I’ve grown up watching “Bad Boys” films since their 1995 inception and have mostly been a fan of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence for about the same amount of time.
I do have to say that when you’ve watched one Bad Boys movie, you can pretty much assume you’ve seen them all – and maybe there’s some comfort in that.
Sure, there’s the usual buddy cop bit of drama and camaraderie with a dash of explosive action and a fairly decent soundtrack, but no matter what the storyline, you know the good guys are going to win at the end.
This year’s latest installment “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” is no different than its predecessors and there were plenty of laughs in the theatre to reinforce that they’re still enjoyable, too!
Ride or Die is a 2024 American action comedy film starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
As the fourth installment of the Bad Boys series of buddy cop films and the sequel to Bad Boys for Life (2020), it was directed by Adil & Bilall and written by Chris Bremner and Will Beall.
Joe Pantoliano, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Núñez, Jacob Scipio, and DJ Khaled reprise their roles from previous installments along with Tasha Smith, Ioan Gruffud, Eric Dane, Rhea Seehorn, and Melanie Liburd.
The movie is rated R for strong violence, language throughout, and some sexual references and clocks in at 115 minutes long.
Three years after the death of Isabel Aretas, Detective Mike Lowrey (Smith) marries his physical therapist Christine (Liburd).
During the ceremony, his partner Detective Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) suffers a mild heart attack and goes into a coma.
While in a coma he experiences a vision of their late Captain Conrad Howard (Pantoliano) who tells him it is not his time.
When he wakes up, Marcus believes he cannot die.
Soon after, it is reported that Captain Howard was painted as working with drug cartels and a dirty cop.
Despite Captain Howard’s posthumous tarnishing, Mike is determined to prove his innocence with the help of Marcus, Captain Rita Secada (Nuñez), and Rita’s new boyfriend - mayoral candidate Adam Lockwood (Gruffudd).
When the conspirators fail to access Howard’s computer, a video is sent to Mike and Marcus from Howard warning them of corruption within the department.
Their hunt for the truth leads them to Mike’s son, Armando Aretas (Scipio) who is incarcerated for Howard’s murder.
Armando claims that Howard was not corrupt but knew who was, claiming that the reason he was killed was because Howard was close to bringing down the organization.
He offers to help identify the person responsible for Howard’s murder via photograph since he doesn’t know the man’s name.
As Mike and Marcus transport Armando to Miami, the conspirators sneak on board and kill the pilot and other escorts, leading to a helicopter crash and leaving Mike, Marcus, and Armando as fugitives.
When the conspirators put out a bounty, they are hunted by law enforcement and criminal gangs.
Howard’s daughter U.S. Marshal Judy Howard (Seehorn) swears vengeance on Armando for killing her father.
With the assistance of the AMMO team members Dorn (Ludwig) and Kelly (Hudgens), Armando identifies the main conspiracy culprit.
Despite a monumentally predictable plot, Ride or Die is one of the better movies I’ve seen lately.
If you’re a fan of the Bad Boys franchise, it’s worth it to catch this on the big screen.
