Ahead of the film’s release this Friday, the review embargo for Sony Pictures’ Bad Boys for Life has officially been lifted and with it the Rotten Tomatoes score for the sequel has begun to take shape! As of this writing, and with 47 total reviews in the system, Bad Boys for Life is currently sitting at “Fresh” status with 79% of critics contributing a positive review. ComicBook.com’s own Kofi Outlaw gave the film a Four out of Five rating, calling it “more of a solid continuation than a prime jumping-on point for new viewers, but longtime fans will likely appreciate seeing these Bad Boys do some growing up.”
Though the 2020 sequel is well above the 75% mark to give it “Certified Fresh” status, it still needs to maintain its current rating after at least 80 reviews have been submitted. That in mind there’s still time for fluctuation, but as of right now things are looking good for the movie. Compared to the two previous films in the series, Bad Boys for Life is the king of the franchise too. The two Michael Bay directed movies the preceding it are much lower, and both rated “Rotten,” with 1995’s Bad Boys rated at 42% and Bad Boys II rated at 23%. Even if Bad Boys for Life falls below the “Certified Fresh” margin it could still be much higher than the first two movies.
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Bad Boys for Life will follow a new status quo for Mike Lowery (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence). An aging Burnett has become a police inspector while Lowery, suffering a midlife crisis, is assigned to head up AMMO, a “young guns” group of millennial cops with whom he has nothing in common. Both of them reunite once again when a fierce cartel mob boss, whose brother they defeated years earlier, makes a retaliation effort on Mike just as both he and Marcus are about to officially retire.
The new film also stars Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, Paola Nunez, Katie del Castillo, Nicky Jam, DJ Khaled, and Joe Pantoliano. Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, the film has been in development for quite some time, which makes the long-awaited reunion between Smith and Lawrence all the better.
“We hadn’t really done anything for 25 years so there was a little concern [over] the chemistry,’ Smith explained during a television appearance last year. ‘But literally the first moment on stage, it was right back.”
Bad Boys for Life is set to be released on Friday, January 17th.