Bad Boys: Ride or Die

I watched Bad Boys: Ride or Die in a theater where the air conditioning was seemingly set to "Arctic Tundra," which made the blistering, neon-drenched heat of Miami on screen feel like a cruel taunt. But honestly? About twenty minutes in, I stopped shivering. There is something fundamentally warming about watching Will Smith and Martin Lawrence yell at each other in a moving vehicle. It’s cinematic comfort food, even when that food is being served with a side of high-caliber ammunition and a plot that moves like a Cayman GT4 on a sugar high.

The Immortality of Marcus Burnett

We’ve reached the "Legacy Sequel" stage of the Bad Boys franchise, where the characters aren't just fighting cartels; they’re fighting mortality. The film kicks off with Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence, who I still think is at his best when he’s being a "low-speed" guy in a "high-speed" world) having a massive heart attack at Mike Lowrey’s wedding. This leads to a near-death sequence involving a transcendental beach and a CGI-enhanced Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano).

It’s wonderfully absurd. Marcus wakes up convinced he’s invincible because "it’s not his time," leading to some of the funniest moments in the franchise. Watching Martin Lawrence wander into oncoming traffic with the serene confidence of a man who has seen the afterlife is a highlight. Meanwhile, Mike Lowrey (Will Smith, returning to his blockbuster throne after a few years in the proverbial desert) is dealing with panic attacks. It’s a smart reversal of their usual roles: the cool one is cracking, and the frantic one is suddenly Zen. It gives the duo a fresh rhythm that keeps them from feeling like a tired cover band playing their greatest hits.

A GoPro Fever Dream in the 305

Directors Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi—the duo who gave us Bad Boys for Life and the unfortunately "vaulted" Batgirl—have a visual language that feels like a TikTok feed directed by Michael Bay on a triple-shot espresso. They use these incredible POV "Snorricam" rigs where the camera is literally attached to the actors or their weapons. In one standout shootout in a cramped art gallery, Will Smith actually held the camera himself to capture a first-person perspective of Mike Lowrey clearing a room.

It doesn’t feel like the "shaky cam" era of the 2000s; it feels like video game logic brought to life. There’s a clarity to the chaos that I deeply appreciate. I’m tired of "franchise sludge" where everything is a gray-brown blur of CGI. Here, the colors pop, the muzzle flashes look like fireworks, and the sound design makes every punch feel like a structural failure. Robrecht Heyvaert, the cinematographer who worked with the directors on Gangsta, manages to make Miami look both like a postcard and a war zone.

Saving the Summer of '24

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the "Slap." This was Will Smith’s big test to see if audiences were ready to invite him back into the $100-million-budget club. The movie doesn’t just ignore the controversy; it leans into it with a meta-moment that had my entire theater cheering. Will Smith being slapped across the face for three minutes straight is exactly the therapy Hollywood needed. It was a bold, self-aware move that signaled the star was willing to be the butt of the joke to earn back his stripes.

And the audience responded. In an era where "franchise fatigue" is the industry’s favorite buzzword, Ride or Die defied the odds. While other 2024 tentpoles like The Fall Guy or Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (both great films, for the record) struggled to find an audience, the fourth Bad Boys raked in over $404 million globally. It proved that sometimes people don't want a "reimagining" or a "gritty deconstruction"—they just want to see Mike and Marcus survive a helicopter crash.

The supporting cast also holds their own. Eric Dane (who I’ll always remember as the terrifying Cal Jacobs from Euphoria) plays a high-functioning villain who actually feels like a threat rather than a placeholder. And seeing Vanessa Hudgens and Alexander Ludwig return as the high-tech AMMO team provides a nice bridge to the younger generation, even if we all know they’re just here to keep the tech running while the old guys do the heavy lifting.

Stuff You Didn't Notice

One of the more interesting behind-the-scenes hurdles was the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Production was actually halted mid-way, which is often a death knell for the momentum of an action comedy. Yet, when they returned, the chemistry felt seamless. You can also spot a few fun cameos: Tiffany Haddish shows up in a sequence that feels like a fever dream, and Michael Bay himself—the father of the franchise—makes his customary blink-and-you-miss-it appearance.

The score by Lorne Balfe (who also did the heavy lifting for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) keeps the energy high, mixing the classic Mark Mancina themes with modern, bass-heavy beats that fit the current Miami scene. It’s a film that knows exactly what it is: a loud, proud, slightly ridiculous celebration of a 30-year partnership.

Ultimately, Bad Boys: Ride or Die succeeds because it respects its history without being trapped by it. It’s a movie that understands the value of a well-timed quip and a practical explosion in an era of green-screen exhaustion. Is it a deep meditation on the nature of justice? Not even close. But as a piece of pure summer entertainment that reminds us why movie stars are still a thing, it hits the mark with the precision of a Mike Lowrey headshot. If you’re looking for a fun way to kill two hours, you could do a lot worse than riding with these two one more time.