cops Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) embark on a dangerous mission to clear his name. What makes it quite the challenge is that much of the involvement happens to be coming from the inside of the police department. A cat and mouse game starts ensuing where the 'bad boys' begin to question everyone, with the exception of those who assist them: Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens), Dorn (Alexander Ludwig), Armando (Jacob Scipio) and Rita (Paola Nunez).
Others to round out the cast are Eric Dane as James McGrath, Ioan Gruffudd as Lookwood, Tiffany Haddish as Tabitha, Rhea Seehorn as Judy, Tasha Smith as Theresa and John Salley as Fletcher.
This was directed with tenacity and grit by Adil (El Arbi) and Bilall (Fallah) ("Image" '14, "Black" '15, "Scalped" (TV movie)'17, "Gansta" '18, "Bad Boys for Life" '20, "Rebel" '22) plus TV, shorts and videos. These two directors are a directing team working on the same projects simultaneously. Certainly directing "Bad Boys for Life" helped in directing this installment which gives a smoother transition from that film to this. His ability to create a humorous and 'male bonding' situation is refreshing to this genre. The last franchise that obtained this comaraderie was the "Lethal Weapon" one which was decades ago. It was penned by fairly to highly seasoned writers Chris Remner ("Bad Boys for Life" '20, "The Man from Toronto" '22) plus a video and Will Beall "Gangster Squad" '13, "Aquaman" '18, "Zack Snyder's Justice League" (story) '21) plus TV and a video, based on characters created by George Gallo. As with most films that develop into franchises, whereas most of the original films are typically the best, this installment of the 'Bad Boys' franchise is definitely not as fresh as its predecessors. This film started out exciting and challenging, but as it progressed, it slowed down and ended up a bit confusing and choppy. Then, after about two-thirds of the way through, it actually picked up again and started to become the film it was looking to be. It was well shot by cinematographer Robrecht Heyvaert using slanted angle filming to indicate confusion and peril which made for an interesting effect.
For a franchise that's been around for 29 years and only 3 films during that time, at least they wait a while so it almost seems like one is seeing a new film--that's almost a film every 5 years. And if you like this kind of fare, this is the film for you--its demographic for viewership is basically the 18-34 single male; get them in those theater seats. Ca-ching! If you like the up, close and personal look, this is presented in an IMAX format as well.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: R 115mins.
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