Bad Boys for Life (2020)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2020
	Director: Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah
	Actors: Will Smith (Independance Day, I am Robot), Martin Lawrence (Bad Boys 1-2, Blue Streak), Vanessa Hudgens
	Country: USA, MEX
	Genre: Action, Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 08.03.20, Cinepolis La Reina, Santiago
Synopsis: Miami cops Marcus (Lawrence) and Mike (Smith) have been partners for a lifetime. As they reflect on their future, an expected new challenge will pull them back into doing what they do best.
Review: It is not the first time that a movie series (like a trilogy) starts with a modest first movie, a much better second one, and is completed some 5 to 30 years later with the obvious goal for the studio and actors to cash in some more money in a time of need. And the result is almost always bad. From the top of my head some French comedies to illustrate that: Les bronzés 3: amis pour la vie, Les Visiteurs: La Révolution and to a lesser extend Camping 3 and Le Coeur des Hommes 3. It is also true for American movies like Incredibles 2, Scream 4 and Riddick. Giving the control of the new movie to the same director often results in a failure, but a new guy may fail as well. A good counter-example is for me Mad Max: Fury Road, which original director George Miller made the best sequel one could have done so long after. Given those statistics, I was expecting to be bored by a third Bad Boys movie but went to see it anyway for some explosions and harmless fun. Boy was I surprised. The original director of Bad Boys and Bad Boys 2 Michael Bay is not at the reigns of this one (although you can see him in a funny cameo), but instead they were given to Adil and Bilall whom I never heard of before. I haven't search for information, but I have a feeling that those guys grew up watching Michael Bay movies until they became directors themselves, and put everything they loved back into this movie. I noticed because I recently watched and loved the first two. It can't be as good as the second, but it was so unexpected that it deserves almost the same rating. What did I like in the movie? The dynamics between the two main characters which is still working after that time, they still manage the same mix of cracking jokes soon after serious situations. They also say the proper amount of "shhhhhit!" like I was hoping for.  The music and the Miami setting still give a special vibe to a movie taking place far from the west coast, cameos of characters from the first movies like Joe Pantoliano as the captain which I was expecting, but also John Salley as the former prisoner now police tech guy Fletcher (at least I think I saw him but the whole Internet refutes) and Dennis Greene as Reggie. The camera moves try to be as original as in Bad Boys 2 without ever being annoying. The movie even includes a twist and takes an unexpected turn 30 minutes before the end, a much-appreciated peculiarity of Bad Boys 2 revered in Hot Fuzz. But in addition to giving the audience what they liked, they also managed to make the movie more than a sequel by changing the rules of the game, killing some beloved characters or putting others in real danger. One ridiculous thing though is when drones fly inside buildings and nobody can hear them. Have you already been near one of those things? The only way it could have been better would have been during the plane scene when they start to shock passengers, to have an apparition of Air Marshall Dinkley played by Kevin Hart seen in Hobbs & Shaw, tying this trilogy to the Fast and Furious franchise. That would have been awesome. The ending calls for the sequel which I don't find necessary. I also read that a spin-off series exists entitled L.A.'s Finest, but I don't know what it's worth. But with Bad Boys for Life: I had a great time!
Rating: 7 /10