Movie Review: Bad Boys For Life
When Bad Boys premiered, the Miami lifestyle still had some “Miami Vice” reverberations and people were ready to see that vibe portrayed again. With audiences flocking to the other hits of the year like “12 Monkeys”, “Nixon” and the still-relevant “Seven”, we were all in the mood for a light-hearted action flick reminiscent of “Lethal Weapon.” Transferring the theme song from the hit TV reality show “COPS” didn’t hurt either. This movie didn’t let the theater-going audiences down as it delivered a healthy dose of camp, action, jokes, and star-power. I enjoyed the movie so much at the time that I bought it (there was no streaming then) and the soundtrack too. Although I found it “meth-lab” trailer park to play the theme song so I stuck to the other tracks when there was a possibility of someone eavesdropping on my musical choices. Bad Boys II might be considered a better film, and it made just as many people happy as the first, myself included
If you haven’t heard yet, Will Smith is attempting to rekindle his career in action movies. The box office success of the 1995 film “Bad Boys” has sparked two sequels. In 95’ the movie was welcomed with open arms with its signature song and the massive popularity of the main stars, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. This movie helped to propel the career of Micheal Bay as a box office master of action and, what my dad calls “shoot em up” movies. By today's standards, the film didn’t make that much money, but by 1995 standards it was a smash hit making an estimated 140 million on a 90 million dollar budget. Bad Boys II came out in 2003 and cost almost 130 million to make and took in 273 million. Again, delivering on the promise of the first movie and, well, winning.
When Bad Boys premiered, the Miami lifestyle still had some “Miami Vice” reverberations and people were ready to see that vibe portrayed again. With audiences flocking to the other hits of the year like “12 Monkeys”, “Nixon” and the still-relevant “Seven”, we were all in the mood for a light-hearted action flick reminiscent of “Lethal Weapon.” Transferring the theme song from the hit TV reality show “COPS” didn’t hurt either. This movie didn’t let the theater-going audiences down as it delivered a healthy dose of camp, action, jokes, and star-power. I enjoyed the movie so much at the time that I bought it (there was no streaming then) and the soundtrack too. Although I found it “meth-lab” trailer park to play the theme song so I stuck to the other tracks when there was a possibility of someone eavesdropping on my musical choices. Bad Boys II might be considered a better film, and it made just as many people happy as the first, myself included
And now, in 2020, “Bad Boys For Life” has made itself known. For what, I am not entirely sure, but it might not be something good. It is playing on the same tropes as the past two movies with all the throw-back lines and situations. Nothing in the film was new and there is no twist ending.
CAUTION, SPOILERS AHEAD
The movie is almost a repeat of Bad Boys II when it comes to the interpersonal relationship between Smith and Lawrence. Sure they forwarded the story a touch with Lawerence’s family but nothing has changed between them and Smith is still unresolved as a character. In fact, I would suggest that neither character has any real movement and leave the movie as they came in, stagnant from the previous two films
The biggest issue I have with the film is that it resembles an 80’s or 90’s action flick a little too much. Most of the scenes were made fun of in one of my favorite movies “Last Action Hero.” In the film, they bring all the stupid things screenwriters do to make an action movie move forward without getting too much into the details when they have run out of things to blow up or minions to kill. In fact, much of the movie has those nameless, faceless villains wearing motorcycle helmets riding motorcycles and driving chase cars with heavily tinted windows. Our heroes can kill as many of them as they want and no one worries about the body count because they are bad guys after all. This movie even goes so far as to have them chewed out by their police captain who yells and screams like a little baby about how much these two guys wreak havoc on the city. Even after the blistering attack from the boss, the hero gets a new team with abilities unknown to Smith. But, we find out that the team is good, but they don’t have what it takes to be a real old school cop like Smith and Lawrence so they flounder.
Then there are the unnecessary and unreal explosions and weaponry. Cars do not blow up when they are shot with a rifle round, motorcycles cannot roam around the city with a military machine gun attached to the front of a motorcycle sidecar and grenades do not have enough force to push a motorcycle onto its front wheel. But this is the movies, so I may just let most of this stuff go. Ok, I won’t. It is just too ridiculous.
But there’s more.
In my humble opinion, when a screenwriter gets stuck or can’t see beyond their own creations eyes they do dumb things. Just like in the film “Batman VS Superman,” the duo is miraculously saved at the end of the movie when the team they left behind in Miami suddenly appears to give the crucial assist. This is amateurish and Smith and Lawerence should have been able to figure this out by themselves. It would have been a way better ending.
Instead, the screenwriters wrote themselves into a corner by having fifteen or so bad guys attack the guys in Miami. The rule of thumb for writing a screenplay is to make the next set of bad guys tougher than the last. Well, the only way they could do that is to double up on the number of bad guys since there was no set up for a supervillain henchman as that role was taken by the sub-plot of the super henchman being Will Smiths son. Yes, you heard me right, he had a child with the main bad girl. Explained to us in a reflective scene, we find that Will’s first assignment out of the academy was to be an undercover operative in a Mexican cartel. Just Another overused trope that this movie intends to cram down our throats in an unsuccessful attempt to make the audience care for the Characters that fails miserably.
Top all of that off with the Super Henchman (AKA Will’s son) is captured after turning on his mother and given a second chance to prove his worthiness even after killing the police captain, everyone’s dear friend, in cold blood just thirty minutes before. I mean Come On!
While I could go on and on about this film, I wonder if it will find an audience that revels in its creation. The world has changed and sensibilities have deepened. Can a 1908’s style buddy cop flick hold it’s own? If so, I can write that. And it would probably be better than this 1.5-star silly movie. Mostly because I always try to avoid cliché’s when writing a story. This movie leaves me wondering if our society has digressed to the point that a good story isn’t as crucial as making stuff blow up. The box office take for this movie will tell us and I hope it’s not bad news.
Making short films always seems to turn into something bigger.
I love making films. If you didn’t know that already, well, now you do. Sometimes we have a fleshed-out script, and sometimes we don’t. The real fun of making films sometimes comes from not knowing what I am going to film and figuring it out as we go. I know that sounds dumb, but it always seems to work out.
This last weekend, we did exactly that. We had outlined a few scenes and practiced some stunts with the actors. It worked out alright; it was one of those times when working on a wing and a prayer just felt right.
I love making films. If you didn’t know that already, well, now you do. Sometimes we have a fleshed-out script, and sometimes we don’t. The real fun of making films sometimes comes from not knowing what I am going to film and figuring it out as we go. I know that sounds dumb, but it always seems to work out.
This last weekend, we did exactly that. We had outlined a few scenes and practiced some stunts with the actors. It worked out alright; it was one of those times when working on a wing and a prayer just felt right.
What did she do?!
I made a few mistakes along the way, though. I accidentally recorded in SLog3 instead of 2 and damned near lost all of the takes. But I am a guru with Premier Pro and got most of it back. It took a little doing and a lot of noise reduction, but I think the footage is salvageable.
We did lose an actor along the way (a common occurrence), so I got to kill my screenwriter. Ok, no he’s not dead but its the only part that he can really nail. Yes, that’s a joke but not far from the truth. I am sure he will be complaining about me bashing him tomorrow. Screenwriters have thin skin sometimes.
Is he really Dead?
He’s just acting.
The short film I am working on is supposed to be a scary, art/horror piece that is meant to drive tension in the viewer. Through the use of heavy sound effects and long, arduous takes, the stillness of the film is intended to bring dread and dark suspense to the viewer. Maybe I am accomplishing that, and perhaps I am not. Only the final product will tell.
I’m trying to schedule a re-shoot for a couple of shots. All I can do is hope the weather holds out and they show back up. No one is getting paid for this and, if anything, it just costs me money. So I understand why people would not want to spend bucks to work for free. The thing is; to be a working actor, you must work for free and build that reel. Because, if you don’t have a reel, you aren’t getting any work.
And Honestly, that’s part of the reason I am shooting this on my own dime. That and I really love making films.
On the set; A film that took six years to make.
As you know, I love filmmaking. The one thing that always brings a smile to my face is when a project is finished, and the world gets to see.
On The Set of
The “Tech Files” by Joseph Hitchcock
As you know, I love filmmaking. The one thing that always brings a smile to my face is when a project is finished, and the world gets to see. Just the other day, I worked on a film set with one of the most exciting filmmakers in NWA Joseph Hitchcock on a project that has taken six years to finish principal photography.
Yes, you read that right, Six Years.
For me, that is an insanely long time. I tend to get my projects done in record time. It works for me, and I consistently win awards for my films. But not everyone who makes films does it this way. Sometimes, for an artist to really get what they want, it takes forever. It isn't a good thing or a bad thing, it is just how they operate.
No, he is not related to Alfred, but I do share the same birthday as the heralded filmmaker of classics such as "North by Northwest) .
Alfred Hitchcock and I have the same birthday!
Many years ago, Hitchcock asked me to film an action sequence for him. It was in a parking garage somewhere in Fayetteville, and I was more than excited to do it. Remember, I think this stuff is super fun and would do it all day for free if I didn't have bills to pay. He had some shots he wanted to get, and I talked him into getting some extra stuff that I thought would be super interesting. The shoot ended and I thought that was the end of it. I looked and stalked his online profiles for about a year, hoping to see the final product, It never appeared.
Oh well, I thought, such is filmmaking. Maybe it wasn't any good, or perhaps the other shots were so different from what I shot that it blew up the entire project. This is something that happens when you have several different shooters on a film. One may be conservative with their shots, and another is super aggressive, causing the film to look disjointed and hard to watch.
Turns out, that wasn't the case with this film (called The Tech Files), it was more of a matter of not having the time to do it, I would suppose. In fact, Hitchcock just got back from Eastern Europe where he has been living for the past year or more, and before that, he was living in L.A. while he was touring the country for his music career. He just did not have the time and opportunity to finish the dang thing.
Action sequence I shot from the film “The Tech Files”
Come on man, get off the phone Hitch!
As always, there were significant hiccups with the production. The warehouse that was scheduled for shooting canceled. I hate that. Hitchcock was scrambling hard to find a warehouse to shoot in with only hours to spare. We brainstormed for a while and came up with a couple of solutions. Finally settling on a place called "Free Geek." The lady who runs the place is pretty nice, she let us use the warehouse without any restrictions.
For those of you that don't know, Free Geek is a non-profit that recycles old electronics. If you have a bunch of hardware left over from dead or dying computers, printers or whatever, that's the place to take them rather than throwing them away. If they can refurbish them, they do. If they are just dead, they break them down into parts and send them to the appropriate places rather than just the landfill.
