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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Thursday 16 January 2020
‘Bad Boys for Life’ is kinda bad. Whatcha gonna do?

By MARK KENNEDY of the sports car is hand-
The third edition of the “Bad stitched leather. Law-
Boys” franchise starts as it rence’s cheeks bulge; he’s
must do: With a gleaming about to hurl: “You better
Porsche swerving at impos- drink it,” the driver barks.
sible speeds through Miami All is good. We’ve again
traffic under the expert got Smith’s cocksure De-
control of Will Smith, with tective Mike Lowrey beside
Martin Lawrence growing Lawrence’s more cautious
very sick beside him. Marcus Burnett. There’s the
The engine snarls, the car customary playful banter
repeatedly fishtails and between opposites. We’ve
strains. Smith looks over to got sunny, titillating Miami
his partner with alarm and and we are inches from
points out that the interior death but really never that

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Martin Lawrence, right, and Will Smith in a scene from
"Bad Boys for Life."
Associated Press
close. We’re in our ’90s Lowrey worked on before Age has taken its toll: Bur-
comfort zone. You can al- he teamed up with Burnett. nett is a grandfather now
most hear it: “Bad boys, Someone is out for revenge who needs glasses and is
bad boys/Whatcha gonna and they are exposing skel- eyeing retirement, while
do, whatcha gonna do/ etons in Lowrey’s closet, Lowrey is unsettled, still a
When they come for you?” uncovering a backstory playboy but a wistful one
So it’s so disappointing that inconsistent to the Lowrey who colors his goatee
” Bad Boys for Life ” soon we have come to know. black with hair dye. (Yes,
swerves into weird neigh- We add cliches — a team there are colonoscopy
borhoods and gets bloat- of smart, young, sassy cops jokes in this film.) Lowrey is
ed as it tries to get deep, — on top of some twists having second thoughts
trying to explore topics like worthy of Shakespeare. about one flame who got
religion, mortality, biologi- Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fal- away: Paola Nunez, who
cal determinism, individual lah have taken over from plays a fellow cop. A crisis
legacy and aging. It’s odd- Michael Bay in the direc- forces Burnett to make a
ly flat and unfunny and has tor’s chair but the look of vow to God. Hell is a topic
strayed so far from its gritty the film essentially mimics discussed — “darkness that
roots that it might be called its predecessors, with satu- swallows you whole.” We
“Bad Boys for Life Insur- rated colors, quick cuts, are a long way from the
ance.” Sure, you can’t stay muscular stunts and lots of time Burnett was shot in the
still. Smith and Lawrence pretty women. An under- keister by his partner.
are both past 50 and their stated Vanessa Hudgens The convoluted plot keeps
characters can’t keep to plays a cool cop and Kate finding false endings that
the same formula of “mus- Del Castillo is on the oppo- just lead to bigger outland-
cle shirts and body counts,” site side in more than one ish stunts — many, many
as Burnett argues. But do sense, playing an abso- helicopters and motor-
we really want Burnett to lutely unhinged cartel boss cycles — until it ends in a
straight-faced tell a Bud- wife who uses witchcraft. rundown palace in Mexico
dhist parable about a horse Joe Pantoliano returns as City with a fiery conclusion
and then ask Lowrey about the Pepto-swigging detec- that goes to cartoonish,
how he can overcome his tives’ boss and DJ Khaled very Bay-ish lengths. Smith
own trauma: “Where are has a small role as well as and Lawrence are far from
you going, Mike?” putting together the lively home, on foot and facing
The first film in the franchise soundtrack. a military-style ambush. It is
hit theaters 25 years ago, There are sly references a franchise that has lost its
giving us foreign baddies to the previous films — a way.
with beepers, Tea Leoni private conversation be- A potential sequel is hinted
in little skirts, many, many tween the detectives is at during the end credits
bricks of heroin and an ex- accidentally broadcast but it’s hard to believe a
ploding airplane hanger. as in the second film and fourth episode could save
Eight years later came “Bad rats make an encore per- the “Bad Boy” legacy. Still,
Boys II,” a slicker flick with formance in the new one as long as Smith and Law-
slow-mo sideways shooting, — but the filmmakers have rence are willing to pair up
a feisty Gabrielle Union in a forgotten that what makes again, “whatcha gonna
white suit, the annihilation this franchise work: The do when they come for
of many cars and many, interaction of Smith and you?”
many ecstasy pills. “Bad Lawrence in stressed envi- “Bad Boys for Life,” a Co-
Boys for Life” doesn’t have ronments. So often in the lumbia Pictures release, is
drugs — if you don’t count new film they are sepa- rated R for strong, bloody vi-
Viagra jokes — but instead rate, dealing with their own olence, language through-
has a murder plot to assas- stuff. “Bad Boys” only works out, sexual references and
sinate everyone connect- when the bickering cops brief drug use. Running
ed with an old drug case are center stage. time: 124 minutes.q