Although 1995’s Bad Boys didn’t become a blockbuster, it made a nice profit and helped launch the movie careers of director Michael Bay and actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Indeed, all three went onto bigger things, a factor that made a sequel tougher to achieve due to their higher salary demands.

All finally worked it out and returned for 2003’s Bad Boys II. That one made more cash than its predecessor, but it also cost much more.

Whereas the 1995 film came with a $19 million budget, the sequel used up $130 million. With a worldwide gross of about $267 million, Boys II likely failed to turn a profit, and that appeared to end the franchise.

Never say never, I guess, as 2020’s Bad Boys For Life brings back the series for its third iteration – though likely not its last. With a surprisingly strong $419 million worldwide gross, don’t feel surprised if Sony greenlights a fourth tale.

Longtime police partners Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) face a potential rupture, as Marcus plans to retire. Before this can happen, though, a mysterious assassin shoots and nearly kills Mike.

We learn that Armando Aretas (Jacob Scipio) committed this act, and on the orders of his mother Isabel (Kate del Castillo), he plans to murder a slew of personnel also associated with Miami law and order. Along with a team of younger officers, Mike works to stop this killing spree, and inevitably Marcus finds himself involved as well.

If you follow the review links, you’ll see that I didn’t much care for the first two Bad Boys movies. Nonetheless, I entered Life with guarded optimism that it might actually hit the spot.

I always regarded the first two as disappointments because I should have liked them. I enjoy action flicks and have found those involved in the Bad Boy movies entertaining, so I expected fun and excitement.

They didn’t work for me, but I still hoped the third time would be the charm. Actually, when I first learned of Life, I feared the worst, as the combination of a lousy trailer and a sub-optimal mid-January release date didn’t inspire confidence.

Critically and commercially, Life turned into a huge success. Not only did it rake in the big bucks I already mentioned, but also it easily got the best reviews of the three.

The first Bad Boys sports an iffy 43 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and Boys II plummets to a miserable 23 percent. Life jumps all the way up to 77 percent, however, as it found a pretty strong reception.

Which I can’t explain at all. Maybe critics circa 2020 comprise a group that grew up with the first two movies and the warm sunlight of nostalgia blinded them to the third flick’s multiple flaws, as Life offers an aggressively, comprehensively awful movie.

I never thought I’d say this, but Life may well bring the worst of the lot. It clearly fares less well than the first, which at least enjoyed youthful energy and a fun turn from Tea Leoni.

Boys II stunk, but I can’t claim with any certainty that it seemed worse than Life. Actually, I guess I’d prefer to watch Life over Boys II just because it runs about 20 minutes shorter, but neither comes with any actual redeeming value.

Life really does disappoint, if just because it comes with so much room to succeed. For one, it aspires to get into actual adult themes, as the leads confront middle age and life choices.

In addition, we get new talent behind the camera. Michael Bay directed the first two, but Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah – simply billed as “Adil and Bilall” – take over for the third film.

Given Bay’s many weaknesses as a director, this seems like a move in the right direction. While I’ve enjoyed some of Bay’s flicks, his two Bad Boys tended to emphasize his deficits and ignore his strengths, so the shift inspired hope.

Unfortunately, no new energy shows up on screen. Indeed, if you don’t know Michael Bay didn’t direct Life, you’d never tell by the movie, as Adil and Bilall attempt to Out-Bay Michael Bay.

Expect every “Bayism” to appear here. Nonsensical action? Check.

Camera that spins spins spins spins spins? Check.

Cheap attempts at humor that fail to flow with the rest of the tale? Checkity check.

Perhaps Adil and Bilall boast cinematic talent. Perhaps they wanted to put their own stamp on the movie but Sony ordered them to emulate Bay as much as possible.

Whatever the case, the end result becomes idiotic and incomprehensible. Story changes occur with no logic, and characters change for no discernible reason.

For instance, the movie establishes that Lowrey and younger teammate Rafe (Charles Melton) hate each other – until they don’t. We get no scenes that depict the evolution of their relationship, so they go all buddy-buddy on us out of nowhere.

As I mentioned, the movie delves into issues of middle age, but it really uses this as glorified window-dressing. Marcus’s desire to retire and Mike’s choice to act like he’s still 25 exists as cheap melodrama and nothing more, so expect no real character development.

Perhaps if the action satisfied, these deficits would matter less, but the many violent sequences seem perfunctory and downright dull. We get no sense of excitement from these, as they just toss out the usual fireworks without vivacity or impact.

Throw in one of the most ridiculous third act plot twists in film history and I find nothing worthwhile about Bad Boys For Life. This becomes an atrocious attempt at action excitement.

Bad Boys For Life appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a pretty strong presentation.

Sharpness looked good. A sliver of softness impacted some wider shots, but the film usually felt accurate and concise.

No concerns with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and edge enhancement remained minor. Source flaws also failed to create problems.

In terms of colors, For Life went with “action-standard” orange and teal. As much as I dislike those choices, they made sense here, as they echoed the Michael Bay palette of the first two flicks.

Blacks were deep and firm, while shadows showed good delineation. Overall, this was a pleasing presentation.

Similar thoughts greeted the good DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of For Life. I felt the soundscape delivered an involving experience in which the action scenes offered a nice sense of impact.

The film packed plenty of these elements, so we got many instances of gunfire, explosions, and other lively tidbits. Overall, the mix filled out the room in a satisfying manner.

Audio quality was positive. Speech came across as natural and concise, without edginess or other issues.

Music showed good range, and effects offered a nice sense of impact. These were the kind of loud, impressive elements one would anticipate, as they showed solid clarity. This was a good soundtrack.

As we shift to extras, Ride or Die lasts 13 minutes, 51 seconds. It brings notes from directors Adil and Billal, executive producers Barry Waldman and Chad Oman, co-writer Chris Bremner, producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Doug Belgrad, costume designer Dayna Pink, and actors Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Joe Pantoliano, Vanessa Hudgens and Charles Melton.

“Ride” looks at the long development of the third film in the series, story/characters, cast and performances, the impact of the directors, sets and locations, stunts and action, and costumes.

Like one might expect, “Ride” comes with a fair amount of hyperbole and praise involved. However, it manages a pretty decent view at the film despite the happy talk, so it merits a look.

It’s About Damn Time runs six minutes, 44 seconds and provides comments from Pantoliano, Billal, Adil, Hudgens, Melton, Bruckheimer, Smith, Lawrence, Oman, Belgrade, Pink, and actors Nicky Jam, Jacob Scipio, Theresa Randle and Alexander Ludwig.

With “Time”, we learn about aspects of the first two movies. Though we locate a few details connected to the original film’s development, this acts more as an appreciation than anything informative.

Split into three segments, Partners in Crime spans a total of 16 minutes, eight seconds. These clips offers notes from Smith, Lawrence, Billal, Adil, Hudgens, Melton, Ludwig, Scipio, Jam, Waldman, Belgrad, Pantoliano, and actors Kate Del Castillo, DJ Khaled and Paola Nunez.

Here we look at story/characters, cast and performances, and the impact of the directors. Some of the footage from the set seems interesting, but the comments tend toward the superficial side of the street – and it seems possible that Adil and Billal are the two most obnoxious, annoying men on the planet. They make Michael Bay look low-key and introverted!

Epic Stunts goes for nine minutes, 12 seconds and features info from Smith, Lawrence, Adil, Billal, Waldman, Jam, stunt coordinator/2nd unit director Mike Gunther, special effects coordinator Eric Frazier, and stunt double Dan Mast.

As expected, this show examines the action and stunts of the film. We get the usual mix of happy talk and insights, though “Epic” includes more of the latter than most of the disc’s other programs.

Next comes Easter Eggs, a six-minute, 38-second reel with Adil and Billal as they lead us through a discussion of small nods toward the first two films as well as other trivia. The directors continue to annoy, but they give us some interesting notes.

A Stephen A. Smith Audition lasts one minute, 20 seconds and matches Smith and Lawrence with sportscaster Smith. It offers a comedic attempt by Stephen A. to get the role as police captain. It’s an ad but it’s more entertaining than the movie itself.

Eight Deleted Scenes occupy a total of eight minutes, 11 seconds. Given these running times, one shouldn’t expect much substance from the clips.

Most act to extend existing sequences or add a little character information. We do get an alternate version of the climax. None of them would’ve harmed the film, but they wouldn’t have added much either.

Finally, we get Outtakes and Bloopers, a two-minute, 47-second compilation. It delivers the usual goofs and giggles.

The disc opens with ads for Morbius, Bloodshot, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Charlie’s Angels (2019) and Zombieland: Double Tap, No trailer for Bad Boys for Life appears here.

After 17 years, the long-dormant franchise returns via Bad Boys For Life. It does so in a highly unsatisfying manner, as it feels much more like self-parody than vibrant action. The Blu-ray comes with solid picture and audio as well as a decent array of bonus materials. For Life winds up as a genuinely awful movie.