Bad Boys once represented a landmark opportunity for coloured actors in the blockbuster era. But cops, robbers and chemistry doesn’t automatically translate into the kind of mythology deep enough to sustain a franchise in this post-Marvel world.

This is made clear in Bad Boys for Life. In some ways, we could make excuses for its meh performance. First, Michael Bay, the original director, plays no part in its visit back to the silver screen; instead, we have the young Belgian director duo of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. You could say after passing the baton on to the latter, the movie simply became a try hard version of what its predecessors were.

Secondly, the original cast no longer have it in them to portray these characters. Sure, they age gracefully and admit they’re no longer the young hotshots they once were for the Miami Police Department but the script they bring to life really pushes these actors into an almost unnatural level of ‘try hard.’

It was painful to watch and honestly, a huge disappointment especially for those of us who watched the first two films.

One thing that did seem to try and hold the movie down (and by this I mean struggling to hold it by its very fine thin seams) was the humour and lightness brought on by the younger cast – along with some brow raising eye candy. Ladies, ‘Vikings’ star Alexander Ludwig and Charles Melton of ‘Riverdale’ definitely keep us interested. And of course, the beautiful Vanessa Hudgens shows us that she’s not the little girl who sang through highschool anymore!

All in all, there is a slight sense of nostalgia to the film. With its blood orange colour grading, flashy Miami lifestyle and soundtrack, the movie is worth a watch. It may have not been what I expected but who knows, maybe you’d like it!