After taking a brief and unintentional hiatus, I have returned to The Legionnaire hoping to review films on a more regular basis. My reason for my absence is a combination of focusing on some personal projects, other hobbies, and an unhealthy dose of procrastination. Fortunately, however, given that this summer is chalk full of films being released in theaters and streaming, I feel the obligation to contribute as much as I can, starting with the latest entry in the Bad Boys film series Bad Boys: Ride or Die.

In retrospect, it does seem fitting that I start back with the Bad Boys franchise for a couple of reasons. After all, I reviewed the 2020’s Bad Boys For Life, which is nice for that bit of symmetry for The Legionnaire. Second, it’s a sequel in a film franchise that inexplicably takes a long break between each entry. Granted, Bad Boys: Ride or Die is somehow the shortest gap between the four as this is being released four years and a few months since the last one. compared to seventeen years between this film’s predecessor and Bad Boys II (2003). Then again, anything from early 2020 feels like an eternity ago. With that being said, hopefully I can remember enough from the previous installment (which I did to a certain degree) to somewhat enjoy myself with this entry. Will this be on the same level as its predecessor or worse? As usual, let’s find out. 

In Bad Boys: Ride of Die, we start with Detective Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) finally settling down and getting married to his former physical therapist, Christine (Melanie Liburd). After Mike’s partner and best friend Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) gives a wonderful speech, he goes into cardiac arrest, which then leads him to having an out-of-body experience where he meets his former commander, the late Captain Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano). During this experience, Captain Howard tells him that it’s not his time, and he suddenly wakes up in the hospital feeling like a whole new person. Afterwards, corruption within Mike and Marcus’s police department unfolds as new evidence shows their late captain has been posthumously accused of cooperating with drug cartels. Looking for answers to clear his name and honor his legacy, Mike and Marcus follow the trail Captain Howard left, knowing it was tied to his work and he couldn’t trust it to anyone except Mike and Marcus. They even visit Mike’s son Armando (Jacob Scipio) in prison, who was involved in the captain’s death, so they can somehow verify the captain wasn’t involved with any gang activity. Armando confirms the captain is innocent but can’t verify the true mastermind of the operation. Needing to go further, Mike and Marcus get permission from a district attorney to shuttle Armando from his current prison in Miami to cooperate with the investigation. Unfortunately, the bad guys are one step ahead and take out the pilots and crew aboard the plane transporting Armando, with Mike and Marcus attempting to stop them from killing them and Armando. The plane crashes, though the two detectives and Armando survive. However, the criminals frame them for the crash and casualties which leads to the three survivors being on the run. From there, Mike, Marcus, and Armando must flee to Miami where they not only have to prove the innocence of their former boss, but theirs as well.

So, I’ll say this right off the bat: I did enjoy Bad Boys: Ride or Die despite it being dumb, violent (but not too violent), and an over-the-top action film in the same way as the last film. Yet, I feel like I was given a lot but also not enough at the same time. Allow me to further elaborate.

I couldn’t think of the right words at first, but one can compare Bad Boys: Ride or Die to a buffet. This might sound silly, but hear me out. Imagine going to an all you can eat restaurant, but you only have a short period of time (let’s say less than two hours) and you can only consume certain portions for a certain amount of time. When you realize you have to leave, you haven’t fully consumed/enjoyed what has been offered; that’s how I (in a weird way) felt about this film. I was given a lot of story/subplot and characters, but it fell short on development as a whole.

There’s one subplot in particular in Bad Boys: Ride or Die where Mike experiences a panic attack. One would think it is an isolated incident, but it happens a few times to where it becomes a problem in the third act. Despite that, the execution of that part pays off as the panic attacks are revealed to be caused by guilt, at least in part, for the death of an individual in this case the late Captain Howard. As a Catholic, guilt is a useful emotion because without it, I would not feel shame or regret in my sinful actions, and I feel many other Catholics would agree. While guilt does hold Mike back throughout the film, he does come to peace with it and overcomes his burden. It was a great moment, however, I feel like they could’ve developed it more.

Aside from Mike’s situation, Marcus was one character I felt mixed emotions about when it came his development in Bad Boys: Ride or Die. In the last film, he became a man of God and chose a less violent path in life until he needed to become the person he was to stop the villains. Here he goes through the movie with a leap of faith attitude as his near-death experience gives him a sense of immortality. That whole subplot felt like an afterthought as they didn’t do much with his character this new way of life. His charm and charisma sort of redeemed him from being an afterthought and it did balance the chemistry between him, and Mike who was going through a serious situation.

Overall, Bad Boys: Ride or Die is a fun action film that doesn’t go over the top with the violence as one would expect. While it does have major shortcomings, such as not fully developing the characters and certain plot points, it’s at least entertaining enough that I only checked my watched a few times while watching it. If you’re a fan of the series, chances are you will definitely enjoy the movie. If this is your first film in the series, you’ll likely be able to enjoy the action but won’t care too much about the story and/or characters. As someone who is in the middle (still haven’t watched the first two yet), this was a decent blockbuster.