Bad Boys: Ride or Die

As this fourth entry into the Bad Boys franchise opens, we are once more thrust right into the high speed driving antics of Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) with Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) screaming for him to slow down, instantly making it clear that this is just going to be repetition of previous outings, and also making clear that the characters haven’t actually changed over the decades. Much as how I found this opening annoying in the third film (after all, surely after decades working together Marcus would be used to Mike’s driving by now), this immediately told me that I was in for quite a rough ride once again.

Picking up from threads from the third film (for those who can remember anything that happened in that entry – genuinely, I struggled), the plot sees the pair’s late captain, Conrad Howard (Joe Pantaliano), framed for links to drug cartels, with an investigation by the FBI being made into how far this corruption went. Mike and Marcus seek to clear the name and memory of their captain, and find themselves on the run, with Lowrey’s convict son Armando in tow. Cue chases, action, explosions, and bags of skittles being mentioned so often that it puts Shazam Fury of the Gods to shame, as well as a side plot about Marcus having a heart attack and being convinced that he can’t die for, you know, laughs.

Slight issue though – this set up would be fine were it not for the fact that the framing of Howard was done via money transfers to an account in his name after he had died – a key piece of information that the FBI seem to be missing, despite claiming that their evidence is pretty solid! But, hey, why let something so trivial get in the way when you are making a dumb film for the masses – surely nobody would notice oversights in plot? Well, sorry, but as I’ve said before, if a film assumes the audience is too dumb to pay attention to detail, then it feels kind of insulting that it wants me to care for what it does after that point. Hence, I swiftly lost all care for everything that followed.
What followed was a film playing to template, with frustratingly edited action scenes that would have looked more impressive had they not been chopped and cut up into a hyperactive barrage of elements. We also get gratuitous cameos from characters from other entries in the series, as well as a gratingly forced in cameo by Michael Bay, which is swiftly followed by a cameo by Khaby Lame, the social media personality who was big during lockdown for his shrugging videos. Oh, how I laughed as he repeated his popular shrug!

There are a couple of positives to take from the whole film. Firstly, Will Smith proves that he really does have star power, and even when lumbered with weak material it is hard to not find him engaging and entertaining throughout. In addition, there is a fun segment towards the final act which pays off the character of Reggie, Marcus’ marine son-in-law slacker in perhaps the one slick moment of action of the whole 115 minutes.

But, sadly, those two elements don’t make up for the otherwise generic offering, and in no way compensate for the absolute void of talent that is Martin Lawrence. Throughout these films he has clearly been hanging on the coat-tails of Smith, but at this point those tails have ripped and he is just floundering around embarrassingly.
As part of a franchise that started fun, then went rapidly downhill, if the options are Ride of Die, maybe it is time to take the second option and just let this one rest now.