Week 78: Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Week 78: June 23rd-29th, 2024

As a lifelong fan of ridiculous action movies, I was thrilled to see the campiness of the Bad Boys franchise alive and well in the latest release, Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

The movie trailer was hilarious and captured the essence of this series perfectly, so I had to go see the movie in theatres. We went to AMC Fashion Valley, which is a pretty big cinema (it has multiple floors!). I usually go to the cheaper, smaller alternative of Ultra Star Cinemas in Hazard Center, but they weren't showing Bad Boys, so I had to compromise.

Now, I'm not an official movie critic, and I don't have a film background, so everything I have to say about the movie should not be taken too seriously. My opinions have no real foundation other than that they are incredibly strong and are deeply informed by the constant content consumption I do on a daily basis.

I'll admit, I had to find a recap of the Bad Boys story so far before heading to the theatre to see this fourth installment. I just had to get a little refresher on the smaller storylines following Martin Lawrence and Will Smith's dynamic duo.

Fueled by my incredibly large "Regular" size AMC drink, I laughed for almost the entire movie. I lost it when Martin Lawrence, as Marcus Burnett, is adamant in saying the clothes he's wearing are from his "own BLACK closet," and then his shirt says "100% Purebred Whiteboy." Another standout scene was when Will Smith, as Mike Lowry, holds the camera on his gun to film. The campiness and Florida-ness of it all was also very entertaining. I loved the use of the abandoned gator park and the massive albino gator that caused me to exclaim "Holy S***, that's a big boy!" in the theatre. The entire film had awesome comedic acting paired with a creative filming method, and like most movies of this genre, it felt outrageous in a good way.

When watching action movies that spotlight some type of law enforcement and glorify the "cop" lifestyle, I have to remove myself from reality and pretend like I don't live in America in order to enjoy the story. Otherwise, I get too caught up in the toxicity of the police in real life and find it hard to justify the adrenaline-filled chase scenes and gun fights on the screen.

The comedic timing of most lines came from Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, but a pleasant surprise was Alexander Ludwig (Hunger Games fans, anyone? Hi, Cato!) saying "I hate politicians," right after being shot by one. As a High School Musical devotee, seeing Vanessa Hudgens get some screen time on a big blockbuster movie like this one also made me smile.

Overall, this was a stupidly fun way to spend two hours. While I don't think Ride or Die will win any major accolades for unique plotlines or outstanding acting, it was very entertaining and reminded me of the beauty of comedic action films. Sometimes we get too caught up in the seriousness of "film," and forget to have fun. Bad Boys: Ride or Die was a great reminder to have fun.

See you next week.