@thearmag3ddon here with yet Another Movie Review That You Didn’t Ask For:
In my opinion, Bad Boys: Ride or Die is objectively not very good. Oftentimes throughout it, I thought, “this is SO bad. Furiosa was far better in terms of cinematography, production quality, direction, and just about everything else. Except….
I liked Bad Boys: Ride or Die far more than I did Furiosa.
Yikes. Cue existential crisis.
The dialogue was painful quite often, and the plot or crime that needed to be solved took a good 20 minutes to find its way to the point. But despite this, what really makes any of this worth my own personal time was that where it failed in terms of the things I like to see in regards to story, it was actually quite funny. It was a different brand of funny, and executed differently than in Bad Boys 1 and 2, but still it was funny. This was closeish to my experience with Blue Beetle, where while I thought it was overall a bit tedious for a superhero movie, George Lopez’s perfectly timed non-sequiteresque one-liners made me genuinely laugh enough for me to not completely roll my eyes out of existence like I do with nearly every episode of Star Trek: Discovery from about mid Season 3 on.
The execution of the comedy in Bad Boys 4 or Ride or Die or whatever IS in contrast to how it felt and appeared in the first two Bad Boys movies, as in those flicks, the jokes and timing felt more structured and intentional, and relevant to the mayhem happening at hand, whereas here, they often felt like “hey Martin, say something funny to get us out of this scene because we got nothin,” but also, Martin’s one liners, jokes, and general timing is what ultimately saved this movie for me.
I know it’s a bit triggering to even mention the name Michael Bay to anyone that has ever even thought about the idea of attending film school, let alone graduating from one, but say what you will about the man’s excesses when no one is checking his worse impulses, when he’s being reigned in and told “no” from time to time and doesn’t have all the money in the universe to throw at it and must instead approach his work with a level of discretion or disciple, he’s turned out two of my favorite action movies in The Rock, and the first Bad Boys. In fact, he set the tone (good or bad) for the fast paced action that has come to be the style audiences resonated with up to fairly recently. You practically can draw a line from the quick cut editing style that debuted in Bad Boys, to one of the most popular franchises of the late 90s and early 00’s, The Bourne series. Which in turn influenced Daniel Craig’s first few James Bond outings and the Mission Impossible series from 3 on. And well…I’m not saying it’s all on Bay’s shoulders (John Woo has entered the chat) but what I’m saying is his craft (lol I know…sounds funny to say) in Bad Boys is what actually put the stamp on the franchise.
That was a realllllllly long winded way to say that, visually, this Bad Boys and the one before it, have none of that flair, editing, or superfluous rich orange or blue hued filters that go along with it to create a visual almost exotic environment to sell the idea of “why Miami.” I do give this movie’s directors props for bringing back highlights from the score of the original which for some reason Bay left out in his sequel, however where the first two Bad Boys, the second especially being as ridiculous at it is and practically a parody of Micheal Bay’s style…by Michael Bay, have a distinct rich, styled look, while these last two Bad Boys films appear visually the same, in a sea of action films that also look basically the same. A bit flat, a little too technical, and not much room for interpreting reality with a particular eye.
Yet still. After all of that, I would maybe watch it again, for kicks at the very least, more than I would Furiosa (which again, is actually a good movie.) And I think the distinction here for me is this, that while the execution of so many things was inferior, the intention here was to have fun, and that’s what I did end up having. And while not always a hoot, it did definitely feel like a good time by the finale.
But also, I think this is the last ride for me with Bad Boys as well, as I will literally run, not walk, to the theater for whatever version of Mad Max drops next, if ever. But here…
It’s complicated.
One of my takes about the movie is that the action sequences actually felt inventive, suspenseful, and one in particular was ridiculously cool, and there’s that word again….intentional. Whereas a lot of the parts in between felt like they were loosely designed and riffs. It took 20 minutes for us to get to the main plot, whereas in the opening sequence of the first film, it was set up in the first 5 minutes. Again, contrasted to the original movie, the moments where they did drop into some version of a comedy routine was against the backdrop of an investigation or general story tension going on in the background. Here, it wasn’t crafted as well, so the riffs just feel like they’re there without anything to support them. Here for me, comparison is the thief of joy, so I am definitely acknowledging that.
After all of that though, you probably won’t feel like you’ve wasted your time, but also it’s probably a signal that quality action movies are dead. It feels like these big budgets are only going toward the action sequences and the rest is whatever whatever which again, that was not my typical experience with some of my favorite action movies of even the recent past. Does it deserve to exist, for lack of a better phrase? Yes. But it feels more like it’s made for Netflix or Prime than it does a 90s era cineplex. There doesn’t seem to be a level of meticulousness in the “talky parts” basically. And my eyeballs definitely register that. In 2024, that’s not actually a good thing.
I know this review makes no sense, especially if anything you’re hearing translates in your brain to me declaring this as “it’s good because I enjoyed my experience with it.” It’s not, but I don’t think that’s really the question we should ask ourselves in regards to movies, tv, or anything we engage with of a subjective nature really. Life is a series of ever evolving perspectives, and thus from my travels through the halls of entertainment has evolved into this question or perspective: Yes. I can appreciate it in the moment, but a question I’ve started asking myself as to if something feels up to snuff is, “would I want to see them make a movie like this again?” And the answer here for me is no.
I found it fun even if I found it structurally terrible. And sometimes that happens. But I’m absolutely not going to fight for it, or fight you, in the comments. Because many things can be true.
In the end, I guess I just really miss Martin Lawrence.
I give Bad Boys: Ride or Die, 2.5 DJ Khaled’s and/or black licorice jelly beans out of 5.™
Until the next review that you didn’t ask for, @thearmag3ddon, signing off.