{"id":28798,"date":"2024-06-05T22:51:58","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T05:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28798"},"modified":"2024-06-05T22:51:58","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T05:51:58","slug":"bad-boys-ride-or-die-has-its-moments-but-feels-choppy-and-fragmented","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28798","title":{"rendered":"BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE Has Its Moments, But Feels Choppy and Fragmented"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 115 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from Sony Pictures will be opening\nexclusively at theaters on June 7th<\/sup>, 2024.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been 29 years since the original Bad Boys<\/em>\narrived at theaters. The $19 million dollar action picture didn\u2019t fare\nparticularly well with critics of the day, but audiences turned the movie into\na box office hit. This reviewer didn\u2019t mind the first movie\u2019s frantic energy,\nbut hasn\u2019t been as enamored with the follow-ups. Bad Boys: Ride or Die<\/em>\nis the fourth title in the series. This loud effort essentially delivers more\nof the same and there is barely a moment when the characters aren\u2019t shooing or\nshouting at each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Audiences should be warned that this film is closely\nconnected to the previous installments released in 2003 and 2020. In the first\nsequel, lieutenants Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin\nLawrence) took down a drug cartel kingpin. In the recent follow-up, the\ncriminal\u2019s widow ordered her son, Armando Aretas (Jacob Scipio), to assassinate\nthose who stopped her father. For those who have forgotten, a subplot reveals\nthat Armando is actually the son of Mike. Anyway, over the course of events the\nheroes\u2019 mentor Captain Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano) is killed. As this\npicture begins, investigators state they have evidence suggesting the captain\nwas actually involved with these drug dealers. Mike and Marcus refuse to\nbelieve it and discover that Armando was instead hired by crooked parties\nwithin the police force. The protagonists are framed for murder and go on the\nlam with Armando. They attempt to prove their innocence while avoiding cops, as\nwell as gangs after a bounty is placed on their heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pacing is rapid, which is a wise decision as little of\nwhat is going on holds up to any scrutiny. Obviously, the change to what\nhappened involving the captain is a stretch. Yes, this adds a redemptive arc\nfor the Armando character, but it strains the limits of believability. There\ncould also have been intrigue adding familiar faces from the police force as\nsuspects, but it\u2019s plainly obvious who the sinister mastermind is to all\nviewers. Disappointingly, henchman Banker (Eric Dane) has no previous association\nwith the leads either. And when the bad guys send an all-points-bulletin to\nevery gang saying they\u2019ll pay millions to whomever wipes out Mile and Marcus,\nit\u2019s hard to take the secret \u201cconspiracy\u201d seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yes, the leads are charismatic and there are elaborate shoot-outs using creative photography and elaborate camera moves. While the CGI is blatant, these exaggerated sequences are, at times, fun to watch. A dust-up in the air and a finale involving crocodiles aren\u2019t exactly suspenseful, but are eccentric enough to keep one\u2019s attention. And although it is violent, there is an absurdly humorous scene featuring Marcus\u2019 son-in-law Reggie (Dennis Greene) being unexpectedly called into action. The payoff at the end of the film raises a smile too, even if it makes for an odd final image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Still, the picture is tonally jarring overall. It veers from\ncomedic banter between the heroes (as bullet-riddled bodies fall around them),\nto melodrama when the pair find their loved ones in danger. This includes\nMike\u2019s relationship with his estranged son, which is played seriously one\nmoment and then for quips moments later. A major storyline involves Marcus\nsuffering a heart attack. Instead of adding an element of danger for his\nwell-being or concern from his family, the character soldiers on and leaps around\nas if nothing has occurred. In fact, this device is also played mostly for\nlaughs, as the confused Marcus believes himself to be invincible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    As mentioned, the film moves like a bullet and the action is\nconstant. That is, if you don\u2019t get psychological whiplash from rapid shifts\nbetween over-the-top gags and deadly serious declarations about loyalty\/love of\nfamily, or witnessing characters behave and react to deadly events in a\ncompletely preposterous manner. Perhaps this has been the style of previous\ninstallments, but this picture may even exhaust a portion of its fanbase. Bad\nBoys: Ride or Die<\/em> has a few enjoyable elements, but the entire package\nfeels so choppy and fragmented that it may really be time for these characters\nto officially call it a day and retire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Running Time: 115 minutes This feature from Sony Pictures will be opening exclusively at theaters on June 7th, 2024. It has been 29 years since the original Bad Boys arrived at theaters. The $19 million dollar action picture didn\u2019t fare particularly well with critics of the day, but audiences turned the movie into a box […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[215,697,2192,2195,2196,2197,2198,3645,4660,7025,10151,10786,13315,18035,18709,24295],"class_list":["post-28798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-215","tag-action","tag-bad-boys-4","tag-bad-boys-ride-or-die","tag-bad-boys-ride-or-die-film-review","tag-bad-boys-ride-or-die-movie-review","tag-bad-boys-ride-or-die-review","tag-buddy-picture","tag-comedy","tag-eric-dane","tag-jacob-scipio","tag-joe-pantoliano","tag-martin-lawrence","tag-sequel","tag-sony-pictures","tag-will-smith"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28798\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}