WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Bad Boys For Life, in theaters now.
Coming out over 20 years after the original Bad Boys was released, Mike and Marcus don't live in the same kind of world that they once inhabited in Bad Boys For Life. Bringing characters back after such a long time is a difficult task, as proved by last year's Shaft.
But the trick is that Bad Boys For Life is actually able to stick the landing because of how it ultimately views the younger generation -- and doesn't judge them.
SHAFT(ED)
Bad Boys For Life forces Mike and Marcus to revaluate their lives and methodology when Mike is wounded by the mysterious Armando. When he's finally able to leave the hospital, Marcus is forced to work with a new generation of officers who are members of a new group called AMMO. Mike bristles up against the younger members of the team (or is outright confused by them in the case of the muscular tech expert, Dorn) but eventually is able to find a rhythm with them and a place of mutual respect.
2019's Shaft remake was given a similar challenge that the filmmakers behind Bad Boys For Life had. They had to update a character who was somewhat defined by his place in time and culture, with aspects like the film's sexual politics and casual violence no longer considered in good taste. The film centers around John Shaft meeting his son JJ, who is a more casual and sensitive young man than his father was. The two end up working on a case together, where their culture clash becomes a central piece of their relationship.
But for most of the film's runtime, JJ is made out to be a punchline. His few moments of bravado are always undercut with ineptitude, seemingly making the point that heroes were far better like they were in the old days of the classic Shaft films. Ironically for the property's slick branding, there's nothing less cool than complaining about "kids these days," and that's what roughly a fifth of Shaft was. It also suffered from being unable to make up its mind in regard to its female characters and their role in the story. There are a lot of elements of Shaft that haven't aged well, and the film tried to argue that it's simply the current generation who don't "get" it.
WHAT MAKES BAD BOYS 3 WORK
It's not like Bad Boys has aged well either. The older movies featured a gratuitous amount of jokes that wouldn't fly in today's political climate; they had a tendency to only focus on women in montages of them writhing around and had an almost fetishistic obsession with guns. By all rights, the franchise is as tricky to bring to the modern era as Shaft.
How did Bad Boys For Life get around that problem? By adapting. There are no jokes playing on Mike and Marcus being assumed gay, a consistent beat in Bad Boys II. There's (nearly) no over-the-top ogling of female extras, either. Instead, AMMO's female members, Rita and Kelly are put into flattering but not overly skimpy outfits during an attempt to catch a criminal associate of Armando. And while there's still an overindulgence in showing off brutality, it's actually somewhat more restrained than in previous films. It's more precise (using tools like drones and rubber bullets) while still packing in the series' signature flashes of stylized action.
There's even an awareness of communication as a tool, with Marcus repeatedly trying to defuse situations with words before Mike goes off the rails. In fact, their differing thoughts are actually embraced in the climax of the film. Learning that Armando is secretly his son, Mike refuses to fight him and instead opens up emotionally to him.
While Armando proceeds to continue beating him at first, it ends up getting to him at least on some level. When a wounded Armando is given the chance to escape, he instead lingers behind to help save Marcus. Being willing to try a different tactic is the sign of someone learning to accept change and embrace it, instead of fighting against it. It gives the overall arc of Bad Boys For Life a more humanistic and charming approach that doesn't decry or overly ridicule the current generation.
Like in 2019's Shaft, there's a new generation of characters fighting crime in Bad Boys For Life in the form of AMMO. But while they may be very different from Mike and Marcus, the movie never paints them as wrong. Dorn is never mocked for his need for therapy, it's just something the group accepts about him. Rafi is a different, less flirty version of Mike -- but he's shown to be just as successful where his charms are concerned. No point is ever made about Kelly being the AMMO agent in the field with Mike, she just is.
Both films highlight the differences between the groups (while Dorn is never mocked, his idea for group therapy is quickly laughed off) but Bad Boys For Life never comes across as a grumpy old character complaining about the changing times. It's about someone learning to shift gears and allowing himself to slow down with some semblance of grace.
Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah from a script written by Chris Bremner, Bad Boys For Life stars Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, Paola Nunez, Kate Del Castillo, Nicky Jam and Joe Pantoliano. The film opens Friday nationwide.