Director: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence*, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig
Have I Seen it Before: I mean, it’s only been out for a minute and a half, so naturally this would be the first time I’ve watched it. As I’ve written during many of these reviews, it isn’t exactly like the film is exploring brand new territory in any way, shape or form.
Did I Like It: And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I wrote in my review for the original Bad Boys (1995) that the only thing necessary for a buddy cop movie to work is a visual sense that pointedly discourages any deeper thought, and a chemistry between the leads. Time may have passed, but Smith and Lawrence are still able to milk the laughs out of their interactions together, and that would be enough to recommend the film.
Interesting that Michael Bay did not return for this film, as he’s spent the last decade and a half mashing action figures together. One would assume that the budget wouldn’t allow for him and Smith to occupy the same set at the same time, but just as Bumblbee (2018) proved that a franchise can not only survive, but thrive without him, Belgian filmmakers El Arbi and Fallah prove equal to the type of action movie Bay appears to have stopped making**.
So, everything is fine, right?
Well, it’s such a weird thing to get bothered by, but it’s a complaint about the nuts and bolts of filmmaking. The big bad of the film, Isabel Aretas (Kate del Castillo) spends the entirety of the film pulling them from Mexico City, where she opens the film by escaping from prison. Every single time the film cuts back to her witchy doings, we get a title, we’re reminded that the scene is taking place in Mexico City. When Marcus (Lawrence) and Mike (Smith) gear up to take the bad guys down, it tells us once more that they have arrived in Mexico City. Unless the Bruja is leapfrogging from Mexico City to Addis Ababa all the way to Toad Suck, Arkansas, I don’t need to be reminded three or four times that part of the movie takes place in Mexico City. I’m not wild that the audience of the film can’t be trusted to remember such basic information, especially when it isn’t so integral to the plot.
Okay, so maybe the action didn’t manage to discourage deeper thoughts from me. It’s still reasonably fun. If you’ve seen the others, you know what you’re getting into.
*Anyone want to take any bets as to whether or not the delay between Bad Boys II (2003) and this film was largely a negotiation to get Smith billing above Lawrence?
**Maybe 6 Underground (2019) is a return to form for him. I don’t know, I haven’t brought myself to watch it.