Bad Boys for Life (2020)

Elevator Pitch: While Mike and Marcus are discussing grandchildren and retirement, Mike is shot by a sniper, then while he is in hospital further people who have been associated with him in the past are shot dead by an unknown assassin. With an investigation taking place Mike, on recovery, is allowed to participate joining a group of detectives who specialise in the use of advanced detection and weapons systems. It becomes evident that the assassin is associated with Mike’s past when he was an undercover cop in Mexico, and was the lover of a woman, now the boss of a cartel. He and Marcus pursue her to the heart of her operation in Mexico City. 

Content: No sex or nudity, just a bit of drug taking and quite a bit of casual drinking of alcohol. The two detectives bicker quite a bit and fall out when Marcus wants to retire and Mike wants to chase the villains. They spend time with the “AMMO” group who have the technology to take on the villains. People are shown being shot in Miami, some quite spectacularly. One or two car chases, but most of the spectacle saved for the finale in the ruins of the hotel in Mexico DF, where there are explosions, a drone with machine guns and a helicopter crash through the hotel’s dome.

A View:  Wow, it is 17 years since Bad Boys II! Although I did not really expect to enjoy this outing when it came to it I did. Much of it was quite spectacular.  It is a difficult tone to achieve if the objective is some sort of a “comedy” action film and as opposed the Bad Boys II, which was just a bit macabre, this was successful. So if you like action films this one will be worth your time.

Will Smith’s films have not always been successful, but here are three which you might choose if you liked this outing. Men in Black 3, I am Legend and the original Bad Boys.