STARRING: WILL SMITH, MARTIN LAWRENCE, PAOLA NUNEZ, JACOB SCIPIO, KATE DEL CASTILLO, AND JOE PANTOLIANO
DIRECTOR: BILALL FALLAH AND ADIL EL ARBI
DATE: JANUARY 17, 2020
The genre of buddy cop films are a fan favorite in Hollywood. The most notable are films such as Beverly Hills Cop, Lethal Weapon, and Rush Hour. Alongside those beloved classics is the action packed crime thriller, Bad Boys. The original film was not only another cop thriller, but also starred two of the most famous African American celebrities of the 1990s, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. It’s been over a decade since the second installment was released back in 2003, and the actors have finally reprised their roles for the third installment of the franchise, Bad Boys For Life.
Bad Boys For Life begins in the city of Miami. The opening scene shows Detective Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) speeding through the city in Mike’s brand new car. Mike is completely ecstatic that his car can drive at such a high speed, however, Marcus is completely terrified and feeling very nauseous because of the consistent sharp turns that the car is making. Mike and Marcus suddenly pull over in front of a hospital and immediately run inside. When the two finally find the room that they are looking for, they are overjoyed to see Marcus’s wife Theresa (Theresa Randall) and Megan (Bianca Bethune) his now grown up daughter, holding her newborn child.
The following scene shows Mexican female prisoners in a laundry room washing and drying prison uniforms. The guard is yelling at the women telling them to work faster. She then notices that one of the prisoners is just standing motionless, then suddenly the prisoner and all of the other inmates shank the guard repeatedly causing a riot. The guard is immediately rushed to the ambulance. As the ambulance drives away from the prison, the road is blocked by two vehicles, and it is revealed that the guard is still in the prison laundry room already dead and the prisoner, known as Isabel Aretas (Kate Del Castillo), stole the guard’s uniform to escape from prison and killed everyone in the ambulance. As she opens the ambulance door, she sees her adult son, Armando Aretas (Jacob Scipio), waiting for her.
The next day, Isabel and Armando are in Mexico City discussing plans of revenge to kill her past associates that were responsible for her being put in prison. She assigned Armando to assassinate the targets, including Detective Mike Lowrey. The detectives are next seen in a Miami bar with the police force celebrating Marcus’s retirement and newborn grandchild. During the celebration, Mike challenges Marcus to a foot race, but as the two are racing each other, Mike is suddenly shot and wounded by Armando. Now the Bad Boys have to figure out who wants Mike dead and more importantly, why.
Bad Boys For Life is a fantastic blockbuster from start to finish. It is the most action packed, thrilling, and hilarious entree in the Bad Boys trilogy. Smith and Lawrence’s chemistry elevates the movie just as the original did. The new installment manages to keep the buddy cop genre alive for the new generation. Most importantly, it keeps the fans wanting a possible Bad Boys 4.
Bad Boys For Life receives 9 stars out of 10 stars.