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‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ Review: Will Smith & Martin Lawrence deliver an all-guns-blazing summer gem



The comic moments and inventive action sequences come thick and fast in the franchise's laugh-packed, full-tilt fourth instalment


After the rainiest spring in Britain since 1986, Bad Boys: Ride or Die is a welcome two-hour blast of fast-paced, swashbuckling, wisecracking summer energy.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence dust off their buddy chemistry to return as hotshot Miami cops Mike and Marcus. The duo are looking to clear the name of their beloved late boss Captain Howard, who is being framed for corruption by a thinly-drawn drug cartel leader. Mike’s son Armando (Jacob Scipio) is the only person who can identify the villain, and after a dramatic fight involving gym equipment and a tense tussle aboard a crashing helicopter, Marcus, Mike and Armando find themselves on the run.

The plot is in top gear from the opening scene, providing inventive and captivating action sequences – including a climactic battle in a crocodile-infested derelict amusement park – peppered with comic banter that consistently hits the mark. While he may no longer be the franchise’s biggest name, Martin Lawrence ends up stealing the show with his physical comedy. He also delivers most of the wittiest lines, while Smith unusually plays the straight man to his co-star’s wackiness.

This is summer blockbuster action-adventure excitement on a par with a Mission: Impossible film, yet with four times the laughs.

With Smith and Lawrence both now well into their fifties, the film contains plenty of jokes and philosophical moments about getting older, as is customary for these kinds of action sequels-of-sequels. But on this evidence, Bad Boys is a franchise with plenty left in the tank.


 Rating: 4.5/5




Photo: John Griffiths, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons


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