Sling Movie Rental of the Week: 'Bad Boys for Life'

Sling Movie Rental of the Week, Apr. 21-Apr. 27

Back in the before times — January to be exact — Bad Boys For Life was a huge hit. A belated sequel to 2003’s Bad Boys II, the action comedy hauled in $419 million dollars worldwide, making it not only the highest-grossing film in the series, but the biggest January release of all-time. Given the precarious proposition of going to the movie theater during a pandemic, there’s a good chance it winds up as the biggest hit of 2020.

And even though it’s only been a few short months since its release, watching the movie now feels like revisiting a different era. Like its predecessors, Bad Boys For Life is a deeply silly movie; the action is ridiculously over-the-top, and there’s little attempt to ground the plot in anything resembling real life. Given the current state of real life, it’s a welcome distraction.

BB4L opens with wise-cracking detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) staring down the tail-end of their career, with Marcus eager to move on to family life and Mike as restless as ever. But when the widow of a slain Mexican cartel leader begins to exact revenge on those responsible for her husband’s death, the duo are drawn back into action, this time with the help of a young special ops team.

Although the story contains a couple of genuinely surprising moments, Bad Boys has never really been about plot. Instead, the movie hedges its bets on the chemistry between Smith and Lawrence and although it’s been a while since we’ve seen the latter, the duo are as dynamic as ever. A big part of that comes from the clever casting of Smith as the more hot-headed, impulsive cop (there’s a subversive thrill that comes from hearing Mr. “I-don’t-have-to-cuss-to-sell-records” pepper his lines with four-letter words).

Ultimately, the best thing about the movie is its stylish action sequences. Belgian directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah -- collectively credited as Adil & Bilall -- take over for Michael Bay and they replace his signature “fast-cutting” style with something sleeker and, frankly, more coherent. There may be some over-the-top moments but the car chases, fights, and shootouts are clean in presentation, and the entire movie is bathed in a lush color scheme.

Slick, saucy, and stupid in all the best ways, Bad Boys For Life is a welcome return to a series that has the potential to blossom into the new Fast and Furious (the ending lays the groundwork for an already green-lit sequel). It may feel like a relic from a different time, but with all of us trapped in our homes, pure escapism feels less like a sugar rush than a nutritious meal.

Bad Boys For Life is now available to rent for a one-time purchase of $5.99.

Other new movies now Available: