Will Smith and Martin Lawrence Still Create a Fantastic Onscreen Team
Ride or Die would simply be another average, forgettable action movie without Smith and Lawrence's unmatched friendship and banter. The way the Bad Boys show Marcus and Mike at several phases of life is among their best features. While maintaining the status quo and leaving everything unaltered would be simple, life advances and thus, too, do the characters. Adil and Bilall draw attention to a decades-long friendship and frame it as equally essential for the survival of the characters as their families.
Smith and Lawrence profit on that without sacrificing their comic timing. They are charming and know it. Their clever interactions hold the movie together through its most ambitious adventures. Watching them fight together in this next phase of their life, still as devoted as ever, makes one feel as though theirs is a lived-in love. Ride or Die also highlights Marcus and Mike's families, biological and extended as is the case with Rita ( Paola Núñez), Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens) and Dorn ( Alexander Ludwig), as much as their friendship. And it's good to see how their support network has expanded.
Bad Boys: Serviceable Action Sequences from Ride or Die
Though they're nothing to write home about, Ride or Die's action scenes are exhilarating in and of themselves. They finish the task, but one scenario in particular stands out among them. Marcus and Mike are firing at their assailant from different points of view, which changes to seem like a first-person shooter game. As is the last confrontation between Mike, Marcus, and McGrath, there is an interesting moment when they also switch guns while in that first-person perspective.
The action sharpens the narrative, but there are only so many real stakes in it. Although Captain Howard's death in Bad Boys for Life was stunning, there is never a point in Ride or Die when I was terrified someone would really die. Of course, murdering off a fantastic character in every installment is not the way to go, and it loses much of its effect if that were the case, but a little more near calls would have raised the sense of danger the characters were obviously in throughout the movie.
Just as keen as ever in Bad Boys: Ride or Die are Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
Once more guided by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (collectively known as Adil and Bilall), Bad Boys: Ride or Die is a crowd-pleaser. You have to see this movie with the appropriate crowd if otherwise some of the comedy will go flat. Screenwriters Chris Bremner and Will Beall do a fantastic job dragging on a story thread unexplored while deftly linking it to Bad Boys for Life, as a sequel building on what came before. Both Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are as bright as ever, and their onscreen chemistry keeps the movie together.
Ride or Die still greatly sensationalizes the police without much critique outside of the renegade filthy cop. In the media, their portrayal has not changed much recently. Bad Boys 4 at least shows, meanwhile, that having several sequels does not spell the end of the storytelling inventiveness of a franchise that has been around since the mid-1990s. Having only each other to rely on after Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) is framed, Detectives Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) and Mike Lowery (Smith) have experience and friendship on their side.
Bad Boys: Die or Ride Continues to Chug Along
Still, Bad Boys keeps racing forward with Ride or Die. Seeing the sequel brought back memories of the Fast and Furious series, which strives to be more than before while nevertheless keeping its fundamental connections as the secret of its success. Considering Bad Boys: Ride or Die mostly emphasizes Marcus and Mike's friendship as well as their ties to their extended family; it is difficult to see Smith and Lawrence returning for another journey in Bad Boys 5. Though it's been a nice run, I'm fine with the franchise finishing with this movie.
Riding or Die is the fourth action-comedy film in the series starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. As they try to block the flow of illegal drugs in their city, hard-boiled Miami detectives Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett—who take on deadly drug kingpins and thwart risky schemes—take front stage in the series.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die employs style and heart.
Though the movie might occasionally be ludicrous and even dumb, the directors don't let these scenes linger too long before moving on. Though the pace is quick and sleek, it leaves times for the relationships to bloom. Ride or Die has heart and style to complement an action-packed, high-octane movie. It is not only that. Usually, I was happy to just see Marcus and Mike talk about Marcus's love of candy as I watched them battle the monster, McGrath (Eric Dane). Sometimes the former satisfied you more than the later.
Though Mike's relationship is undoubtedly less realized due to our limited time with his wife, Christine (Melanie Liburd), the actress does a great job with the very little she is allowed. Though Mike's relationship with his son Armando (Jacob Scipio) is far more fascinating, the basic background of their relationship is sufficient to fit the narrative's framework even if it is not often sufficient to believe exactly how much Mike loves her. Mike is trying to get out of prison, Armando gets a redemption story that works since the movie doesn't strike us over the head with it.
