Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Bad Boys: Ride or Die Blu-ray Movie Review

"You're my bad boys. Now clear my name."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown September 28, 2024

Can you hear it? Bad boys, bad boys... whatcha gonna do? I hear it. Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? You know it. You even kinda love it. Don't lie. Admit it. And either one of two things swim to mind when you hear it play: Cops, the thirty-five-year-strong reality show with more door kick-ins and would-be criminal take-downs than any series has any business kicking or taking, or Bad Boys, the now four-film Will Smith/Martin Lawrence franchise that finds any and every excuse to bust out the iconic Inner Circle reggae classic. So how fares the fourth Bad Boys flick? Ride or Die is actually a good bit of fun. Not great cinema. Not the next evolution of the action genre. Not even the best of the franchise. But a good time all the same. Fans of the, um, saga will find plenty to love here, and not just a rehash of all the bits and punchlines you've enjoyed before. At this point there's a surprising amount of juice to the Mike/Marcus bromance -- at a level perhaps not seen since the Lethal Weapon movies -- and it keeps the laughs and fist pumps coming, even when it falls prey to the same generic action-endgame it's been trotting out since 1995.

When their late captain (Joe Pantoliano, who cameos in a dream sequence) is posthumously accused of corruption and being in league with drug cartels, bad boys Mike Lowry (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) race to save his reputation with the help of fresh Miami PD captain Rita Secada (Paola Núñez), her new boyfriend and rising political It-boy Adam Lockwood (Ioan Gruffudd), and Mike's incarcerated son and former cartel assassin Armando Aretas (Jacob Scipio). Surprise, surprise, the dynamic duo learn their former cap wasn't corrupt, but he was homing in on who was, exposing himself to danger and sealing his fate. Can Mike and Marcus snag the baddies before they fall prey to a set up? Or will Joey Pants' be joined by two cops in the hereafter? Directed by Adil & Bilall (the same team that helmed Bad Boys for Life) and written by Chris Bremner and Will Beall, the fourth Bad Boys also stars Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Eric Dane, Melanie Liburd, John Salley, Tasha Smith and Tiffany Haddish.

A healthy dose of suspension of disbelief is required to go along with Ride or Die's partners on the run schtick, but taken on its own terms, Bad Boys continues to work because Smith and Lawrence's on-screen chemistry is so funny and infectious. One-liners and put-downs come a mile a minute, and there's the always amusing running gag of Mike and Marcus arguing themselves into distracting any and every bad guy that needs put on the ground. In between is all the Skittles, delusions of grandeur and shoot outs you could hope for, even if a subplot involving Mike's ex-Cartel son is often a leap too far. The supporting cast is a blast as well, despite making the movie sometimes play like a string of sketches on a comedy show, but the episodic beats line up with what's come before I suppose. Likewise, all the cliches you actually want from a '90s-era action franchise -- that's aging as gracefully as you could expect -- are out in force. Lunging from cars firing, leaping sideways while shooting, scrambling from cover to cover while, yep you guessed it, blasting anything holding a laser-scoped assault weapon.

So why is it that these films always deal such obvious hands when it comes to villains? The word generic would be overly kind when describing the level of villainy on display here, and very few, if any, actual twists and turns accompany the brains and brawn out to bring Mike and Marcus down. I'm not asking for a baddie-focused flick, but a little bit of flair and ingenuity is all it would take to create an antagonist that does more than seek revenge, want copious amounts of cash, or slithers out of the shadows to reveal, gasp, I'm a part of the conspiracy too. It's all terribly predictable, and if not for Smith and Lawrence hamming and barking it up with such pizazz, it would amount to one giant bore. Is it too much to ask for a screenplay that offers something smarter, sharper and more sensational than throwback style over meaningful substance. Ah well, there's at least new love, new commitments, some actual growth, and ongoing family drama in Mike and Marcus's personal lives to keep the twosome worthy of our time and affection.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Bad Boys: Ride or Die's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation looks great, without anything in the way of significant issues to point to, much less anything like banding or blocking. Colors are rich, vibrant and perfectly saturated, with exceedingly convincing skintones (relative to the sweltering sunstruck lighting that has become one of the franchise's calling cards), beautifully inky black levels, and exacting contrast leveling. Shadow delineation is excellent, showcasing or absorbing whatever elements Robrecht Heyvaert's photography requires, and grain is all but non-existent, save a faint touch of filmic nuance. Similarly, detail is exacting and satisfying, with crisp edge definition and revealing fine textures (resolved wonderfully in extreme close- ups of Smith and Lawrence's faces). Yeah yeah, the 4K transfer stands head and shoulders above the standard BD. But this is 1080p at its best, all stop. Bad Boys: Ride or Die serves up the goods. All the goods.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The only way you can walk away disappointed with Ride or Die's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is to compare it to the 4K edition's outstanding Atmos experience. Otherwise, you'd be hard pressed to criticize anything the movie's standard lossless audio mix pulls off. Dialogue is intelligible and nicely prioritized throughout the feature, which is especially noteworthy considering how much noise and chaos erupts across Mike and Marcus's misadventures in crime fighting. And that applies even when gunfire, explosions, screeching cars and roaring engines assault the listener in more intense sequences. The surround and rear channels offer plenty of directional showstoppers, flinging shrapnel, torn metal and shattered steel across the soundscape with slick pans and smooth spatial subtlety. LFE output matches the soundfield dimensionality beat for beat too, lending weight and presence to every punch, blast and boom the film drums up, and does so with enough power to make you feel it in your sternum. Oh, and there's the music score as well, which has waaaay too much fun kicking the action up notch after notch until the whole mix threatens to come crashing down. Does it ever fall or falter, though? Nope. This is what action movies were destined to sound like, and Sony ensures Ride or Die does modern action right, whether you're listening to the 4K's Atmos mix or its younger DTS-HD MA brother.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Will & Martin: Chemistry, Legacy & Laughs (HD, 4 minutes) - A quick look at the stars.

• Fights, Camera, Action (HD, 4 minutes) - Another quickie, this time focused on the action.

• Outtakes & Bloopers (HD, 3 minutes) - Smith, Lawrence and company yuk it up.

• The Bruckheimer Legacy: Crafting Bad Boys and Beyond (HD, 4 minutes) - An overview of the house of adventures and misadventures Bruckheimer's production company has brought to the screen.

• Partners in Crime (HD, 5 minutes) - Mike and Marcus, heroes for the ages.

• Deleted Scenes (HD, 7 minutes) - Five scenes are included: "Wedding Gossip," "Welcome to the Family," "Life Lessons," "Joy Ride" and "Gathering Evidence."

• Previews (HD)

Bad Boys: Ride or Die Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What's left to say? Come for the laughs, stay for the excellent AV presentation and... maybe duck out before the subpar special features disappoint. Bad Boys: Ride or Die could've been another ho-hum action franchise sequel, but instead ups the fun, ups the insanity, and ups the action to the delight of fans. And Sony? Sony delivers the goods yet again, giving us a genre pic that knows how to make every gunfight look and sound like a million bucks. 1080p or 4K, you can't really go wrong. 4K takes the win but 1080p isn't far behind.