MOVIE REVIEW: BAD BOYS FOR LIFE

Old-school cops Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett team up to take down the vicious leader of a Miami drug cartel. Newly created elite team AMMO of the Miami police department along with Mike and Marcus go up against the ruthless Armando Armas.

Director: Bilall Fallah, Adil El Arbi

Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, Paola Núñez, Kate del Castillo, Nicky Jam, Joe Pantoliano

Release Date: October 18, 2019

Genres: Action, Comedy, Crime

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language throughout, sexual references and brief drug use

Runtime: 2h 3min

Review:

It’s understandable to wonder if the Bad Boys franchise really needed a third entry.  Michael Bay’s film’s played like forerunners to series like the Fast and Furious franchise in terms of excess, fun and logical silliness.  The 2^nd film in particular saw Michael Bay really exploring his excesses for better or worst but at the very least it felt like Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett’s story was finished.  Needless to say this film has very little reason for existing outside of a money grab.  There’s really very little reason for this film to be any good but it defies expectations and really delivers a fun ride that’s in keeping with Michael Bay’s style.  Directors Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi are clearly fans of Bay, he even makes a quick cameo, so you get shots and sequences which feel very much pulled from his bag of tricks.  It’s glossy and illogical but the film’s story is fun enough that you really don’t care all that much.  Will Smith and Martin Lawrence ease back into their characters with incredible ease even after a 17 year layoff.  Their interplay has always been the best part of this series and it’s no different here.  The story takes into account their advancing age which make the story meatier than it deserves to be and you even get some real stakes for the characters.  The crew of the AMMO group adds a solid mix of new characters which really keep the film pumping along even if the film starts to wear a bit in spots.  A few well placed edits would have made this entry really strong addition to the action genre.  That being said its worlds better than it deserves to be. 

B

MOVIE REVIEWS: SUCKER PUNCH

IN THEATERS

SUCKER PUNCH



The story of Alice in Wonderland receives a hyper-violent makeover in Watchmen and 300 director Zack Snyder's fantastical tale of a young psychiatric patient who escapes into a vivid world of fantasy after being committed to a mental hospital by her abusive stepfather. Set in the 1950s, Sucker Punch takes viewers on an incredible journey into the mind of Babydoll (Emily Browning), who finds herself at the mercy of her malevolent stepfather after her mother passes away. With no remaining family and no friends to turn to, her stepfather has her committed to a bleak mental hospital, where she is scheduled to receive a lobotomy in five days. As the procedure draws near, Babydoll creates a phantasmagorical alternate reality in which she must seek out five items in order to secure her freedom. Should she fail, her mind isn't the only thing she stands to lose. Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Carla Gugino, and Jon Hamm co-star in a film co-written by Snyder and Steve Shibuya. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director : Zack Snyder

Cast: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung

Release Date: Mar 25, 2011

Rated PG-13 for Thematic material involving sexuality, violence and combat sequences, and for language

Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Review:

I have a serious confession to make. I’m a nerd. It’s something I’ve come to accept over the years and ultimately embrace. Using that old adage that it takes one to know one, it’s not a stretch to say that Zach Snyder is also a nerd. Sucker Punch is his masturbatory love letter to his 13 year old self. Barely coherent with just the slimmest shred of a plot he moves the show forward by showing us what has been knocking around in his head for years. By strapping the storyline with a faux female empowerment theme he forgives himself for the cosplay fetish videogame he puts on screen. At the very least, the action is well executed and fun to look at. In fact it’s so well done that you could skip the “real world” segments and not miss much. The ensemble cast is uniformly stiff probably because Snyder didn’t demand much out of them and mostly just wanted them to look sexy and cool during the endless “money shots” and upskirts he had planned. Personally, I’ve always been a fan of Snyder and thought his cinematic version of Watchmen was an underrated gem. The aptly named Sucker Punch is nothing more than Chicago meets Cosplay, nerd porn that will send launch leagues of teenage boys into puberty. For the rest of us, well there are better ways to spend 2 hours.

D