Review by Najah!
Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Nuñez, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Jacob Scipio, Melanie Liburd, Tasha Smith, with Tiffany Haddish and Joe Pantoliano.

We are back again with the comedic/action duo, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, for another (and hopefully, final) installment of the Bad Boys franchise. Set in beautiful Miami, we return to Mike Lowry (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) continuing working for the drug tactical unit within the Miami Police Department, as well as their lives. A slight hiccup, though: Lowry and Burnett are now labeled as fugitives due to some dark movements within law enforcement that has hands in all levels of government. 

If you watched the last installment, Mike Lowry’s past comes back to haunt him when the woman he fell in love with while undercover years ago, plots to use their son , Armando (that Mike knew nothing about) to ruin Mike’s career, and ultimately, his life.  That whole event ended with Lowry and Bennett burying their beloved captain of their unit, Conrad Howard. 

In Ride or Die, Captain Howard messages Lowry and Bennet from the grave letting them know that there are dirty cops all over and to trust no one.  This requires Mike to reach out to his son (who is now in Federal Prison under extreme lockdown) to get to the bottom of the case. 

There are a few things that I am happy to see in this film; specifically, the evolution of characters. If you weren’t too caught up in the action (which we will discuss, I assure you), you will see the references of PTSD and other mental health issues being depicted via Lowry’s night terrors/panic attacks and Burnett’s spiritual encounters along with his near-death experience and new diet (have you ever seen someone switch to a sugar-free diet? It’s not pretty). When you are a cop in your 50s, you’re going to experience some other things besides shooting people.  These men are living their lives with Mike finally settling down and even Marcus’s son-in-law had a chance to show his growth (one of the best scenes, might I add).  The comedy was there in the least likely of places which made it even more gut-busting. The script allowed these veteran actors to be exactly what they needed to be at this time in their lives.

Now, let’s discuss the fusion on a production/cinematography level? One of the saddest things to see in film are producers that don’t know how to step back gracefully and engage the new storytellers of current. Bruckheimer and other producers made a wise choice to bring Adil & Bilall to direct these last two installments. These gentlemen brought a fresh new pair of eyes to these films that was necessary. They were not afraid to go dark in plot (thanks, Chris Bremmer) and Adil & Bilall knew how to take that first person shooter camera angle and not make it look digitized, giving multiple dimensions. 

The cameos and features were not overdone, and the recurring characters had room to grow, as well. No need to reinvent the wheel…but we will always celebrate a new set of tires. It’s a great way for this franchise to ride off into the sunset.

I give 5 out of 5 packs of Skittles *chuckles*

Thank you Allied, and Columbia Pictures for the Advanced Screening