![]() In addition to Smith and Lawrence, the always-welcome Joe Pantoliano is back as Captain Howard, the screaming police chief whose agita is exacerbated by the recklessness of his best cops. My audience laughed heartily at one that, unfortunately, reminded me of one of the worst scenes in “ Bad Boys II.” Despite the 25-year span between this film and the original, several cast members also return. Screenwriters Chris Bremner, Peter Craig and Joe Carnahan use this plot development to sneakily insert a reason for the aforementioned minimization of collateral damage in the action scenes, though rest assured, there’s still enough violence for a rather hard-R rating.įollowers of the series will find a few Easter eggs hidden throughout. The sequences following this attack attempt to imbue the film with some real emotional stakes, and credit must be given to Lawrence for reminding us that he can convincingly navigate dramatic scenes. Lowery, whom Isabel commands her son to kill last “so he can suffer.” Castillo plays her role with maximum toughness, so much so that I wish she’d just gone after her enemies herself, but that whole witch character trait had me worried that “Bad Boys for Life” was going to embarrassingly do for brujería what Steven Seagal’s “Marked for Death” did for voodoo.Īrmando executes his mother’s wishes and enemies while clad in motorcycle gear straight out of “Gemini Man.” He violates her order of operations, however, going after Mike first. It’s all part of a plan to murder the people who put Isabel in prison and her husband in the grave. Meanwhile, something is brewing in Mexico, and I literally mean “brewing.” A self-proclaimed bruja named Isabel Aretas ( Kate del Castillo) executes a gruesome, “Silence of the Lambs”-style prison breakout, reuniting with her son Armando (Jacob Scipio). In the words of a far better buddy cop picture, Marcus realizes he’s “getting too old for this shit.” Mike tries to change his mind. Unlike his hothead partner, he has a wife and family and wants to spend more time with them rather than the hundreds of criminals he’s been shooting. Now a grandfather-or a “Pop-Pop” as he calls himself-Marcus re-evaluates his law enforcement career. Turns out all the stunts are in service to getting Marcus to the hospital for the birth of his granddaughter. The film opens with that speeding Porsche sequence from the trailer, with Mike and Marcus employing their usual disregard for innocents while engaging in what looks like the pursuit of the latest Miami criminal. When the climax starts laying telenovela-level melodrama atop the explosions and gunplay while openly cannibalizing ideas from “ Gemini Man,” I had to admire the audacity of those choices. I didn’t buy this “kinder, gentler Bad Boys” shtick for one minute, but that doesn’t mean I was bored. This time, Detectives Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowery (Will Smith) are more mindful of how much collateral damage they do, even if the latter must be constantly reminded to temper his carnage. Unlike the original, this one finds some depth in its female characters unlike the second, it’s not an exceptionally vile mishmash of “Freebie and the Bean” and “ Scarface” whose running time felt approximately 600 hours long. It is the best of the three films, offering in some odd ways a corrective to the prior installments. If you have to milk these franchises, at least give him the directing spot so I can enjoy his slow-mo, non-CGI explosions, women objectification and American flags.Surprisingly, “Bad Boys For Life” is nowhere near as bad as its opening day schedule would indicate. I never thought I'd say this, but damn I miss 90ties Michael Bay. ![]() ![]() Thanks for Michael Bay cameo though, and I guess the credit scene had Jerry Bruckheimer in it for some reason? Probably an inside joke. The story makes zero sense and the ending is incredibly stupid and anticlimactic. The humor was cringe-worthy, the action wasn't even that good (and poorly shot), the whole film looks like a rap video. Another Sony "masterpiece" with a generic script based on a revenge plot. I mean, I don't have to tell you, you know what it is. Ah, yeah, write a couple of scenes to shill our phones and other merch, Windows tablets, you know.Tech, drones, tHe InTeRnEt.why are you asking me?.Don't forget to do that reboot thingy, write in what is popular right now? We have this old one from Lethal Weapon 4? Grandchildren, retirement, you know.Time to milk some more old franchises.
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