I don't think many people really expected much out of BAD BOYS FOR LIFE. The third film in the franchise landed almost seventeen years after BAD BOYS II and the trailers were tepid at best. After a decade and half would audiences still be down for another adventure from detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence)? The answer was a resounding "YES!" Not only did the film outperform expectations opening weekend, raking in $48 million at the domestic box office, but the movie was a hit with critics, scoring a 77% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. JoBlo's own Matt Rooney thoroughly enjoyed the action flick, praising its fresh vision and character development.
The "fresh vision" in question had a lot to do with who helmed the third go 'round for Mike and Marcus. While slow-mo, explosion aficionado Michael Bay directed the first two BAD BOYS films, he decided to pass on the third picture. Instead, directing duties fell to Abdil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. However, the duo did get a chance to meet the originator of "Bayhem" himself when the director visited the set to film a cameo. In a recent interview on the podcast ReelBlend, Arbi and Fallah stated that Michael Bay gave the pair some…shall we say…blunt advice regarding the third film:
"The day we did that shot, that was the first time we actually met him, and he only gave us one piece of advice… and that advice he said was: don’t f*&k up my baby."
You know some directors provide incredible and insightful pearls of wisdom. 2001 director Stanley Kubrick once said, “A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later." David Lynch – who just interviewed a monkey about a potential murder – said, “I look at the world and I see absurdity all around me. People do strange things constantly, to the point that, for the most part, we manage not to see it.” Michael Bay simply implored Fallah and Arbi not to f*&k things up.Thankfully for fans, the dynamic directing duo ran with that advice and since BAD BOYS 4 is already in development, I'd say the results were a resounding success.
So did you guys like BAD BOYS FOR LIFE? Are you down for more adventures with Martin Lawrence and Will Smith? Did you wish Michael Bay had returned? Hit us up in the comments below!