After three films of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence taking down drug dealers in Miami, you would be justified in thinking that they are running out of ways to keep the Bad Boys franchise fun. Adil & Bilall are here to prove you wrong. After seeing Bad Boys: Ride or Die, I believe that this duo should get to do whatever they want in Hollywood because they know how to make an entertaining movie.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence have come back and, as per usual, their chemistry as Mike and Marcus is incredible and they are the beating heart of this film. These two know exactly what we came for and they deliver with fantastic humour, rapport, and balls to the wall dynamic action. They are joined by an excellent supporting cast, with Jacob Sipico and Vanessa Hudgens being the standouts amongst them. Overall, this group of actors has great chemistry and knows exactly what kind of movie they’re delivering.

The real shining star of this movie is the direction from Adil & Billal. If you’ve been following my work for a few years, you already know how much I love Ms. Marvel. Aside from Iman Vellani’s phenomenal performance in that show, it’s actually Adil & Billal’s work that I love the most about it. I carry that same sentiment into Ride or Die as they display some of the most creative direction I’ve seen in an action movie in a long rime. They have effectively distinguished themselves from the first two Bay films and made their own voice and vision stronger than ever, in the best way possible.

The action sequences are absolutely eye popping and beyond creative. The dynamic duo of Adil & Billal practice their craft outside the box and give us action scenes that are a feast for the eyes. In particular, the drone shots and the use of body cameras on the actors during gun sequences to give it a first person perspective is filmmaking at its finest. In what I would argue is one of the film’s best action sequences, Reggie finally gets his moment to shine and it wouldn’t have been as cool without the direction from our duo. I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed the action sequences but unfortunately we have to get to some of the shortcomings of this film.


Unfortunately, the film has some weak points, particularly the pacing, weak villain, and the extremely overstuffed script. Running at a tight 115 minutes, this movie crams in too many subplots or starts them without revisiting the majority of them again. The story isn’t much to write home about. When you boil it down, it’s still the same “drug dealers in Miami, Bad Boys gotta save the day” story with maybe a tweak or two. Eric Dane is a fine actor, don’t get me wrong, but he’s kind of just a generic bad guy and we learn about his origin a little too late to have an impact. Sadly, all of these things do bring the film down in terms of overall quality. 

Is Bad Boys: Ride or Die an Oscar level movie? Not even close. Is it more than serviceable summer entertainment? Hell yes. This is a crowd pleasing summer movie so go see it with friends, you won’t regret it.