Bad Boys: Ride or Die Review – Film of the Year

The following article is a non-spoiler review of Bad Boys: Ride or Die after a free viewing of the film.

The past ten years in Hollywood have seen a rising number of “legacy sequels”, continuations to franchises that premiered in previous generations, yet so, so few have succeeded in becoming accepted by fans. Some are even so poorly received they have become maligned even years later, yet Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the fourth entry in a franchise that began in 1995, steers far from joining this assortment of detested continuations.

The Bad Boys franchise somehow manages to remain reasonably fresh each time, creating inventive narratives that are weaved into the character developments of the titular characters. This film and the last, both directed by Adil & Bilall, almost as two parts of the same movie, are not shy to set some stakes, with characters who have been beloved for decades being put at risk of death for the greater narrative purpose – nobody is safe. Immediately, any Bad Boys fan new or old feels the tension, as any character could go at any point.

No Bad Boys entry had quite lived up to the original instalment for me. While I enjoyed every release to a degree, I felt the first was on a higher calibre to the next two, that was until yesterday. While for me, Bad Boys (1995) holds a special place in my heart, Bad Boys: Ride or Die certainly beats the previous two and rivals the first. Ride or Die has an extremely tight narrative, with continuous storytelling following on from 2020’s Bad Boys For Life, which the writers quite impressively also manage to tie into the stories of the first two instalments.

Ride or Die features fantastic character development with a huge ensemble cast that we haven’t really seen since Marvel’s Avengers franchise ended. All main characters, new and old, significant or not, are given their moments to shine and develop. In this sense, it feels very much like the swan song of the franchise, yet I can’t quite shake the feeling that the franchise is far from over.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die is not a studio-engineered release that feels like it was generated from an AI-production line at a factory, it’s an action flick made by movie fans, for movie fans. With a relatively low budget of $90 million, directors Adil & Bilall have absolute freedom to make the movie they want, with no studio interference, no mandated checkboxes, and no attempts to pander to a number of different demographics that many feel is forced into modern films. Yet despite none of these mandates, the film makes every character, man, woman, and child, feel awesome, and ends up being far more progressive than any film today, and it doesn’t even try to. A breath of fresh air when watching is that there are no outdated quips which are far too common in today’s blockbusters – the film has humour that lands, and lands everytime.

This instalment awards every core character a crowd-pleasing moment including one fist-pumping scene revolving around Reggie, Dennis Greene’s character who first appeared in 2003’s Bad Boys II. This scene had the crowd roaring, with the male fans especially,

2020’s Bad Boys For Life set-up a future romance between Will Smith’s Mike Lowrey and Paola Núñez’s Rita Secada; a romance for the former is something that had been long-awaited in the franchise. This film quickly does away with this setup, opening with a scene that establishes both met new characters offscreen and wed them. One improvement that this film could have made would have been to not resolve such a vital storyline offscreen. Mike doing away with his casual relationships and settling down with a partner is such a huge step in his character development that had to be shown on screen, yet we know next to nothing about his current partner or their relationship, nor how Mike matured past his old habits.

While many blockbuster sequels of the same genre typically serve as independent features that don’t require viewers to catch up on its previous instalments, Bad Boys: Ride or Die requires a knowledge of the previous entry’s story, with characters and storylines introduced in Bad Boys For Life continuing their trajectories in this sequel. Ride or Die very much serves as a “part two” in that respect, as viewers who haven’t seen the prior instalment will be very lost as to the character of Armando, or the major deaths in 2020’s prequel that are the core narrative of this sequel. So please, if you haven’t seen Bad Boys For Life, or don’t remember the story very well, do spend a couple of hours to refresh your memories – it’s on Netflix!

I was lucky enough to watch the film in IMAX, and while a huge screen and a surround sound system are great for an action flick, Bad Boys: Ride or Die doesn’t feature an expanded IMAX ratio, so any good quality format should do. The film does have some great and inventive shots, with a few brief first-person perspectives in action scenes, so definitely do see this in your favourite premium format.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die is a very simple film, it’s a 90’s buddy-cop movie featuring Hollywood icons Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Despite it’s simple premise, its success in simplicity is scarce in Hollywood, with filmmakers often missing the mark and making generic action movies or poor sequels. Bad Boys: Ride or Die is not one of those: it’s a sequel that rewards long-term viewers, fulfils the franchise’s promises, and transports you back to the 90’s when action movies were the hot trend. Ride or Die will certainly be the talk of the summer, and is not a film to be missed out on.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die releases nationwide tomorrow, June 5th.

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