Good times for Bad Boys for Life

Jade Floyd, Staff Writer

Almost two decades after the first movie in this series, Bad Boys for Life has debuted and is receiving a great deal of interest at the box office. It is the last part of the Bad Boys trilogy, featuring the main characters, two big time actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Although in this movie more actors share the screen including, Vanessa Hudgens, Charles Melton, Kate del Castillo, and more. In this series, Marucs Burnett (Martin Lawrence) is a police detective, accompanied by Mike Lowrey (Will Smith). Although in this movie they are older, they still have the strength and energy to stop the leader of a Miami drug cartel. 

        

The movie starts off with Marcus’s daughter having a baby; as he looks at the baby, he reflects on his life of violence and makes the decision to retire. Later that night, Marcus and Mike go out to a bar to celebrate his retirement. As they are leaving, a blacked-out assassin on a motorcycle shoots, nearly killing Mike. After seeing his best friend in critical condition, Marcus promises God that he will leave his old life behind if he can give Mike one last chance. This leaves Mike wanting revenge, and needing the help of his partner Marcus, who wants nothing to do with this because of the promise he made; however, in the meantime he realizes that they are brothers and would die for each other. 

 

This whole investigation leads up to the biggest plot twist in the entire trilogy, having something to do with a case that Mike worked on decades before, which had to deal with the assassin’s mother, Isabel Aretas. Mike put Isabel in jail for life, before finding out that she escaped and is now on a revenge mission, and wants him dead. Little does the audience know that Mike and Isabel have a deeper connection than we all thought. 

 

The ending of this movie makes the whole series come full circle. Mike and Marcus are standing side by side and they camera tilts up to the sky as they jokingly sing “Bad Boys.” 

 

One of the great things about this movie is that you don’t necessarily need to see the previous two to understand it. The movie itself has a well developed plot that engages the audience, while leaving a good understanding of what Marcus and Mike’s partnership is all about, and how much they have been through together. This movie also brings the comedy in their friendship, along with the action that audiences crave. This film is for older audiences because of the violence, language, and scenes in the movie.