Bad Boys: Ride or Die: Hopefully, Their Last Ride

MOVIE INFO:

This Summer, the world’s favorite Bad Boys are back with their iconic mix of edge-of-your seat action and outrageous comedy but this time with a twist: Miami’s finest are now on the run.

REVIEW:

The Bad Boys franchise has been pretty hit and miss for me, mostly miss. The last one, was a miserable experience to sit through. The chemistry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, the M&M duo of Mike and Marcus, was lacking. The jokes were retreads, so the story and action scenes. The newest one, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, is the nail in the coffin. Same old same old just won’t do it for me anymore. It’s time to bury this franchise.

There’s a sense of desperation here. Smith, ever since the slap seen, heard and felt around the world, has been in image rehabilitation. In Ride or Die, he plays it safe by neutering the fun out of his character, Mike. He’s married to Christine (Melanie Liburd), and attempting to be a good father by trying to make amends to his estranged, former pusher and now incarcerated son- Armando (Jacob Scipio). He is even trying to make junk food loving partner Marcus, a recent heart attack sufferer, follow the straight, narrow, and healthy path. He’s a prude, annoying, anxiety ridden and dull. Instead of being an equal buddy, Mike is now straight man to Marcus’ antics. The result- their relationship has no bounce and deflection. Making bad boys into good boys is not was this franchise needs.

The story has Mike and Marcus being framed and trying to restore the image of the recently dead Captain Howard, who was also framed by the drug lords. Essentially, everyone is a straightman to Lawrence. This is the no fun gang. It’s so bad, that the usually reliable Lawrence, starts looking strained, desperate and exasperated a third of the way through. He can’t carry the picture alone and Smith seems unwilling and unable to help. A Tiffany Haddish cameo is the only thing that has true comic jolt.

The shootouts and chases are edited with a haphazard attention that tries too hard to be a flashy twist on the already derivative originals. There are constant first person shooter shots that disrupt the timing and banter of Mike and Marcus. Even the characters have no true identity. Ride or Die is a collision in a hall of mirrors with the reflections of the originals. Even the spectacle looks dumb with no fun. A raid on an abandoned amusement park features an albino alligator that chomps down on baddies when the M&Ms bullets go astray. The added flash just makes all the shortcomings noticeable. The whole movie has the eerie aura of a horror movie. No wonder, everything is tonally off from the start.