Bad Boys for Life: a failed comeback (review)

Will Smith, Martin Lawrence and Jerry Bruckheimer are still there, “just” missing Michael Bay the pyrotechnician. And that's a shame.

M6 focuses on Bad Boys on this Thursday evening! The channel benefits from the theatrical release of Ride or Diethe fourth opus of the saga initiated by Michael Bay, to rebroadcast its predecessor, Bad Boys For Lifediscovered in French theaters in January 2020. Still carried by Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, this sequel is this time directed by (Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi, authors of Blackwho have since worked on series Miss Marvel for Disney+).

Unfortunately, the editorial staff of First was disappointed by the film when it was released. The fact remains that this program has a chance of doing well, at a time when its sequel is extremely well received. Bad Boys Ride or Die is an entertainment that is both fun and spectacularly staged. “Really good work”.

Here is our review of Bad Boys 3to be (re)watched this evening on M6.

Will Smith's slap inspired an entire scene from Bad Boys 4

While mogul Jerry Bruckheimer struggles to revive the franchise Pirates of the Caribbean and is about to relaunch Top Gun in a few weeks, he reactivates the saga today Bad Boys. This buddy movie had in its time (the first part dates from 1995) had the merit of putting two dark-skinned heroes at the top of the poster of a blockbuster. Big bet, big success.

In the mid-90s, Jerry could still count on his “buddy” to him, Don Simpson, borderline alter-ego (drugs, facelift & rock'n'roll), with whom he had reshaped Hollywood (Flash dance, the first Tony Scott including Top Gun…). Simpson won't see the year 2000. Bruckheimer will. 2020, he is even still there, less powerful perhaps (his relations with Disney are failing), but he remains a sort of king old school of the'entertainment mass, ultra tanned and ultra rich.

In 25 years has Hollywood – and therefore the world – changed? Do big, old-fashioned productions without too many digital effects have a reason to exist? This is a bit the question that the spectator asks himself at the same time as the two heroes, “too old for his bullshit”. Failing to make it a real dramatic issue (don't mess around) this Bad Boys for Life questions less about the relevance of restarting the machine than about the public's capacity to still believe in it.

There is thus a heavy question of retirement (the pivotal age of which is however not mentioned) throughout the first part of the film. On the one hand, Marcus (Martin Lawrence) dreams of hanging out in front of his TV and playing grandfather, on the other, the eternal bachelor Mike (Will Smith), intends to continue singing and jumping: “Bad boys, bad boys, watcha gonna do whatcha gonna do, when they come for you? » A young Chicano wanker will come to make everyone agree by peppering Mike with bullets, forcing Marcus, the most reluctant of the duo, to put the gloves back on. So here we go again for a ride since Mike – spoiler alert! – will not take long to regain momentum. A false and laborious suspense which immediately undermines the company.

Bad Boys for Life – Jerry Bruckheimer: “My motivation? Entertain people!”

You miss only one being…
This Bad Boys for Life actually arrives with both arms amputated. In fact, this late sequel (17 years since the second part) is missing one of the founding fathers of the saga: Michael Bay. Bruckheimer's ex-foal became a blockbuster in his own right (transformers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10…), went to Netflix to dynamite action cinema with a delirious frenzy (Six Underground).

Bay appears here on screen in the form of a little cameo which is more of a cumbersome sponsorship than a nice wink. Jerry Bruckheimer, sorry for this defection, entrusted the orders to a duo of young Belgian directors (Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi, authors of Black released here in e-cinema), forced to blend into an ecosystem that is not theirs. Where Bay would have climbed into the towers sending the scenario waltzing in favor of a maelstrom of thrills, the young people seem to apologize for wanting to do well. The scenario of this Bad Boys For Life is certainly not very thick but they follow it to the letter and weigh down what should only be accessory. So when Mike (Will Smith) learns the true identity of the young villain, the effect produced – almost zero on a dramatic and emotional level – nevertheless infuses the rest of a story that has become strangely sentimental. Exit firefighter nihilism. This buddy movie which has nothing “2.0” therefore becomes irrelevant. Bad Boys for Life ? Not so sure.

Michael Bay: “From Bad Boys, the critics hated my style”