Movie: Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024) Caution Spoiler Alert

 Bad Boys: Ride or Die

Came out; 2024

Time; 1 hour 55 Minutes

Watched: Netflix

Rated: R for strong violence, language throughout and some sexual references

IMDB Rating; 6.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes:

Tomato Meter 65%

Popcorn Meter 97%

Caution; Spoiler Alert

Staring;

Will Smith as Mike Lowrey

Martin Lawrence as Marcus Burnett

Vanessa Hudgens as Kelly

Alexander Ludwig as Dorn

Paola Nunez as Rita

Eric Dane as McGrath

Ioan Gruffudd as Lockwood

Jacob Scipio as Armando

Melanie Liburd as Christine

Tasha Smith as Theresa

Rhea Seehorn as Judy

Tiffany Haddish as Tabitha

Joe Pantonliano as Captain Howard

Biance Bethune as Megan

Dennis Greene as Reggie

Quinn Hemphill as Callie

Story Line;

When their late police captain gets linked to drug cartels, wisecracking Miami cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett embark on a dangerous mission to clear his name

Thoughts:

This was much better than the last attempt at making one of these movies.

This one had a better story line that was more on-par with the originals.

A few things I noticed: Vanessa Hudgens doesn't look like she used to, she is unrecognizable from her early years.

Alexander Ludwig (Dorn) I can't unsee him as the kid from Grown Up's 2, he looks exactly the same except older

Love, Love LOVE that they made Reggie the hero. That was an amazing part of this movie and finally showed character growth. I always loved the character as the “dimwitt” and you knew something was hiding just beneth the serface.

I didn't like that Jacob Scipio's character Armando was still somehow Will Smith (Mike Lowrey) kid. I didn't like the “broke him out of an airplane while in transport” portion but I did love that he turned into a “good guy”

CAUTION; Spoiler Alert

The film opens in Miami, as Detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are speeding through the streets on the way to an event. Marcus complains about being nauseous, and Mike allows him to take a quick time to get a ginger ale. Marcus gets the ginger ale, plus Skittles and a hot dog. A gunman then enters to try and rob the place, but Mike enters and chastises Marcus for getting snacks before Marcus moves the gunman's arm, and Mike shoots him in the leg.

The two then make their way to Mike's wedding, as he is marrying his physical therapist Christine (Melanie Liburd). They are joined by Marcus's wife Teresa (Tasha Smith), daughter Megan (Bianca Bethune), son-in-law Reggie (Dennis Greene), plus Captain Rita Secada (Paola Nunez), her boyfriend, District Attorney and hopeful mayoral candidate Adam Lockwood (Ioan Gruffudd), and AMMO agents Kelly (Vanessa Hudgens) and Dorn (Alexander Ludwig), as well as the late Captain Howard's (Joe Pantoliano) daughter, U.S. Marshal Judy (Rhea Seehorn) and her daughter Callie (Quinn Hemphill). In the middle of the festivities, Marcus suffers a near-fatal heart attack and collapses. As his friends and family call for help, Marcus sees himself by a beach where Howard is standing by a tree. He approaches Marcus and tells him it's not his time.

Marcus wakes up in the hospital after a couple weeks, now having a newfound appreciation for life and an inflated sense of confidence over his mortality. He returns home to Mike, Christine, and the rest of his family all celebrating his return, but Marcus is annoyed to find that Teresa got rid of all his snacks to start putting him on a healthy diet.

Somewhere else in Miami, a former DEA officer named James McGrath (Eric Dane) meets with a cartel banker and has him transfer funds to an account in Captain Howard's name. After the process is done, McGrath has one of his goons shoot the banker's bodyguard and then have the banker's girlfriend hold the gun to shoot the banker and then herself.

Soon, news breaks that Howard is being posthumously framed for his involvement with cartels. Mike and Marcus head to the station to confront the higher-ups who believe Howard was crooked. Judy comes in trying to get herself on the case, while also vowing to Mike that if she ever comes across Armando (Jacob Scipio), she will kill him in retribution for him killing her father. Mike and Marcus later visit Armando in prison and find out that Howard was targeted after his previous victims were eliminated due to the work he had against the cartels. He doesn't remember McGrath's name but remembers his face since he worked with Armando's mother, and so he can identify him

McGrath and his goons try to continue their work, but once they try to break into Howard's accounts, they activate a fail safe that sends video messages from Howard to Mike and Marcus. In it, he explains that he knows they're watching this if he's dead, and he knows they're setting him up to take the fall for something that goes back over 20 years. Howard tells the two to follow the "coke bottle giant," meaning a former informant of his named Fletcher (John Salley).

Mike and Marcus go to Fletcher's club to try to talk to him. He knows they're coming on Howard's behalf, but just before he can tell the two what they want to know, McGrath shoots Fletcher in the head while Marcus is already pointing his gun at him to make him talk. McGrath walks away from him as his gunmen pursue Mike and Marcus. In the middle of the shooting, Mike suffers a panic attack. The gunmen escape before Rita and her officers arrive. Mike stops Marcus from letting him know that Howard gave them a lead.

The boys then take photographs and surveillance footage to Kelly and Dorn, who help unlock a scan code containing another message from Howard. He further explains that he was working a cartel case and kept Mike and Marcus out of it because two other detectives (Ruiz and Sánchez from the first film) were assigned and killed. Howard warns the guys that the cartel has people working with the police and the FBI.

In prison, Armando is attacked by thugs on the inside sent by McGrath. Mike makes an argument to have Armando transported in a chopper. Unfortunately, McGrath and his goons have already hijacked the helicopter and forced the pilot to send a distress message framing Mike and Marcus for the attack before McGrath slits his throat. McGrath escapes with some of his guys and leaves the chopper to go down. Mike and Marcus fight the remaining guys while trying to save Armando from flying out of the open hatchback. After they free him, Armando helps them make a crash landing into a lake.

Authorities survey the crash site and receive the distress message, so Mike, Marcus, and Armando are all labeled wanted fugitives, while McGrath puts out a large bounty on their heads to every gangster in Miami. Mike and Marcus follow Armando with how to be on the run, which Marcus sees as a good opportunity for Mike to bond with his son, but neither is interested in connecting and just wants to get their names cleared. They come upon a trailer park and try to swipe clothes from some rednecks, but they are discovered and held at gunpoint before Armando hot-wires a truck and gets them out of there.

After driving back into Miami, the truck breaks down. Mike calls a contact named Tabitha (Tiffany Haddish) and agrees to meet at her club in exchange for guns, clothes, and a vehicle. When they get there, Tabitha pretends to help them but is only stalling to get other gangsters in there to bring the three out for the bounty. Just as they are taken outside, rival gangsters come to shoot the captor gangsters, including Manny The Butcher (DJ Khaled), who wants to get back at Mike for smashing his hand with a meat hammer. Manny's ambitions are short lived as the guys board a van and crush Manny into another car, and he then gets hit with a Molotov cocktail. The three drive away and shoot at the incoming gangsters, but Judy also pursues and tries to fire at Armando. The three then jump from the van as the engine catches fire and explodes.

In prison, Armando is attacked by thugs on the inside sent by McGrath. Mike makes an argument to have Armando transported in a chopper. Unfortunately, McGrath and his goons have already hijacked the helicopter and forced the pilot to send a distress message framing Mike and Marcus for the attack before McGrath slits his throat. McGrath escapes with some of his guys and leaves the chopper to go down. Mike and Marcus fight the remaining guys while trying to save Armando from flying out of the open hatchback. After they free him, Armando helps them make a crash landing into a lake.

Authorities survey the crash site and receive the distress message, so Mike, Marcus, and Armando are all labeled wanted fugitives, while McGrath puts out a large bounty on their heads to every gangster in Miami. Mike and Marcus follow Armando with how to be on the run, which Marcus sees as a good opportunity for Mike to bond with his son, but neither is interested in connecting and just wants to get their names cleared. They come upon a trailer park and try to swipe clothes from some rednecks, but they are discovered and held at gunpoint before Armando hot-wires a truck and gets them out of there.

After driving back into Miami, the truck breaks down. Mike calls a contact named Tabitha (Tiffany Haddish) and agrees to meet at her club in exchange for guns, clothes, and a vehicle. When they get there, Tabitha pretends to help them but is only stalling to get other gangsters in there to bring the three out for the bounty. Just as they are taken outside, rival gangsters come to shoot the captor gangsters, including Manny The Butcher (DJ Khaled), who wants to get back at Mike for smashing his hand with a meat hammer. Manny's ambitions are short lived as the guys board a van and crush Manny into another car, and he then gets hit with a Molotov cocktail. The three drive away and shoot at the incoming gangsters, but Judy also pursues and tries to fire at Armando. The three then jump from the van as the engine catches fire and explodes.

Mike, Marcus, and Armando make their way to Dorn's place, where they find that he is in a secret relationship with Kelly. While they are none too happy about helping Armando, they agree to help Mike and Marcus go through tons of evidence so that Armando can identify McGrath. They eventually manage to get somewhere after finding him on surveillance footage. Dorn digs up McGrath's history, learning that he and his team were taken hostage by the cartel, and he gave them up after being tortured, leaving him as the only survivor.

Mike contacts Rita and tells her about McGrath. Moments later, the guys see through Dorn's security cameras in both their houses that McGrath has sent guys to get Christine, as well as Marcus's family. While Mike tries to contact Christine, Marcus gets in touch with Reggie and warns him about the incoming threat. Reggie gets Teresa, Megan, and Little Marcus somewhere hidden while he grabs his gun and puts his combat/firearms skills to good use, taking out 15 goons and keeping the family safe (and finally earning Marcus's respect). Meanwhile, Christine is visited by Callie, who wanted to offer help in proving Mike and Marcus's innocence, but McGrath's goons have already made their way inside. McGrath contacts Mike and lets him know that he will return Christine and Callie unharmed if he gives up Armando and all of Howard's evidence. Armando is willing to turn himself in, but Mike has another idea since he knows who has been feeding McGrath information on all of their whereabouts.

Mike calls Rita again while she is with Lockwood to tip her off. She tells him she is going to the station, and he insists on going with her. As they go down the elevator, Rita confirms that Lockwood is working with McGrath. Lockwood attempts to kill her, but Kelly and Dorn arrive just in time and take him down. They get Lockwood to talk long enough and give up his motive (profiting from cartel association) to scan his voice and have Mike set up a call posing as Lockwood to McGrath to meet up. Mike tells Marcus, Armando, Rita, Kelly, and Dorn that they are the only ones that each other can trust right now.

The heroes arrange to meet the villains at a former alligator park, said to be home to a huge albino alligator named Duke. They have a plane arrive to bring McGrath out with Christine and Callie, but while Mike has a shot on McGrath, he starts to have another panic attack and fears he might hit Christine. The gators in the water then start to come close to Armando's location, which clues McGrath to someone being nearby. Before one goon can spot him, Armando shoots at him before he falls in the water and gets eaten by the gators. Mike goes after McGrath and Christine, while Lockwood makes an escape attempt. The others engage in a shootout with McGrath's guys.

Lockwood tries to hijack the plane for himself, but Rita shoots it down and has the plane crash into the building. Lockwood shoots Dorn in the arm and tries to shoot Rita, but she kicks him into a pit that happens to be where Duke resides, and Lockwood becomes Duke's dinner. Meanwhile, Armando keeps Callie safe from McGrath's other goons and kills them before taking her to safety. At the same time, Mike snaps out of his panic attack when he sees his own vision of Captain Howard, telling him to forgive himself for thinking it was his fault that Howard got killed.

Marcus ends up on the same beach he saw in his vision, only for McGrath to catch him. Mike gets to them, and McGrath orders him to choose between Marcus or Christine to die. Mike shoots Marcus in his vest to get a clear shot at McGrath, pumping him full of lead before finally blowing his brains out. Judy then finds Armando and prepares to execute him, but Callie stands in the way and tells Judy that he saved her life. Judy relents and lets Armando go, and Mike helps Armando find a way to get out. As authorities come to the crime scene and arrest McGrath's surviving goons, news reports state that Howard has officially been exonerated.

Mike, Marcus, and their loved ones gather at the park for a barbecue. While Mike and Marcus argue over who cooks what on the grill, Reggie brings his chicken and asks if he can grill. The Bad Boys laugh him off for a moment before remembering that Reggie killed McGrath's henchmen and saved the family, so they agree to back off this time. Reggie then gives a satisfied smile.