Bad Boys For Life Review — God’s Name in Vain

The Bad Boys series is popular for one main reason: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have exquisite chemistry. In Bad Boys For Life, they oscillate between humor and heartfelt drama like masters. Even the predictable, stereotypical, and silly ideas in the film, like Smith’s old flame being a literal witch, can seem forgivable because, hey, it’s Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. And to their credit, directors Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi embrace the Michael Bay tradition quite well, particularly during the final big fight, which features a striking sideways camera shot as someone sprays bullets at bad guys from underneath a floor.

The movie’s cowardly and meaningless approach to spirituality, however, very much stands out, in part because the previous two Bad Boys movies didn’t go out of their way to reference God. The main twist of Bad Boys For Life is that Smith is nearly killed. This event inspires Lawrence to pray. He asks for Smith’s life in exchange for swearing off violence. The scene that depicts Lawrence’s request seems as sincere as one can be, as Lawrence is convincingly troubled and humbled.

There are more references to Lawrence’s conflicted soul, as in the funny scene where Smith turns Lawrence’s faith in a different direction with the claim that God wants him to shoot at people. The whole idea of God is virtually forgotten after this admittedly entertaining exchange. After all, how else could the characters continue to blow people up with effectiveness unless the example of Christ is deemed irrelevant?

One could argue the entire premise of Bad Boys is crass at best and irresponsible at worst. If that’s correct, then this third film’s initial serious focus on matters of religious belief is even more puzzling. Instead of wasting time with scenes where Lawrence is asked to be a more pensive man, Bad Boys For Life could have simply kept the part where Smith, in a fit of desperate fury, manipulates Lawrence to believe that God and violence are inseparable. As the lone reference to God and what his believers do, this scene could have had the bite of satire (something Bay could have pulled off). But in the finished version of Bad Boys For Life, God is merely an oddly abandoned thematic concept.