Here it is, then: the first Will Smith movie made since we discovered, at the 2022 Oscars, what a bad boy he really is. Will we still be able to luxuriate in his limitless charisma and laborious quipping after he smacked Chris Rock on national TV ? It makes sense that Smith would retreat to the safety of this action-comedy franchise. It was Bad Boys (1995), after all, that turned him from a sitcom actor to a movie star, thanks to an open shirt in a pulsating chase sequence.
The film was a weak throwback to 80s buddy-cop films, only with two black leads – Smith and comedian Martin Lawrence – and an enormous explosions budget. But, playing a womanising Miami narc trying to retrieve a stolen heroin stash, Smith’s familiar comic timing was allied to that least tangible of gifts: star quality. Combined with the actor’s ruthless sense of calculation, it would soon send him stratospheric.
Three unnecessary but profitable sequels have followed. Deafening post-9/11 actioner Bad Boys 2 (2003) ended with its heroes restaging the Bay of Pigs before seeking sanctuary in Guantanamo Bay, while a belated third instalment, Bad Boys for Life (2020), attempted to integrate its macho cops into the modern world. Gone were the gay jokes; now our heroes respected women and encouraged people to go to therapy.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die is, simply, more of the same: low comedy, variable action, and a continuation of the absurdly melodramatic storyline that threatened to derail the third film, in w.
