Four Things About ‘Bad Boys 4’ That Don’t Suck (Thank God This List Doesn’t Go to Five)
It’s hard to believe that we’re still getting Bad Boys movies nearly 30 years after the original premiered back in 1995. Not bad for a franchise that was seemingly reverse-engineered to capitalize on the popularity of a reggae track made famous by TV’s trashiest reality show. Not to mention that it very nearly starred Saturday Night Live’s Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz.
Yes, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back as cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett for the fourth entry in the series: Bad Boys: Ride or Die.
Presumably, this movie owes its existence to the fact that the previous entry, Bad Boys for Life, was the top-grossing movie of 2020. Although this was partly due to the fact that every movie theater in the world shut down like two months after it opened.
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In any case, now we have Bad Boys: Ride or Die, which is an objectively ridiculous movie, even by the standards of the already wacky Bad Boys series. How ridiculous? Let’s just say that Marcus gains psychic powers following a near-death experience and is visited by the ghost of their dead police captain. Still, there are some things to like about this wildly unnecessary sequel, such as how…
Anybody who watched the critically-acclaimed Breaking Bad prequel series Better Call Saul knows that Rhea Seehorn is one of the greatest actors working today, as evidenced by her outstanding performance as Kim Wexler, the greatest lawyer in TV history (suck it, Matlock).
So it was fun to see her show up in Ride or Die as U.S. Marshall Judy Howard, daughter of Captain Howard (played by Joe Pantoliano) who died in Bad Boys for Life. She even gets to go full “Tommy Lee Jones in the Fugitive” during the second half of the movie.
Sadly, Seehorn’s character isn’t given too much to do, and the movie is clearly way beneath her talents. Hopefully she got paid a huge sum of money and is currently enjoying a new speedboat right now. Rhea Seehorn deserves a speedboat.
Reggie Gets to Be a Total Badass for One Scene
Bad Boys for Life revealed that Marcus’ daughter ended up marrying Reggie, the lanky boyfriend who showed up in Bad Boys II and was immediately harassed, nay terrorized, by Marcus and Mike. At one point, Mike even pulls out a gun and shoves it in the poor teen’s face, which somehow doesn’t even crack the top 100 most illegal things he does in that movie.
Now an adult Marine staff sergeant, Reggie actually gets the opportunity to shine Ride or Die, albeit briefly. When the villains show up at Marcus’ house the Bad Boys watch helplessly on the security feed Marcus has setup. But Reggie shows off his skills and brutally takes out 15 armed thugs.
Mike and Marcus Wrestle an Alligator at One Point
While it only comprises a very small percentage of the movie’s run time, there is a moment toward the end of the film in which Mike and Marcus have to fend off a bloodthirsty gator. Why? Well, because the bad guys are hiding out in an abandoned alligator-themed tourist trap, as if they were villains from the 1960s Batman show.
Yes, Will Smith Gets Slapped in the Face
The Bad Boys: Ride or Day moment everyone’s been talking about comes near the end of the movie, when Mike Lowery gets repeatedly slapped in the face by his partner. Since it’s Will Smith taking the hit, it sure seems like meta-nod to The Slap. Critics have called out the moment as a conspicuous attempt to “rehab Smith’s image.” And it seems especially pointed coming from Lawrence, who is friends with both Smith and Chris Rock.
Some will argue that the scene is cringey and awkward, and they’re not wrong. It’s also arguably kind of irresponsible, considering that Marcus only slaps Mike to snap him out of a panic attack, and that is 100 percent absolutely not the way to help someone having a panic attack. But I have to admit that it was one of the few scenes in the entire movie that got a big reaction from the audience.
Maybe this will just become a regular occurrence, not unlike how Tom Cruise does a crazy stunt in every movie, perhaps all future Will Smith vehicles will have to include a scene where he gets randomly smacked in the face.
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