BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (2020) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (2020) movie

Genre              |   Action

Classification   |   MA 15+

Running time   |   123 minutes

Released         |   16 January 2020

cast

Will Smith ... Detective Mike Lowrey
Martin Lawrence ... Detective Marcus Burnett
Joe Pantoliano ... Captain Howard
Vanessa Hudgens
Alexander Ludwig
Paola Nuñez ... Rita
​Jennifer Badger ... Dr. Julie Weber

director

Adil El Arbi
Bilall Fallah ​

writer

​Chris Bremner ... (screenplay) and
Peter Craig ... (screenplay) and
Joe Carnahan ... (screenplay)
 
Peter Craig ... (story) and
Joe Carnahan ... (story)
 
George Gallo ... (characters)

cinematographer

Robrecht Heyvaert ​

music

​Lorne Balfe

film editor

​Dan Lebental
Peter McNulty

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box office result

Worldwide               $100 million

Australia                 $? million

North America        $? million

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movie minutiae

On October 31st 2018, Martin Lawrence tweeted a picture of himself and Will Smith on the set of BAD BOYS III (BAD BOYS FOR LIFE) with the caption "Bad Boys for life", confirming once and for all that production is finally underway after years of delays.

This will be the first BAD BOYS movie to be filmed In Panavision (anamorphic) with Sony CineAlta Venice 6K digital cameras, and the first film in the franchise to be shot digitally, unlike the first two which were filmed on 35mm film in the standard spherical format and the Super 35 format. It's also the second Bad Boys movie to be filmed in the widescreen 2.39:1 "scope" aspect ratio.

This will be the first BAD BOYS film not to be directed by Michael Bay.

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BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (2020) MOVIE IMAGES

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BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (2020) STORY SYNOPSIS

​Old-school cops Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett team up to take down the vicious leader of a Miami drug cartel. Newly created elite team AMMO of the Miami police department along with Mike and Marcus go up against the ruthless Armando Armas.

BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (2020) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 16 January 2020

Pop ​Movee Rating

BAD BOYS FOR LIFE isn’t the Box Office gold that Will Smith’s mere presence may have once guaranteed, but, that’s a massive bonus for the third film in a series that’s approaching the twenty-five year mark. Relying simply on Smith’s razzle dazzle would have been a huge mistake for this film because his star has definitely dimmed in recent years. The real stars of BAD BOYS FOR LIFE are the co-directing team of “Adil and Bilall”.

In the hands of this fresh talent, BAD BOYS FOR LIFE strikes a successful balance between Smith’s all-guns-blazing Mike Lowrey and the more circumspect Martin Lawrence, whose Marcus Burnett has become more like Danny Glover’s Roger Murtaugh from the LETHAL WEAPON series. The film is not a reboot, but a lot of time has passed since their last outing and with it has come change...

Moroccan-born, Belgian-trained Co-Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who garnered critical attention with their Romeo & Juliet inspired 2015 film BLACK, have made a genuine effort to inject this new BAD BOYS film with the same “street” tonality as their previous projects which saw them nominated among Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch” at the beginning of 2018.

The attraction to bring El Arbi and Fallah onto the project appears, presumably, in large part, to move the series away from the overproduced, slick mid-1990s Action flick feel Michael Bay delivered with the first two films in the series.

If this was indeed the desire, the film’s producers have been more than successful in their efforts.

The Miami backdrop is still there, but El Arbi and Fallah make it appear a little less glamorous than Michael Bay, Director of the first two films. There’s an edge to the city that is more Michael Mann than Michael Bay. (Bay does pop up in one scene, playing an unexpected cameo role.)

The same goes for the film’s headline performers...

Let’s face it, neither Will Smith or Martin Lawrence are in the same shape they were when they last played these roles… It’s been seventeen years since their last outing as Miami narcotic cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett!

Martin Lawrence has barely been seen since his last BIG MOMMA, back in 2011, so his return to the BAD BOYS franchise doesn’t seem like such a stretch. His reprisal as Burnett feels a lot like he’s decided he’s had his fifteen minutes of fame and, now, he’s just happy to be along for the ride.

Lawrence gets just about every funny line in the film, but it’s never at the expense of his co-stars. Despite looking physically under-prepared for a return to an Action film role, Lawrence definitely hits his mark with the comedy.

While Lawrence may be happy to just be back in the BAD BOYS saddle, Will Smith is another story…

The misfire that was 2019’s GEMINI MAN left Smith at a crossroads in his career, continuing to suffer a serious Box Office malaise that has seen every other film in which he’s appeared throughout the last decade tank both critically and commercially. Successes such as ALADDIN (2019) and SUICIDE SQUAD (2016) have become rare compared to Smith’s run through the 1990s and 2000s where almost everything he appeared in was a licence to print money.

Thankfully, Smith’s return to one of the characters (in Mike Lowrey) that established him as a leading Action star sees a genuine return to form for him. If BAD BOYS FOR LIFE fails to draw crowds at the Box Office, it won’t be through any fault of Smith’s. For all the things that Ang Lee’s GEMINI MAN got wrong about how that film utilised Smith, BAD BOYS FOR LIFE ticks just about every box in the affirmative.

He’s tough. 
He’s a know-it-all. 
He’s street smart. 
He cares about his partner. 
He’s committed. 
He wants revenge as much as he wants justice.

That’s what made the first two BAD BOYS films successful.

Both Smith’s Lowrey and Lawrence’s Burnett were not always about doing it the right way; they were about doing it their way.

The great added bonus about BAD BOYS FOR LIFE is that it’s not all about Smith and Lawrence.

Joe Pantoliano is back as Captain Howard, and what a treat it is. 

Pantoliano is a much underrated character actor, but he has so many wonderful credits to name that it’s hard to deny how many memorable characters he has created in films like RISKY BUSINESS (1983), MIDNIGHT RUN (1988), THE FUGITIVE (1993), THE MATRIX (1999), MEMENTO (2000); not forgetting his role as Ralph Cifaretto across three seasons of THE SOPRANOS.

In BAD BOYS FOR LIFE, Captain Howard is in much the same predicament as the two previous films, hosing down Lowrey and Burnett’s ambition. In this third outing, he’s more protective of his two charges and is concerned about them being better men, as opposed to being a couple of out-of-control police officers. 

Pontoliano has one scene with Smith where you see just how good he is at his craft and it’s a joy to watch him work.

Lowrey and Burnett also get some high-powered back-up this time around with the AMMO Task Force team…

Paola Nunez, Charles Melton, Vaness Hudgens and Alexander Ludwig are, respectively, Rita, Rafe, Kelly and Dorn; an elite Miami Police Department team whose job it is to smash organised crime through the use of the latest high-tech policing techniques and equipment.

Rita also serves as a pseudo love interest for Lowrey, but this is one of the few story elements that writers Chris Bremner, Peter Craig and Joe Carnahan fail to deliver upon throughout the film’s 124 minute running time.

BAD BOYS FOR LIFE is so much better than what anyone might have anticipated. In the hands of “Adil and Bilall”, the franchise has gone in a different direction, but is much more grounded in character, as opposed to caricature. The action is as relentless as Mike Lowrey’s need for revenge, but there’s a sting in the tail. Not all is as it seems and the story ups the stakes in a way that is fitting for a franchise that has been in hibernation for seventeen years.

BAD BOYS FOR LIFE is seriously good, hard-hitting Action fare.

BAD BOYS FOR LIFE MOVIE (2020) USEFUL LINKS

Bad Boys for Life - Wikipedia 
​Bad Boys For Life (2020) - IMDb
​Bad Boys for Life (2020) - Rotten Tomatoes​

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