‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ review: Will Smith gets slapped in latest comeback attempt
nypost.comsmacking comedian Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars in 2022.But, for the time being anyway, that bizarre incident is still fresh on viewers’ minds, and the “Independence Day” actor remains a very challenging guy to like — even in an easily digestible buddy-cop movie.
His second go at a comeback after last year’s “Emancipation” would suggest a clichéd old phrase about third times.In the mediocre sequel to 2020’s surprisingly fun “Bad Boys for Life,” Smith is completely dead behind the eyes, with that glazed-over look of corporate burnout.
Maybe his peepers are tired from watching his Q score plummet for two years.Not so of his co-star Lawrence, who is as boisterously silly as ever, playing a bumbling Miami police officer for whom enforcing the law is an annoyance.When his character Marcus suffers a heart attack and has a near death experience, he becomes obsessed with discreetly eating Skittles and Doritos behind his concerned wife’s back.
Strange visions have led him to believe that he’s invincible. It’s random, but it’s something.Lawrence’s irrepressible comic energy — I could listen to him shout “Oh s–t!” on an endless loop — is what keeps “Ride or Die” from being a routine traffic stop.Yes, it’s true that Smith’s Mike has always been the straight man of the duo.
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