THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When the COVID-19 pandemic ruined the trend of summer blockbusters in 2020, audiences left to wonder what was the year’s highest grossing film. I still surprise myself whenever I share it was Bad Boys for Life which was released in mid January.
PLOT
The film follows lifelong friends and Miami PD detectives Mike Lowrey & Marcus Burnett who have different views on their futures as they are getting older. The latter wants to retire now that he’s become a grandfather, but the former refuses to let his age stop him from continuing his line of work. When they go out to celebrate the birth of his grandson, both have a playful race to decide what to do next. Just when Mike takes the lead, he gets shot by a masked motorcyclist. The shooter was Armando Aretas, whose mother Isabel was married to the late kingpin Benito. Isabel has recently escaped from prison with the assist of her son and has ordered him to assassinate those responsible for his father’s downfall. Mike eventually recovers months after the incident; On the day of the wedding of Megan Burnett and her husband Reggie, he vows to pursue his shooter. He makes it clear to Captain Conrad Howard what he wants to do, but turns him down as the case is in the hands of the tech driven team AMMO (Advanced Miami Metro Operations) led by his ex girlfriend Lieutenant Rita Secada. Mike would only be further disappointed when Marcus reveals he retired from the force during his recovery. Not caring how everyone close to him is trying to protect him, he confronts an informant named Manny the Butcher (DJ Khaled) that the bullets used to shoot him originate from arms dealer Booker Grassie (Rory Markham). Knowing he won’t stay away from the case, the captain allows him to consult with Rita’s AMMO team that includes: weapons expert Kelly, tech expert Dorn and the medic Rafe who acts like a smartass towards Lowrey. They witness a transaction involving Booker, but Mike notices it to be a ripoff and tries to save him until he dies in a shootout. After that happens, Marcus gets a call from former informant Carter Remy (Ivo Nandi) that Armando is after him. Burnett alerts his partner of the call, leading to them deciding to meet him together. They don’t make it in time as Carter is killed by the young Aretas just as they arrived. Armando also escapes Mike’s clutches after overcoming him in a fistfight. The day after this, the captain shares with Lowrey he intends to retire too and insists him on finding a path forward in life. This heart-to-heart would be interrupted when Armando shoots him down from afar. The loss of a mentor officially convinces Marcus to come out of retirement to help Mike with the case, under the condition on his partner collaborating with AMMO. With the checklist complete, Isabel gives her son permission to finish Lowrey for good after recklessly going after him first. Thanks to a lead from Booker’s accountant Picante Jenkins (Happy Anderson), the protagonists are able to deduce Armando’s connection to local thug Zway Lo (Nicky Jam). The group confronts him at a nightclub where he was celebrating his birthday, only for it to lead to an intense chase. In the process, Marcus breaks his vow to God to stop killing which he previously made to save Mike. Armando picks him up via helicopter only to inadvertently shoot him when aiming for Mike. When shooting at Mike however, he tells him “Hasta el fuego”. Mike halts pursuit when Marcus takes cover for him. When recuperating, Rita announces the government will shut down AMMO due to the operation failing. When looking up files based on the phrase, Mike realizes who has been after him all along. Privately, he tells Marcus of a case he had before they became partners. He was quickly recruited by Captain Howard and took part of an undercover case on the Aretas cartel in which he had an affair with Isabel before turning her in which led to the investable death of her husband. Their phrase ‘Hasta el fuego’ was something they made up to proclaim their love and before turning her in, he witnessed gain the nickname “La Bruja” due to her favor into witchcraft making her a stone cold killer. Reminded of the affair and the fact Benito couldn’t have children of his own, Lowrey accepts the fact Armando is his illegitimate son. Knowing how personal this case has been all along, he agrees with Isabel to meet in Mexico City to put an end to this conflict. However, Marcus and AMMO go with him to make sure he comes back. Mike meets with Isabel for the first time since her incarceration and he confronts her for keeping the truth from her son. The only defense she gives is that she would’ve told him of her pregnancy had he not turned her in. She tries to corner him for execution, but AMMO aids him in a gunfight. Isabel tries to get away in a helicopter, but Marcus shoot the pilot which causes it to crash in the lobby. As Burnett would fight Isabel, Mike would fight Armando to the point where he can get his attention and tell him who he is to him. When the son confronts his mother of the truth, she admits it but still demands him to be dead. When he refuses after accepting he trained his whole life for a lie, she inadvertently shoots him when aiming for Lowrey. She tries again but is stopped by Rita who shoots her down. After this mission, Armando would be imprisoned for his crimes whereas Rita gets promoted as captain and Mike & Marcus take command of AMMO. The film ends in a post credit scene where Lowrey gives his now remorseful son an opportunity to redeem himself when presenting him a new case he accepts.
THOUGHTS
When first seeing this film in the infamous year that was 2020, my only goal was to have a good time which is all I ask for from action films, especially from a franchise. It only made me grateful to see this live up to hype. It definitely was a surprise to know Michael Bay would not helm the directors chair after making classics out of the first two films. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer however took a gamble that paid off when passing on the responsibility to the pair of Adil El Barbi & Bilall Fallah. Their take on it was a whole new take of creativity because the editing and cinematography for the action scenes were done in the most unimaginable ways that become excellent. The entire chase sequence from the nightclub to the streets was so thrilling I just didn’t want it to stop. Even the visual effects for things like a crashing helicopter in the climax was realistic enough for me to remain invested. Of course, this doesn't exist at all without the returning pair of Will Smith & Martin Lawrence who pick up where they left off 17 years later. Their chemistry remains just as good as before where you'll still laughing at their banter. Like I was relating to Marcus messing up the house ceiling fan yet laughed my ass off way too much. I didn't think I'd see Reggie again, so seeing them give him stank eye still gets me. And even them picking on AMMO for getting the lyrics wrong to their favorite song is going to be generational because we all got our own favorite and hate it when someone botches it. I even had to pause it when Marcus freaked out over his wife (Therese Handle) Theresa's car got destroyed by a falling Carter because in his eyes, a concerned wife is scarier than an assassin. That situation is dead-on relatable and I won't stop laughing Besides that, the bond they have was able to express the big theme on how you must put the past behind you in order to move forward with a bright future you're aiming for. Marcus is content with what he's gotten to do as a cop and wants to make up on the time he lost with his family. He still chooses to continue having Mike's back because that is how strong of a brotherhood they built as he can't bare losing him. I don't think any of us expected Lowrey to have a backstory to explore where his charisma came from. Well it was because of a broken heart. Lowrey was in a place where he had to do the right thing and it bothered him to commit betrayal. Ever since, everything he learned from Isabel to be the one man army he built himself to be would only be his facade deep down on how he would always keep his guard up. The one time he didn't, it bothered him deeply because he refused to let anyone think of him as weak when he's far from it. Little would he expect his perfect opponent would be his own reflection. I didn't think the use of a Darth Vader twist would pay off in this setting, so I'm glad it ended up working out because I didn't see it coming. Jacob Scipio was very good as Armando for portraying him as one who was trained to be a live deadly weapon when he never had to be. He grew up hating the wrong guy because he was raised by a deranged woman that was his mother. Kate del Castillo nailed it in being a vengeful who didn't care who she had to kill to be satisfied because she lost it all and refuses to accept she's in the wrong after all she's done. Luckily, she was stopped before she could regain any momentum she had planned. Smith & Lawrence are always gonna be the selling point of this movie no matter how old they get, but not even they can get the job done alone. It was cool seeing Joe Pantoliano have another great go as the mentor Captain Howard who has rightful stress yet has enough patience to tell what's important, which only made his death so tough to cope with. Going into new characters, I actually enjoyed Rita because Paola Nuñez is just as capable of a woman as Syd. She and Mike had a hard time hitting it off because his past gave him commitment issues. Even though she didn't know what he was going through, she was still willing to help him by getting involved as much as she did. Once she realized Isabel was the reason of the problem, she had to put he down herself to help Mike move on because he likely would not have if he did it. Gladly, they're on the same page by the time we make it to Ride or Die. Charles Melton shows Rafe as a guy who has a chip on the shoulder like any young buck, but he still proves to reliable when the going gets rough. Alexander Ludwig also did great in making Dorn a soft brute who stays away from bullets due to involuntarily manslaughter. He avoids danger when he knows he can, until Mike insists him to get physical and promise him therapy afterwards. I applaud that move because it ain't easy to get your groove back. Vanessa Hudgens stood out as well for making Kelly the peacekeeper who doesn't speak up unless the topic is important and has no reason to against the veterans she has the privilege to fight alongside. Because of such usefulness, it was nice o see her and Dorn return in Ride or Die. This movie holds up pretty well on its own but despite its nostalgic power, there are things that could've done better. Like for instance, Marcus should be used to Mike's driving skills after 30 years of being partners. If he wants to see his grandchild as fast as possible, your partner is your go to guy. And I parked a whole lot when Marcus hit the door on accident with the fire hydrant, but Mike should've known he'd make a mistake like that so it's on him for parking near that. Hell if Marcus didn't want to put up with traffic or reckless driving, he should've taken the chopper because I'm sure the captain would've hooked him up. That whole scenario is less believable than him not knowing any Spanish dialect after all his time being a cop. They definitely surprise up when Armando does a drive by on Mike, but how'd he know where he'd be? Did he ask Zway Lo to track him down or did his mom know where he would go hang out in advance? I mean if he's this good at going after people, there should be some clarification on that. In all honesty, I feel like Isabel should've not mentioned Mike to her son until he dealt with all the targets because it was a miracle Lowrey overcomes the drive by. And if he didn't have Zway Lo to help him find Mike to shoot him the first time, why was he there when it came to killing the captain? That was a pointless tag along if you ask me. Speaking of which, it is way too unrealistic for the captain's family to leave the funeral before Mike & Marcus. I know he was a mentor to them, but that does not mean they love him more than his wife and kids. It's also kinda crazy that it takes Mike to get himself involved in the case to figure out who shot him. AMMO should've at least figured out where the bullets came from before he did. And how was the drive by allowed to be shared to mainstream media without a discretion warning? They just drop that as if it's normal when it really isn't. It is one thing to keep the story when talking about a case when walking, but I would never do that in a police station. Considering that the next sequel focuses on police corruption, I'm surprised moments like this didn't bite the protagonists sooner because they're lucky criminal transports aren't happening during these convos. That's more irritating than AMMO playing the drive by on loop when they didn't have to. I'm not even sure when Marcus actually called AMMO for backup when we didn't see him make a call before confronting the accountant. If he texted Rita, he could've just said that. On top of that, I refuse to believe they didn't get reported by the air marshall when speaking of an upcoming mission that's guaranteed to be dangerous. There's no point in seeing passengers react to their conversation if there's no true delivery for it. Other than that, this is still cool ass movie. To wrap up, Bad Boys for Life earns its financial success for being just as entertaining as the predecessors while making its own tweaks to stand out. If the the first two films are held dearly to your heart, it's a no brainer you'll dig this too.
Comments