Review | Bad Boys for Life film review: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence reunite for buddy cop sequel
- Following in the footsteps of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Smith and Lawrence reprise roles that cinema-goers know well
- The buddy-buddy humour between the pair is just as potent as it once was and there is no shortage of spectacular action sequences
3/5 stars
Twenty-five years old, Bad Boys was an electric action-comedy, but the 2003 follow-up was dire. Nobody was really calling for a sequel. But thankfully Michael Bay, who directed the first two instalments, is nowhere to be seen for this belated trilogy-closer, as Bad Boys for Life unearths the buddy-buddy humour that made the original so watchable, albeit with our “boys” now closer to retirement.
While Smith’s Mike is still skidding around Miami in his Porsche, Lawrence’s Marcus has just seen his daughter give birth, and he is desperate to hang up his badge for good. But after “bulletproof” Mike barely survives a drive-by shooting from a lone bike rider, his partner inevitably gets dragged back into a story involving a Mexican drug cartel, led by Kate del Castillo’s prison escapee, with only revenge on their mind.
Directed by the duo Arbi and Fallah, Bad Boys for Life is full of the neon-lit carnage that you’d expect for this sort of slick and soulless action vehicle. But, to be fair, the chemistry between Smith and Lawrence is just as potent as it once was. Like an odd married couple they look out for each other, Marcus even amusingly dyeing Mike’s silvery goatee when he is unconscious in hospital following his shooting.