30 January,2020 01:03 PM IST | Mumbai | Johnson Thomas
Bad Boys for Life. Pic courtesy/Instagram account
This third entry of the hit buddy movie franchise that stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as reckless cops armed with comedic banter leaving behind loads of collateral damage is not directed by Michael Bay ( as the first two hits were)⦠and coming as it does bang in the midst of Oscar month, I don't think there are too many hopes riding on it.
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With Joe Carnahan, David Guggenheim, Anthony Tambakis, Chris Bremner working on the 'no-brainer' script, its bedlam as usual. Detectives Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowery (Will Smith) are more mindful now but can't help making a mess of things as they eagerly fling in and out of retirement from the police force while making sincere (but altogether messy) attempts to clean out the streets along the way. The speeding Porsche opener sequence highlights this duos disregard for those who stand in their way(even unwitting bystanders). Grudges and tough love act as the nostalgia throwback here. Yeah, that's a given for this franchise but what sticks in my craw is the attempt to make them kinder and more gentle. The insertion of a 'Gemini Man' sort-of sub-plot literally puts you off for its gross stupidity and unoriginality.
Even after 25 years between the original and this one, we see several cast members doing a return. In addition to Smith and Lawrence, Joe Pantoliano comes back as Captain Howard, and there are many more bit players adding to the familiarity here. The desire to make the two idiotic cops more sensitive to their carnage doesn't quite hit the sweet spot though. The overdone verbosity is tiresome and the action here, though high stakes and high risk, plays out in premeditated fashion. Over-the-top stunts, time-lapse visual overviews, inane wisecracks fail to add-up to humorous or push up the adrenaline gush here. So there's no thrill to keep you invested. Even Smith and Lawrence fail to generate enough sparks between themselves for this nonsensical action comedy to take-off.
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