Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) return for a fourth feature as the inseparable detectives. This time the Bad Boys are on the run from law enforcement when they decide to clear the name of their friend Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano).
In an enjoyable twist this film tries to flip the duo’s personas. Following a near death experience Marcus is convinced that he is invincible as it is not his time to die. Whilst Mike blames the Captain’s death in their previous outing on himself and finds himself having panic attacks under pressure. The result is that Mike becomes more cautious whilst Marcus adopts a more confident persona. The fact that Marcus’s newfound confidence is nearly always ill thought out means that for the first time perhaps ever I actually found Martin Lawrence funny.
The film also features returns from a number of characters introduced in Bad Boys For Life. The AMMO (Advanced Miami Metro Operations) pair of Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens) and Dorn (Alexander Ludwig) give the film further comic relief, firepower and the sort of computer wizardry skills that bypass lots of boring detective work. Whilst Mike Lowrey’s son Armando (Jacob Scipio) rejoins the group begrudgingly as a good guy. Perhaps the Bad Boys franchise is learning a lesson from Fast & Furious where no villain is beyond becoming a hero.
This fourth entry in the series is again directed by Adil and Billal and just like the third entry that they made it feels increasingly like a Lethal Weapon film for the younger generation. The group of “good guys” is growing, the buddy comedy duo are mellowing and the shoot outs continue. The directing duo are still doing a great job of mimicking Michael Bay’s stylings but this time it feels like they have really taken ownership of the series whilst still giving Bay time for another cameo showing off his terrible acting skills.
Easily the best Bad Boys film since the 1995 original but it will not be winning anyone over if you are not already a fan.
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