Bad Boys: Ride or Die

A long wait from school and lack of actual focus, but I am back to continue my reviews! I have a spreadsheet and a dream to hopefully review on a more consistent basis. For our first review back, I have quite a few to begin. Let's not waste any time and get into Bad Boys: Ride or Die!

PLOT: Enjoyably stupid.

The classic cop plot about cops being framed for corruption by the corrupt officials! It's a bit cliche but it is a goodie and this plot is made engaging through the use of characters and overall writing. With all killer and no filler, this plot is quick to understand and easy to pick up for newcomers to the franchise as well as rewarding for those who've watched before. There's callbacks, flashbacks, and homages; but none of them feel cheap or out of place. This is a movie with love for where it's been and love for where it's going and it never once feels as though the movie slogs.

CHARACTERS: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence!

Two enjoyable leads played by crazy charismatic actors combined with several talents as side characters help flesh out this movie and make it a thrilling ride throughout. The suspense and action only works when you think characters are at stake and this movie makes it clear fairly quickly that while our main characters aren't gonna die, our side characters are expendable. But, in order to make sure it works out, the characters are endearing and likeable. No 3rd act breakup or betrayals here, just simply likeable characters and actors engaging in a fun story. This is how you make your action movies!

SHOTS: Ooh, I love it!

This movie carries a lot of the action energy from the previous movie and dials it to an eleven. This movie has long-shots, a POV camera, and drone shots that make the action highly engaging and entertaining to watch. While some people might find the angles disorienting, I found it to be a beautiful movie to look at and just a well-shot action movie. Gone are the days of Taken's shaky cam and multiple cuts, here we can actually see the action clearly even with multiple angles. Shoot good action and audiences are more than happy to watch a silly action movie. This and John Wick set the standards for what action movies must become.

SOUND: Pays respect to the classics.

A lot of this soundtrack pays homage to previous films and honestly a fair amount of the mid-2000s sound. The film is of course set in Miami and takes a lot of its sound and vibes from that culture and area. While it's not standing out, it does its job well and pays respect to where it comes from. Of course, the famous Bad Boys theme returns and even gets a redneck rendition halfway through the film. Overall, good stuff here.

WRITING: Weak points for any action movie.

Action is a genre where the writing can be excused as long as the characters and story serve it well. This movie falls under the weak umbrella of not explaining most things that happen and covering it up with jokes and funny wacky situations. While I enjoy the jokes, it does wear a bit thin on repeat viewings as you wonder why certain things occur. A near-death situation occurs in this movie and the scenes involved, while sweet as hell and shot beautifully, are never fully explained. This is where the writing should be stronger and give us at least context. They joke about it being brain damage, but never really state how or why. It's a weak point in action filmmaking that needs to go away.

LITTLE THINGS: No more cons, now little things!

We're doing away with the Cons section, as I like to focus my negatives into the first couple sections. Now, to discuss little things, I loved the treatment of a recurring joke character in this franchise who got a big moment in this movie. They give him a moment to be an absolute badass and he nails the role here. Giving that little respect to someone who's been attached to the franchise for a long time is nice.

VERDICT: A solid action flick with bad writing, but great stuff!

Overall, Bad Boys: Ride or Die is the classic action movie formula amped up by great shots and fun characters that we recognize and love. You watch this if you're bored on a Saturday and want something light and easy to entertain a house guest with. It requires little brainpower, but will entertain enough to be memorable or even exciting enough for a rewatch. I recommend it! NOT DONE YET: Scores

Scores are changing up after this review! I plan to be a bit more harsh with my scores, but I also plan on handling it more like actual percentages rather than ABCDF grades like at a school. A 7/10 means it's a great movie with problems. A 9/10 is near perfect. So, if I give something a 5/10, it's just average, not bad. I might at some point go back and re-review with this ideology, but for now, this is my verdict. Let me know what you think! See ya around!

SCORE: 7/10