“Bad boys, bad boys/What ‘cha gonna do/What ‘cha gonna do when they come for you…”
Now that I have that ear worm in your head, think about everything you enjoy from the prior two films that took this as their title with Will Smith as Mike Lowery and Martin Lawrence as Marcus Burnett and buckle up for a new adventure in “Bad Boys for Life.
In the third installment of the “Bad Boys” series twenty-five years after the first one was released, Adil El Arbi and Biall Fallah direct this cast of familiar and new faces like Joe Pantoliano while Paola Nunez, Alexander Ludwig, Vanessa Hudgens, and Charles Melton join the fray as technology vs old school are debated. DJ Khaled even has a part as Lowery asks Burnett to team up with him one more time after an attempt is made on his life to take down the would-be assasin.
When you get to the third movie in a series, especially with a few years since the last, there can be a concern of living up to expectations, and after just a few moments into “Bad Boys for Life,” I was actually good with what was going on (even with the title song’s earworm). This film really does deliver, as all my action film requirement boxes were checked without having an adulty adult moment in a film that didn’t need one, and the advances in technology have only helped to improve this franchise. This is a heart pounding, laugh out loud, audience reacting treat.
The cinematography brings some stunning shots of Miami and Mexico City to the screen that had me thinking about the beauty and history of both locales. There is a scene with the sunrise with a pink and purple sky over the water that if I could, I would put it up at work as if it was a window to make the work day so much better. As with the other two, this film is rated R for violence and language, so be aware before bringing the family.