![]() The highlights are a wild motorbike-and-sidecar pursuit that sees Lawrence snap at Smith while firing an M60, and the bloody VFX-heavy finale that takes place at an old palace in Mexico involving crashing helicopters and a lot of CGI flames. Of course, we still get the slick, off-the-charts old-fashioned action sequences fans have come to expect from a Bad Boys film, albeit less jerky, frantic and fast-paced. Given that they’re getting older, the pair are also a bit more contemplative this time around, questioning their own moralities and the legacies they wish to one day leave behind. ![]() You see, filmmakers Adil and Bilall have eased off the breaks in order to explore the dilemmas that Lowrey and Burnett (who are now in their fifties and in the midst of a mid-life crisis) are going through in fun and amusing ways both men are a little slower, Mike dyes his greying goatee, Marcus needs glasses, and so on. Penned by Chris Bremner, Peter Craig, The Town (2010), and Joe Carnahan, Bad Boys for Life is a little more thoughtful and reflective than the earlier entries. Desperate for help, Mike turns to Marcus to back him up, and the ‘boys’ team up for one last ‘ride together, die together.’ With Mike now an enemy target, things get personal for the playboy detective, with his enigmatic past coming back to haunt him. Naturally, Mike Lowrey is at the top of their hit list. Meanwhile, in a Mexican prison, ruthless inmate Isabel Aretas (Kate del Castillo) escapes from her incarceration, reuniting with her son Armando (Jacob Scipio) to take vengeance on those involved in the death of her husband, the late leader of a prominent criminal syndicate. Mike, however, isn’t ready to throw in the towel, Smith’s hotshot ladies’ man eager to continue living a carefree (and childless) life on the edge. With Marcus now a grandfather, he decides that it’s time to retire, promising his wife Theresa (Theresa Randle) that he’ll quit the force for good. The story picks up with detectives/ life-partners Michael ‘Mike’ Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) zooming around the hyper-colored streets of Miami in Mike’s shiny blue Porsche as they make their way to the hospital to see Marcus’s daughter Megan (Bianca Bethune) give birth to a baby boy. ![]() While Bay’s absence is certainly felt, this third Bad Boys chapter, which comes to us 17 years after the sequel, is about as good as a non-Bay directed installment could possibly be, Boy Boys for Life retaining most of the Bay-isms (the gritty atmosphere, amusing banter, and action-packed adrenaline) that made Bad Boys I and II some of the best, most insane action flicks around. In any case, things seem to have fallen into place as Bay (who remains on board as producer) hands the directing reigns over to Belgian duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, Black (2015), who expand and grow the series in exciting and unexpected ways, the duo keeping the fun, explosive energy of the former outings whilst dialing down on the misanthropic mean-spiritedness synonymous with Bay’s body of work (which I find fascinating). What caused these delays? Well, numerous factors, such as scheduling conflicts, budgetary issues (Bay’s directing salary combined with Smith’s would have been too large for the studio), and release concerns with several of the more favorable dates having been snapped up by other big-name films. Since then, there have been talks of a third chapter with filmmaker Joe Carnahan, Smokin’ Aces (2006), originally tapped to direct before delays forced him to bow out. Irrespective of its naysayers, Bad Boys II remains an apex of action cinema, and the franchise’s pinnacle - heck, its insane freeway chase alone has yet to be topped. Eight years later, a more-established Bay returned for the long-awaited follow-up, Bad Boys II (2003), a film that was so wild, unrestrained, and bombastic that it seemed to have two sequels worth of content crammed into one. Bad Boys also kick-started a big-screen career for Big Willie Smith, who, until then, was known for his small-screen work on The Fresh Prince of Bel‑Air (1990-96). Produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, the hyper-kinetic action-comedy was Michael Bay’s first film as a director. The slick actioner - which followed a couple of hot-headed narcotics cops bustin’ baddies in a sun-kissed Miami - was absurdly entertaining, its success proving that black actors could be movie stars too. ![]() For most eighties-nineties kids, 1995’s Bad Boys redefined the buddy-cop blockbuster.
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