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Bad Boys for Life

Elite Team Fights
Vicious Drug Cartel

By Muhammad Ali Khan | March 2020

Set seventeen years later, the film ‘Bad Boys for Life’ is the third instalment in the Bad Boys franchise where Will Smith (Mike Lowrey) and Martin Lawrence (Marcus Burnette) play roles as the violent Miami narcotics detectives who are now more mindful of how much collateral damage they could do. Just like the first ‘Bad Boys’, this film is full of action-filled adventure and involves a cold-blooded assassin and a cunning villainess.

Directed by the Belgian duo Adil El Arbi and Billal Fallah, the film starts with Mike and Marcus, who are old-time buddies, discussing their future plans. While Marcus thinks he should retire from the force as he now has a new grandchild and wants to enjoy his future, sitting in the lounge with his family watching television, Mike doesn’t wish to change and turn in his badge as he wants to ride out his career until the very end.

Mike soon becomes the target of the film’s villain, Isabel Aretas (Kate de Castillo), the wife of the Mexican cartel kingpin Benito who dies serving his term in prison. Isabel is frighteningly cold and escapes prison with the help of her son Armando Aretas (Jacob Scipio). She sends her son to Miami to recover his father’s money and gives him a list of people to kill; they were involved in Benito’s arrest. She tells him to kill the main man Mike at last so he can suffer but Armando goes after Mike first wounding him with a round of bullets; he later posts the video online.

The two detective friends have no choice but to get back together in the game to crack this investigation. However, on Captain Howard’s (Joe Pantoliano) request, Mike teams up with the tech-driven Advanced Miami Metro Operations (AMMO) that brings down high-profile criminals. AMMO is led by Mike’s ex-girlfriend Rita Secada (Paola Nuñez), a striking and tough woman, and her special squad Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens), Dorn (Alexander Ludwig) and Rafe (Charles Melton), who teases Mike, calling him grandpa. Mike soon finds a source and forms an alliance with the new kids and a very reluctant Marcus following to unnerve the truth.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as the Miami detectives are solid in delivering a powerful performance on screen. Both the actors have a great camaraderie going and the genuine affection they have for each other gives the film an emotional touch. While Lawrence brings forth his comedic skills to the fore, the action scenes are left for Smith to handle. Smith plays his role with a harder edge than before but Lawrence delivers the same personality with inclusion of comedy. They play off each other in their scenes together.

Actors like Jacob Scipio and Kate del Castillo have done excellent work with their roles. While Scipio is intense and has a very physically threatening demeanour in almost all his scenes, Castillo does wonders with her tough role that could be easily ruined if given to the wrong actor. Her character really balances a fine line of mysticism and realism. Joe Pantoliano delivers some fine moments as a wise guy police Captain Howard who lands in trouble due to the recklessness of his best cops. Vanessa Hudgens as Kelly gives her best, Alexander Ludwig as Dorn tries his luck as an intelligent hacker and Charles Melton as Rafe represents a new breed of Bad Boy. Though Paola Nuñez as Rita and her squad do a fine job, these newcomers have not been properly utilised. They could have done way better.

Screenwriters Chris Bremner, Peter Craig and Joe Carnahan clearly know where they want ‘Bad Boys for Life’ to go dramatically. There were surprising moments with the perfect amount of humour that later takes a rough turn. The film not only balances comedy and drama but is often funny and dramatic. In one scene, Mike tells Marcus about a love affair he once had which scarred him for life. The scene, through Mike’s view, was supposed to be emotional but Marcus’s response to it is so unexpectedly foul that it creates the film’s best laughs. The screenwriters ace in keeping the tone of the film right as all the sequences are in complete sync. The cinematographer Robrecht Heyvaert also does some well-designed shots and interesting lighting.

Most things in the film are the same as in the previous two films; people loved the previous Bad Boys versions. The new one has a lot more action, more blood and probably more drama which makes it a bigger hit. The last action scenes deliver the required pay off. The action climax is appropriately over the top and explicitly character-driven. However, as the film comes to a satisfying end, it leaves the door open for yet another sequel.

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