Movie Review: Bad Boys For Life

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A lot of fun with all the action and humor you would except plus a surprising amount of well done sentimentality.

This is a Bad Boys movie and as such the main appeal is the chemistry between Will Smith and Martian Lawrence. This is luckily as great as ever. These two work off each other perfectly not only in the comedic scenes, but in the more serious scenes as well. These two are a joy to see together on screen and it is easy to truly believe that these two are brothers in all but blood when watching this film. This is what makes the more sentimental moments of this movie work. Yes that is right I said sentimental in a review of a Bad Boys movie. There is a surprising amount of that here as this film examines the relationship between these characters in a way that the previous two never would (perhaps because Michael Bay is no longer the director). What is surprising about this is that it works. The relationship between these two characters is very relatable and real. When the two fight in this movie it doesn't feel like a comedic scene, but one that is heartbreakingly bitter. We want to see these two together and the idea that they may not be Bad Boys For Life is not a happy one. Don't worry though none of this means that the humor and action is in anyway lacking. There are tons of jokes and while not all of them hit, the ones that do are quite funny. The audience I saw this movie with laughed out loud quite a bit and so did I. The action is as good as one could hope for. It is as over the top and fun as one would except from a Bad Boys film. You may not be able to take all of these action scenes seriously but once again this is a Bad Boys movie. The story is definitely one we have seen a million times before, but it is still quite well done and the more depth that is added to our main characters certainly helps quite a bit. This movie also has the best villain of the series.

If I were to complain about this movie the first thing, I would complain about is the new group of young cops the boys work with. These characters are simply not very interesting and feel like stereotypes of movie characters we have seen many times. Certainly more could have done to make them interesting considering this movie gave other characters more depth than the previous films.

I didn't except much from this movie, and came away having quite a good time.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Gemini Man

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A highly entertaining and visually stunning action movie.

The protagonist of this movie is very much what you except from a character played by Will Smith. Meaning he is very likable, but without much depth. However for an action movie like this likability is the most important thing in a character. If we can root for him than the action becomes much more exciting because we don't want to see him die. Speaking of action scenes, the ones in this movie are fantastic. Too often longer action scenes can start me to have to force myself to pay attention. That never happened here at all. The action was perfectly shot and paced as well as being able to keep an emotional connection throughout. The action is often times very over the top. However that is not only par for the course for a film like this it is also part of the fun. After all who going to this movie isn't partially there to see Will Smith fight Will Smith. It is easy to call that a gimmick, but it was a gimmick I and many more people will enjoy watching.

The storyline offers nothing new, and it is hard to call anything that happens surprising. However for what it is the story is, it is well told with some well written dialogue and believable character moments. I may have seen much of this before, but I was still heavily engaged.

This movie has some of the best use of 3-D I have ever seen. Most of the time when I see a movie in 3D, the experience is more than a little underwhelming. The 3D adding little more than a few gimmicky moments, if that. I have often because of this written 3D itself off as a cheap gimmick. However the motorcycle chase scene in this film has made me a believer. Similarly this film makes you realize how far technology has come in similar ways. To see how the made Will Smith look 30 years younger is incredible and could not have been done just a few years ago. As he so often does Ang Lee is breaking new ground visually in this film.  

Don't except anything original story wise. Just go for fun and I am sure you will enjoy yourself.

-Michael J. Ruhland