At one point in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, one of the principal characters announces, “This is some dysfunctional shit!” With self-aware comments like that, who needs film critics? Not that reviews will matter to the devoted fans of the action-comedy buddy cop franchise that began three decades ago and whose antecedents date as far back as 1974’s Freebie and the Bean and Busting (feel free to cite even earlier ones). It’s a durable concept, even if this fourth installment feels more than a little strained.
Watching Will Smith’s Mike and Martin Lawrence’s Marcus go through their familiar comedic bickering routines has become like spending an evening with a long-married couple whose constant sniping has grown wearisome. In the opening scene, Mike chides Marcus for his addiction to junk food and you think, “Again?”
Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Full Credits
Production: Columbia Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Westbrook Studios, 2.0 Entertainment
Distributor: Sony
Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Nunez, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Melanie Liburd, Tasha Smith, Tiffany Haddish, Joe Pantoliano
Directors: Adil & Bilall
Screenwriters: Chris Bremner, Will Beall
Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Will Smith, Chad Oman, Doug Belgrad
Executive producers: Barry Waldman, Mike Stenson, James Lassiter, Jon Mone, Chris Bremner, Martin Lawrence
Director of photography: Robrecht Heyvaert
Production designer: Jon Billington
Costume designer: Janie Bryant
Music: Lorne Balfe
Editors: Dan Lebental, Asaf Eisenberg
Casting: Lindsay Graham, Mary Vernieu
Rated R, 1 hour 55 minutes
