Bad Boys For Life (2020)

There have been so many iconic duos in Hollywood since it's inception from Laurel and Hardy, Batman & Robin, Starsky & Hutch, but the most iconic duo of the 1990's besides Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg was Will Smith and Martin Lawrence who in 1995 starred together in Bad Boys as Mike Lowery and Marcus Bennett. In 2003, they made a comeback as the duo once again in Bad Boys II, but 25 years after the first film they are back in Bad Boys For Life. This time around, Mike is shot by a mysterious thug on a motorcycle who is carrying a vendetta from a former cartel boss. Six months later, Mike is back at it again as he vows to find the people that did this to him, but he won't be alone in this fight even though things have drastically changed for them in the 21st century. The film also stars Kate del Castillo (The Book Of Life) as Isabel Aretas, Alexander Ludwig (Lone Survivor) as Dorn, Joe Pantoliano (The Fugitive) as Captain Howard, Vanessa Hudgens (Spring Breakers) as Kelly, Paola Nuñez (The Purge) as Rita, Charles Melton (Riverdale) as Rafe, Nicky Jam (xXx: The REturn Of Xander Cage) as Zway Lo, and the film was directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Black).

SPOILER ALERT: This paragraph will contain spoilers so proceed with caution. I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I actually enjoyed watching this film. I have seen several directors take franchises that didn’t have a proper sequel or a sequel at all and they just can’t hit the nail on the head (e.g. Dumb and Dumber & Zoolander). Some directors and studios will just take way too much time and the jokes are just not that funny as they were, but there is something about Will Smith and Martin Lawrence that make them the exception to the rule. These are actually two of the funniest individuals when they are paired together on the silver screen. If I could compare it to something, it would be like trying on those old pair of jeans and you are pleasantly surprised to see them fit again, but they didn’t do this alone. It was the whole collection of the cast and the writing that made it work for the duo as everyone did they jobs and supported the main characters. I love how they sort of hopped on the fact that maybe they are too old for this game, but one is too stubborn to let go and so he clashes with the new gen along the way before he admits that he needs them too. I loved some of the nostalgia that was put in like we see Reggie (Dennis Greene) and Meghan (Bianca Bethune) back in the film. It definitely helps provide some great laughs for the film, but the action in this film is worth talking about because it’s definitely worthy of being in the same company with the previous films. The only thing I didn’t like was the whole tried and true hey I’m your dad Angle that we’ve seen way too many times in the past between Will Smith and Jacob Scipio (he plays Armando Armas) who is trying to kill him. They definitely left the film open to a sequel, but if they can’t do that one right then why bother at all. At least with this one, they did it right which is why I am giving it an A- for a final grade.