"We ride together. We die together. Bad Boys For Life."
As one of the cop buddy franchises I absolutely love, "Bad Boys For Life" - the third installment in the "Bad Boys" film franchise, was a sequel I really didn't think would happen but at long last it did. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reunite as Miami P.D. cop partners and best friends Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey - looking like they NEVER AGED since the last sequel, Bad Boys II, hit theaters in 2003. The original film in itself was released in 1995 - making it nearly 25 years since this hilarious, explosive, and high adrenaline film series started and entertained generations of moviewgoers and now reemerging for the millennial viewership we have today.
Thanks to Columbia Pictures Philippines, I got to see the film a few days before it opened in theaters, and I will tell you now if you are a fan of the first two films - MIKE AND MARCUS STILL GOT IT! I was concerned how the plot would carry over following the insanity Michael Bay put us through in the first two films, but this threequel very much entertained me - and it all boils down to chemistry and progression now that these guys are a little past their prime and older... But not necessarily wiser either thanks to their gangsta style shenanigans.
Set 17 years after the events of the last film, "Bad Boys For Life" sees Mike and Marcus still serving in the Miami P.D - with the former stylin' and profilin' as always while the other contemplates retirement especially after becoming a grandparent. However both best friends are drawn to a new cycle of crime and intrigue, as someone starts systematically targeting people Mike used to work with in an old case. As shots are fired and skeletons begin coming out of closets, both friends must reevaluate each other's own character and come together as "Bad Boys" to solve the problem and save the day once more.
As a longtime fan of these kinds of action films, "Bad Boys For Life" surprised the heck out of me and allowed the franchise to get a breath of freshness to reemerge in a film market that has vastly changed in the decades since the series started. Will Smith and Martin Lawerence are the key to making these movies work, and it helps to have new stories to tell that propel their lives forward, as well as working with familiar faces like Joe Pantoliano returning as Captain Howard and new blood in the form of Vanessa Hudgens, Paaola Nunez, Kate del Castillo, and Jacob Scipio joining the cast. While Michael Bay does not return to direct the threequel, duo directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are more than up to the task and bring on the fun, laughs, and high octane drama and action we've come to expect and a whole lot more. In fact, one old joke from the second film had a pay off in this sequel, and if you're curious about what that is here is a featurette on it:
2020 just started and this is one of my favorite movies of the year already. You know when something's good you shouldn't stop, and a new series of films should be made after this.
Bad Boys For Life is now showing in theaters courtesy of Columbia Pictures Philippines.
Rating -5/5
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