Mike Lowrey is finally crying. That’s the big takeaway from Bad Boys: Ride or Die. Not the explosions—though there are plenty—and not the sleek Miami skylines. It’s the fact that after thirty years of playing the untouchable super-cop, Will Smith’s character is finally having panic attacks in the middle of gunfights. It’s weirdly human.
Most franchises die by the fourth installment. They get bloated. They lose the plot. They swap out the original cast for younger, cheaper models that nobody actually wants to watch. But somehow, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah managed to take a thirty-year-old premise and make it feel like it actually belonged in the 2024 cinematic landscape. It wasn’t just a nostalgia trip; it was a pivot.
The Captain Howard Factor
The plot kicks off with a dead man. Joe Pantoliano’s Captain Howard, who was killed off in the previous film, is being framed from beyond the grave. He’s accused of working with the cartels. It’s a classic setup, sure. But the execution is what matters.
Mike and Marcus, played by Martin Lawrence, end up as fugitives. They’re on the run. The hunters become the hunted. Honestly, it’s a trope as old as time, but the chemistry between Smith and Lawrence is so baked-in at this point that they could be reading a grocery list and it would still feel like a Bad Boys movie. They don’t feel like actors hitting marks; they feel like brothers who are genuinely sick of each other’s nonsense but would die for one another in a heartbeat.
Armando Aretas and the Redemption Arc
Jacob Scipio returns as Armando, Mike’s long-lost son and the guy who actually pulled the trigger on Captain Howard in the last movie. Bringing him back was a risky move. Usually, the "secret son" plotline is where franchises go to die—look at Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Yet, Scipio brings a grit to the role that balances out the comedy.
He’s the heavy hitter. While Mike is dealing with his mental health and Marcus is busy having a near-death experience that convinces him he’s immortal, Armando is the one actually doing the dirty work. His dynamic with Mike is strained, awkward, and surprisingly grounded. It adds a layer of consequence that the Michael Bay era usually ignored in favor of more slow-motion walking away from fire.
Why the Action Feels Different
Michael Bay basically invented the visual language of these movies. The "Bayhem" style—swirling cameras, saturated colors, every frame looking like a high-end car commercial. Adil and Bilall didn't just copy him. They evolved it.
There’s a sequence in Bad Boys: Ride or Die involving a helicopter that is genuinely dizzying. They use POV shots and SnorriCam rigs that make you feel like you’re the one holding the gun. It’s kinetic. It’s messy. It feels like modern action cinema, heavily influenced by things like John Wick but keeping that Miami neon aesthetic that defines the series.
- The pacing is relentless. Once the setup is done, the movie rarely stops to breathe.
- The humor is darker. Marcus Burnett is obsessed with ginger ale and high blood pressure, which sounds lame on paper but works because Lawrence leans into the absurdity of aging.
- The stakes are personal. Framing Howard isn't just a crime; it’s an insult to the guys who spent three decades calling him "Pop."
Realism vs. Spectacle
Let’s be real. Nobody goes to a Bad Boys movie for a documentary-style look at police procedures. If you’re looking for realism, you’re in the wrong theater. But Bad Boys: Ride or Die succeeds because it respects its own internal logic.
💡 You might also like: Why Everyone Is Still Searching for I'm Coming Back Home to You Daniel Caesar
The villains aren't just generic moustachioed bad guys; they represent the corruption within the system that the duo has served for their entire careers. Eric Dane plays the antagonist, McGrath, with a cold, calculated efficiency that contrasts perfectly with the chaotic energy of our lead detectives. He’s a former DEA agent, which adds that "mirror image" vibe—showing what happens when the law goes wrong.
The Cameo Game
We have to talk about Reggie. Dennis Greene, who has played Reggie since the awkward dating scene in Bad Boys II, finally gets his moment. It’s arguably the best scene in the entire film. Without spoiling the specifics for the three people who haven't seen it, Reggie proves that he’s more than just the guy Mike and Marcus used to bully. He’s a Marine. And when the house is under attack, he handles business in a way that had audiences literally cheering in the aisles.
It was a payoff twenty years in the making. That’s the kind of fan service that actually works—it’s earned.
The Box Office Reality
People thought Will Smith’s career was over. They thought the "slap" heard 'round the world would sink this film before it even premiered. They were wrong. Bad Boys: Ride or Die pulled in over $400 million globally. Why? Because at the end of the day, people want to be entertained.
💡 You might also like: The Luck of the Fryrish: What Most People Get Wrong
They want the comfort food of a buddy-cop movie that knows exactly what it is. It didn't try to be a political statement. It didn't try to reinvent the wheel. It just tried to be the best version of a Bad Boys movie it could be. It’s about loyalty. It’s about family. It’s about two guys who are too old for this, doing it anyway.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Ending
Some critics complained that the ending felt too "neat." Maybe. But this isn't Se7en. This is a summer blockbuster. The resolution of the Howard conspiracy needed to be definitive. It needed to clear the names of the people we’ve grown to love over thirty years.
The film finishes with a sense of closure, but it leaves the door just cracked enough. Not for a reboot, but for a continuation of this new, more mature (slightly) version of Mike and Marcus. They aren't the young hotshots anymore. They’re the old guard. And seeing them navigate that transition is actually more interesting than watching them pretend they’re still twenty-five.
Moving Forward with the Franchise
If you're looking to dive deeper into the lore or just want to appreciate the craft behind the chaos, there are a few things you should do.
First, go back and watch the original 1995 film. It’s wild to see how low-budget it feels compared to now. Then, look at the technical breakdown of the "Reggie scene" in the fourth film. The stunt coordination is top-tier.
If you're a filmmaker or a writer, study how Adil and Bilall use camera movement to tell a story without dialogue. The way the camera shifts perspective during the final shootout tells you exactly who is in control of the situation at any given moment. It’s a masterclass in modern action geography.
👉 See also: Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad: Why Nobody Else Could Have Been Walter White
The biggest takeaway from Bad Boys: Ride or Die is simple: Don't count out the veterans. Sometimes, the old dogs really do have the best tricks.
To get the most out of the experience, watch the films in order, specifically paying attention to the evolution of Marcus Burnett’s domestic life. It’s the emotional anchor of the series. Then, check out the behind-the-scenes footage of the POV camera rigs used in the finale—it’ll change how you look at action cinematography forever.