After two movies under the stewardship of Michael Bay, Bad Boys 3 comes across as a breath of fresh air. the movie it reminded me of the most was Creed, in that it takes everything from the original movies - even the most seemingly minor details - and re-contextualizes them in a story about two old men trying to deal with age.
Even on a stylistic level, the film feels like an evolution - it pays tribute to the Bayhem of the past, while ensuring that the film-making is dramatically functional. The filmmakers even take Michael Bay's familiar trademarks and uses them to key up important moments (or the set up to a visual gag e.g. the exaggerated low angle of our heroes getting out of a car).
There is even a cameo from Bay which feels rather touching.
Like Creed, I have no real allegiance to the previous movies - I am not sure I have watched the first one to the end. However, this movie does a good job of re-establishing the characters in the context of this story, with their respective responses to encroaching retirement.
While the direction is good, I have to give credit to the script, which is pretty solid, and does a good job of making sure that the actions sequences feel necessary to the progression of the plot. Bad Boys 2 is a tribute to exploding cars but there is no denying that the movie has a lot of excess that slows the movie down.
More significantly - and like Creed - it takes its characters seriously, and takes even their more ridiculous past experiences as beachheads into shading their personalities. The way the movie centres Mike as a playboy forced to confront responsibility and consequence is really well-handled, and does so without leaning away from Lowrey's established persona.The movie may be more thematically sturdy than its predecessors, but it is also really funny.
The action sequences are good, but there are no real standouts. What stood out the most were the gags and jokes peppered through the scenes. It says a lot about the movie that the most memorable 'fight' is between our heroes and a coked-up accountant in a shitty apartment.
Mixing the familiar banter and gun-play with a dollop of melancholy, Bad Boys For Life is a fine action film that may not be as memorable as its immediate predecessor, but it makes up for it by being a satisfying character-piece that does not forget to include plenty of shooting and cool skyline shots of Miami.
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