Just four short years on from the blockbuster hit that was Bad Boys For Life comes the next installment in this nearly thirty year franchise Bad Boys Ride or Die. Martin Lawrence and Will Smith thankfully return and are once again teamed up with For Life Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah for this direct sequel in what will hopefully kickstart the winter blockbuster season here in Australia. 

Things have settled down for wisecracking Miami cops Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence). Mike is ready to settle down and marry his ex-physical therapist, Christine, and leave the bad boy ways behind him. Unfortunately, Banker (Eric Dane), who is heavily involved with drug cartels that have been in a constant war with the Miami PD, has other plans and frames deceased police captain Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano) for allowing the cartels to ship into Miami. It’s now up to the captain’s Bad Boys to clear his name and unravel this conspiracy. 

Bad Boys Ride or Die feels exactly like a Bad Boys movie should. Lawrence and Smith have seamlessly stepped back into their characters with wisecracks plenty, but it is in its more grounded moments that Ride or Die sets itself apart from others in the franchise. Marcus has a health scare giving him a, let’s call it, an alternate look on his life. He feels like a weight has lifted off his shoulders and the worries he has carried throughout feel like time wasted. Mike on the other hand is dealing with his own issues now that he is enjoying married life and realises he has something precious to lose.     

Directors Adil and Balall have definitely gone to the Michael Bay school of filmmaking. Ride or Die is again full of hyperactive camera movement, 360 shots till you’re spinning in your seat and almost too many slow motion moments that Snyder was getting worried he would have to change his style. All of this combines for a high octane experience that culminates in a video game esque sequence that had a few people in our session cheering out loud. 

Much like its stars the Bad Boys franchise has settled well into middle age. It does its best when it explores the growth of the characters helping the audience to connect with their real world problems and successors. Marcus has an adoring family and his relationship with son in law Reggie is well fleshed out. Mike however is new to being a part of his own family dynamic, struggling with the mental shift to a partner while also working through his guilt over his relationship with his son Armando (Jacob Scipio) 

Ultimately Bad Boys Ride or Die is another Bad Boys movie, and that is not a bad thing. It channels the DNA of the previous into another romp through the streets of Miami and surrounds while Marcus and Mike take pot shots at each other. Surprisingly Eric Danes’ turn as the villain stands above the limited information we get about his character to be a true thorn in the side of all on the right side of the law. He brings his cool demeanor to a character that has lost his humanity at the very hands of those who he now serves. While a little shallow and probably the worst “bad guy” of the franchise, his delivery and relentlessness to complete his mission have you questioning his next steps, even when they are a little too familiar.  

Bad Boys Ride or Die is an easy to watch and enjoyable action flick hoping to navigate its way through the current downturn in cinema attendance releases and it deserves you looking its way. Laughs to be had all the way through, explosions you can feel, unexpected moments and action that ratchets up as the movie progresses all come together to give you quite simply a whole lot of fun. 

After all, isn’t that is why we go to the cinemas, to be entertained?

Bad Boys Ride or Die is in cinemas now.