My Review of "Bad Boys for Life"

Bad Boys for Life is one of the last big movies that came out in movie theatres when movie theatres were still open to the public. I remember wanting to go check out the movie but I guess I missed out not because of the pandemic but because of my own lazy self. Anyways, it's now streaming and I finally got to watch it. I wasn't disappointed but I can see why I didn't see this in the theatres.

This movie starts off with a pretty intricate action sequence in a women's penitentiary. A guard is abusive to some of the inmates while they are doing laundry. One prisoner in particular seems out of place as she seems defiant despite the abuse everyone is receiving. Pretty soon we see why as she has plotted her getaway. It is wild and over the top and is reminiscent of the older movies.

We then cut to Mike and Marcus just as like the old movies. These guys are way older now. They're so old that Marcus is now finally considering retirement. It seems perfectly consistent with his character as he was always the rational of the duo. Meanwhile, Mike is still a hot headed guy but now middle aged.

The first part of the movie is to reestablish the friendship between Mike and Marcus. They are pretty much brothers and it shows as Marcus' family is celebrating a new baby in the family with Marcus' grandson. Another milestone in the family is that Marcus' daughter is finally getting married.

With all this celebration in Marcus' life there of course has to be some sort of turmoil to get the movie started. The lady that broke out of prison is plotting some sort of crazy revenge scheme to kill off a list of names. It so happens that Mike's face is on one of the pictures on her kill list.

As the boys are celebrating one of the numerous celebrations in their lives Mike is tragically gunned down in the middle of the street during broad day light. This could be somewhat of a shock but then we all know that this movie wouldn't be a movie if he actually dies in the first act of the movie. So, no I didn't really have any fear for Mike after he got shot.

It does however introduces a pretty interesting twist to the movie. Marcus takes care of Mike while he's in the hospital. During one of his visits to Mike he makes a vow to god to never hurt anyone anymore if god can revive Mike. Low and behold Mike comes back from his near fatal injuries but Marcus is now a retired cop to keep his vow to god.

This puts the duo in a precarious position because now Mike wants revenge for being a victim of an assassination attempt and realizes he has to go it alone. Marcus abides by his vow but you know somehow he has to come back because it wouldn't be a movie if he didn't.

During their adventures they are introduced to a whole new team called AMMO. They're a rag tag group of super cops out for justice against organized crime. Mike basically has to learn how to work with a group or continue to be his hot headed self and go it alone.

This movie is very much on par with the previous movies. The action sequences are pretty over the top and ridiculous. Fortunately I believe this movie knows what it is and goes with the craziness of the premise. There are tons of holes in some of the writing but that's not really the point of a Bad Boys' movie. You're here to find some over the top action with some fun banter between each of the characters.

The one dimensional characters are the movie have not changed from the old movies as well. You can pretty well predict everything that's going to happen because it's mostly formulaic and I accept this. It's kind of a comfort movie formula similar to how romantic comedies are comfortably formulaic. You know exactly what's going to happen so you feel comfort in the predictability of the movie. It's gone to the next level in this case because we're also aware of the main characters and they're consistent to the other movies that they did.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie and all of the clichés that came with it. The odd couple of Marcus being the straight man and Mike being the over the top hot headed cop works. Then again it works in a lot of movies because it's a formula that works. I have to give this movie a 6.5 out of 10. It is a fun ride but it is definitely not a go to movie for me. If want a comfortable action ride check this movie out. Just note that there's nothing that really jumps out at you that make you think this is special.