Review by: John M. Delia, Jr.
Crime happens everywhere, some places more than others, but in Miami they have crime covered. This action-packed duo, Mike and Marcus are back and ready to take on any newcomers. They take them all down, drug dealers, bank robbers, murders, king pings, and lawbreakers. These criminals will face the wrath of the two die hard detectives.
Detectives Michael “Mike†Lowrey (Will Smith) and Detective Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are back in action with new adventures to face. Now that retirement is right around the corner Mike and Marcus feel they have one more adventure ahead for the both of them. With Marcus’s daughter just giving birth to her first child and a future wedding in store, he has ideas about wanting to spend time with his new grandchild. Meanwhile, Mike never wants to stop being what he is, a bad boy for life.
This adventure brings these two on a tail spin ride that places them in a mysterious plot to discover who is behind all the violence that has recently erupted in Miami. Now, needing help from the Miami Police Department, Captain Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano) assigns them to a new tactic team to help them solve the crimes. Led by Lieutenant Rita (Paola Nunez), undercover officer Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens), computer specialist Dorn (Alexander Ludwig), and hot shot officer Rafe (Charles Melton), this team is trained to find any information they need from all sorts of sources.
Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah do a great job putting together another adventure for these Bad Boys. They do an excellent job establishing this new sequel storyline and keeping it true to the past renditions of these characters. When presenting the plot of this adventure Arbi and Fallah kept you wondering what will they do next? Giving us action on every corner and lots of comedy along the way brings out the true excitement Will Smith and Martin Lawrence bring to the screen.
It was great watching Smith and Lawrence again re-establishing that great chemistry they both have together. As usual when these two get together there is nothing but high speed chases, shoot outs, and many laughs. All in all this was a very entertaining film that includes two adventurous and funny icons, along with a great supporting cast, that will be enjoyable to watch at the theater.
Final Comment: I based my grade on the exceptional storyline, decent action scenes, and hilarious comedy. Stars 3.5 of 5
Additional Film Information
Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, Paola Nunez, Kate Del Castillo, Jacob Scipio, and Joe Pantoliano
Directed by: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, and Thriller
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong bloody violence, language throughout, sexual references, and brief drug use.
Running Time: 2 hours and 3 minutes
Release Date: Â January 17, 2020
Distributed By: Columbia Pictures
Release In: Standard, D-Cinema, Dolby Vision, and Digital Intermediate 4K