Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024)

Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024)

 

5/10

Starring          

Will Smith

Martin Lawrence

 

Directed by Adil & Bilall

 

I know Will Smith is on a redemption run, and this movie is a good start. It is not as bad as you might expect, but it is also not as great or cool as I thought it would be. My main issue is that modern movies lack the grit of the era when the first Bad Boys was made.

Now every movie seems to include some computer genius hacking accounts, sending cryptic messages, and bad guys with unrealistic connections. For example, in this film, someone sends a cryptic message that leads to another person, who has hidden a link within a flashing screen. This link can only be found by analyzing the screen frame by frame. How did they discover this? An officer, with no apparent reason or prompt, decides to review the flashing screen frame by frame. How could she possibly know to do that?

The lazy writing in this movie is so obvious it’s annoying. The plot makes no sense, and that is even more frustrating. I watched it to the end, thinking there would be a reason why the bad guys, who got away with killing the captain, would revisit the matter years later. But it seems the writers couldn’t find a better way to provoke the two leads.

That said, I did enjoy the action, references to the earlier movies, and some comedic moments. However, the movie leaves no lasting impression. Unlike the first Bad Boys, which is unforgettable, this one is easily forgettable.

The story revolves around Captain Howard, who, as we know, is dead. The rest of the Bad Boys franchise (aside from the first movie) is so forgettable that I struggled to recall much of it. Now, in the present, Mike (Will Smith) and Marcus (Martin Lawrence) are at a wedding when Marcus suffers a heart attack and nearly dies. His survival prompts him to reevaluate his life. Meanwhile, Captain Howard is implicated in a crime when millions are found in his account, allegedly linking him to the cartel.

Even this setup feels contrived. You can backdate payments and forge documents to make it appear as though transactions occurred over time, but such falsifications are easily traceable. Hollywood writers must assume audiences lack understanding of how computers work.

Mike and Marcus are determined to clear their captain’s name but aren’t portrayed as angry enough about the situation. Captain Howard sends them a cryptic message, which leads them to someone who is killed while directing them to a flashing screen. From there, they are shot at and nearly killed while chasing the bad guys.

In short, the movie is about these two trying to clear their captain’s name and uncover corrupt cops in their station. As far as lazy writing goes, this film is full of it and is such a forgettable movie.