Film Reviews & Movie Analysis

They ain’t, go-in nowhere, they ain’t, goin nowhere
They can’t be stopped now, cause it’s Bad Boy for life

The Synopsis
Marcus (Martin Lawrence) and Mike (Will Smith) are old players in the game; Detectives, partners, brothers. Whilst Mike is still happy to live his life a quarter mile at a time, kicking ass and taking names, Marcus is ready to give it all for a quiet life of retirement.

Nothing goes as planned for either of them when Isabel Aretas (Kate del Castillo) sets her sights on making Mike suffer for his past crimes, using her son Armando (Jacob Scipio) as his executioner.

In order to work out why the Aretas’ have put Mike in their cross hairs, Marcus agrees to take one last ride with his partner so they can put things to rest once and for all.

What my cinema companion said:
I’m going to give this one four stars… maybe even four and a half! That was so so good, wish there was bit more hand to hand combat though, but it’s fine.

The Good
Bad Boys for Life was a much better movie than I ever anticipated. It was hilarious, it had a solid and surprising plot and Martin Lawrence and Will Smith have a chemistry that can’t be faked which breathed a whole life of its own into the movie.

One of the aspects I enjoyed most about this movie was how the characters embraced their old age, it added a growth and maturity to the movie when they openly criticised and joked about dying grey hair and being a grandfather etc.

My favourite general part about Bad Boys for Life was the heavy inclusion of Mexican culture. I loved that music artist Nicky Jam was in the movie as well as renowned Mexican Actress Kate del Castillo. Considering the movie is set in Miami which has a 70% Hispanic community, it felt authentic, added another layer to the movie and I was just so here for it.

The Bad
The operation unit that was set to find Armando; AMMO felt pretty pointless. The three characters that were part of that team didn’t have much to say for themselves and really just felt like accessories/sound boards for Mike.

It was mentioned as a point of contention that AMMO was all about embracing new technology in crime solving, whereas Mike preferred the old pounding pavement method of the job. However no battle or conclusion really came from this loggerhead point – it was a half formed story beat that saw no progression through the movie, and I think it could have made for a nice minor arc as a learning curve for Mike and AMMO.

The Conclusion
With a perfect balance of humour, action and fusion of Mexican culture, Bad Boys For Life is a great movie regardless of whether you’ve see it’s predecessors. There was a nice little set up for a potential continuation of the series that I wouldn’t be mad at if it goes off in the direction I think it will.