Bad Boys for Life Boasts Buddy-Cop Chemistry and a Decent Action Premise

The long-awaited return of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as the Bad Boys cop duo comes with a bit of a surprise. It’s not just that the two still have some great chemistry in their many squabblings between car chases and explosion—that much I expected from the two. What’s unexpected is that the film attempts to ground the older characters. There’s a problem with this, however, as the film quickly learns in its second act that not all of the contemplation and somberness works well for Bad Boys.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return as Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett in Bad Boys for Life. Ben Rothstein/Sony Pictures

Much like the long-running Fast and Furious franchise, Bad Boys for Life is all about the family. Marcus (Lawrence) is now a grandfather, ecstatic about enjoying his new status as a retired cop. Mike (Smith), however, believes he can keep being the slick law enforcer. He’s still physically fit, can still fire a gun like a pro, and can zoom through city streets like he’s in Speed Racer. This clashing of ideals for their lives makes for some great banter—sure, Mike can keep making snarky remarks about how Marcus has grown soft with age, but all Marcus has to do is take one look at Mike’s noncommittal relationship with his ex-girlfriend Rita (Paola Núñez) and offer a single comment: “Dumbass.”

The two are brought back together on the job once more by another criminal mastermind, this time a supposed witch who has a history with Mike and several other officers. There a grander presence of family placed within this premise that makes it a little more personal and emotionally driving, but, for the most part, it’s standard buddy-cop theatrics. Tough questioning, stakeouts, shootouts, car chases, showdowns in a crumbling environment, the works. There is a certain charm to the assembly of these scenes in that they feel almost quaint compared to Michael Bay’s more over-the-top approach. Consider how instead of going bananas with explosions, the filmmakers have opted for some smaller balls of fire in exploding trucks and helicopters that never feel too overblown. That being said, the violence is still exceptionally bloody and gruesome, including one unfortunate scene involving a suspect and a forklift.

Kyle Kaplan/Sony Pictures

Another surprisingly understated aspect is the amount of easy old-dog jokes for Mike and Marcus. They make a few pleasing gags about coloring their beards and balancing babysitting with the investigation, but when they teamed up with the high-tech branch known as AMMO—with its younger crop of more technically astute police—that I started to grip my seat for the onslaught of millennial jabs. Thankfully, there’s aren’t too many of the young-people-always-on-phones tired jokes, and the team has more personality than just being greenhorns when it comes to fieldwork. There’s no cringe-worthy moment when Mike slams down a computer and says “Forget this tech nonsense.” In fact, he’s actually capable enough to take part in hacking phones and tracking messages. The generations work together in more ways than just looking down on the tallest guy only being a hacker because of his issues with violence.

This, of course, brings us to the most troubling part of the picture in its bringing up of nonviolence. A lot of action films do this; some supporting character will preach that murder is never the answer and will be proven wrong by either the villain or hero, usually as a comedic punchline. However, in Bad Boys for Life, it’s Marcus who harbors this philosophy (for a while, anyway). Early in the film, when he believes his best friend may not survive an operation, he prays to God, claiming he won’t bring more violence into the world if Mike lives. When he does, Marcus feels he has to turn over a new leaf. This could be set up to be a funny running gag, but for the first half of the film, it’s not. Marcus seems earnestly committed to not killing anyone. But of course, by the third act, he has completely forgotten this concept, writing off the theory of nonviolence as a phase and getting giddy about wielding a shotgun. (Worth noting is that just a month prior to this film’s release, Will Smith provided the voice of a character in Spies in Disguise who must be convinced that the day can be saved without killing. In this movie, it’s the complete opposite: Smith must convince his buddy that shooting people is a good thing.)

Ben Rothstein/Sony Pictures

All this being said, Bad Boys for Life mostly holds up for its intended purpose as an amusing and action-packed buddy-cop picture. The most enduring element is naturally the back and forth between Smith and Lawrence, which hasn’t diminished a bit and seems to have only grown stronger with age. Going forward, I’d hope that their Bad Boys legacy keeps its philosophy in check enough to know that the antics are better suited for bombastic fights than deeper contemplation on the grit of the job. Should they embrace their more natural buddy nature, they’ll be set for the possibility of Bad Boys 4-Ever.