Review: 'Bad Boys for Life' - a fun ride as Mike and Marcus try to take a ghost from Mike's past

Starring: Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Vanessa Hudgens, Charles Melton, Alexander Ludwin, Kate del Castillo, Jacob Scipio, Joe Pantoliano  

In this third installment, we meet Mike (Will Smith, Gemini Man) and Marcus (Martin Lawrence, Death at a Funeral) are celebrating their jobs and Marcus is considering retirement as Mike wants to double down. There is a new danger lurking and wanting revenge on Mike so even though Marcus wants to retire, that may just be out of the question. 

When they announced this movie, a part of me was excited because I really liked the first two movies but nervous because the second one was epic. Cue scene where Marcus and Mike scare off Marcus’s daughter’s first date. Going into this movie, I was hoping for so much and I will like to say that I was not disappointed. 

The movie is funny, entertaining, and action-packed. It is very much a Jerry Bruckheimer film as shit explodes and you get all giddy every time that it does. These types of movies are not as common as they used to be, but it wouldn’t hurt to bring it back. Let’s get back to a time when we just see shit blowing up for no reason except to just see fire in slow motion.  

The story opens possibilities for a new world to come from this world revolving around the three new characters Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens, The Princess Switch), Rafe (Charles Melton, TV’s Riverdale), and Dorn (Alexander Ludwig, TV’s Vikings). They are a group of super cops that are just amazing at everything and really show that the way police work is done is nothing like it used to be. I enjoyed it because a. Hudgens is more bad ass and definitely not that sweet innocent person that we have always seen in the past and b. same for Ludwig. I remember him from Hunger Games where he was essentially the ‘bad guy’. He’s all sweet and vulnerable despite the fact he is jacked. Melton is pretty much the same kind of character that he is on Riverdale but he does play it so well.  

Even though it’s been years since the last Bad Boys movie, Smith and Lawrence do not miss a beat. It feels as if the movie just came out last year. And it gets better because we get to see them get older and deal with things that older people have to deal with. I heard that they are trying to do a 4th movie and I may get on board with that especially if they keep to the formula that has made the first three movies so good.  

Rating: B+