Bad Boys for Life
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: January 17, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 46 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
22
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeJan 22, 2020
It is impossible to watch the picture without meditating on the way video games have changed action cinema. Similar thoughts kicked up during the very different 1917, but the loop is more dizzying here. Read full review
60
Paste MagazineDom SinacolaJan 16, 2020
Bad Boys for Life is better than it should be—the audience at my screening clapped when it ended—but not quite up to being what it must: a reminder that, you know what, a thousand years from now, Bad Boys will still fucking be here. Read full review
60
Total FilmJamie GrahamJan 16, 2020
Delivers as a Friday-night actioner, with some smart moves and good banter. Smith and Lawrence are on crackerjack form. Read full review
60
Time OutMichael GingoldJan 16, 2020
The movie’s greatest accomplishment, though, is the way it brings some honest heart to Mike and Marcus’s partnership in the first half, before the traditional mayhem and profane banter take over. Read full review
60
Screen RantSandy SchaeferJan 15, 2020
It's more effective as an action-comedy about Mike and Marcus struggling to figure out what they want in life (now that they're facing north of fifty) that a reflective drama about Mike coming to terms with his traumas and mistakes, if only because the latter plot thread tries to build on a foundation that, frankly, was never really there in the first two Bad Boys movies. Read full review
60
Rolling StonePeter TraversJan 15, 2020
It’s a bumpy ride for sure, but Smith and Lawrence haven’t lost their irresistible mojo and Bad Boys For Life plays like a blast of retro ’90s action. It’s like they never left. Read full review
60
The GuardianJordan HoffmanJan 15, 2020
While Bad Boys for Life has a completely asinine story, generic action, predictable plot beats, moronic dialogue and truly reprehensible politics, I still had a good time. Read full review
58
The Film StageConor O'DonnellJan 15, 2020
The film admirably attempts a level of emotional resonance Bay has proven largely incapable of. Even if it can’t quite wrangle those beats into one cohesive mood, it gives its leads the most they’ve had to work across this trilogy. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Johanna SchnellerJan 17, 2020
This film’s charm – and it does have some – lies in the fun it has with Smith and Lawrence’s aging. Read full review
50
The Associated PressMark KennedyJan 16, 2020
“Bad Boys” only works when the bickering cops are center stage. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJan 16, 2020
Lawrence doesn’t just steal scenes; he brings things back to earth, sometimes by expressing open contempt for the plot he’s mired in. His comic instincts are exactly what Bad Boys for Life needs as it tilts toward third-act grandiosity. Read full review
50
CNNBrian LowryJan 16, 2020
As is, this update of a brand of buddy action-comedy Hollywood churned out with regularity way back when is a pretty shoot-by-numbers affair, beyond the mild kick of acknowledging that the central duo are getting a bit old for this sort of thing. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 16, 2020
What you come for here, aside from nostalgia, is the excess, and “Gangsta” directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah serve that up in heaping helpings. Characters topple into pools of blood, all manner of vehicle is raced and blown up. And Miami has never looked sexier on the screen. Read full review
50
The New York TimesGlenn KennyJan 16, 2020
Lawrence’s riffs almost always land. They especially need to in the final quarter, when the movie sets the bar high for this year’s Dopiest Movie Plot Twist competition. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJan 15, 2020
So, for Bad Boys for Life, we avoid a trip into the lowest depths of hell in favor of a dead end. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJan 15, 2020
Bantering back and forth, Lawrence and Smith manage to recreate some of their screen chemistry — though not enough to make anyone want to go on another bumpy ride. Read full review
50
The PlaylistJason BaileyJan 15, 2020
What the newbies can’t recreate is the coked-up, jet-fueled delirium of Bay’s efforts, particularly the second “Bad Boys,” which may be as pure a peek into a narcissist’s id as has ever been captured in a summer studio picture. It’s a loathsome, ugly movie, but fess up, it’s one you’re still thinking about. Bad Boys For Life is, by most standards, a “better” movie. And you’ll forget it by next week. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJan 15, 2020
Bad Boys for Life may be a frantic visual blur but it’s razor-sharp thematically. Its mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make a jaded 2020 audience glad to see these guys again. The movie’s not the point. The boys are the point. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 15, 2020
This is, indeed, a somewhat kinder, gentler Bad Boys: less proudly offensive, less extravagant, but still basically the same collection of stylish clichés made palatable by a duo of likable stars with good chemistry. Read full review
48
TheWrapRobert AbeleJan 15, 2020
The stars certainly aren’t acting like their participation is a mercenary endeavor. Lawrence and Smith seem to enjoy their goofy-meets-gung-ho responsibilities, and that counts for something in these types of movies, as is a tone decidedly less mean-spirited than the last one’s, and a central car/motorcycle/helicopter chase that distracts you with thrills rather than wear you down with overkill. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovJan 15, 2020
Bad Boys for Life – while not as combustibly fun as the second installment – is fine, cheesy, Saturday afternoon mayhem, smoothly served with a heaping helping of “We’re all getting older.” Read full review
40
Screen DailyTim GriersonJan 15, 2020
Taking the reins from Michael Bay, directing duo Adil & Bilall supply loads of energised style, but without the panache or shamelessness of their predecessor. As for stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, they don’t seem rejuvenated by this reunion, mostly re-creating the forced back-and-forth quipping that wasn’t even fresh back when they were younger men. Read full review
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