Since the last installment in this bombastic comedy-action franchise practically determined that its two heroes, the buddy cop team of Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowery (Will Smith), were on the retirement track, this fourth episode feels kind of desperate, as if it were custom made to bring Will Smith, who’d effectively been cancelled since that Oscar slap, back to box office glory, which it did. More likely, the folks behind the franchise have been planning this movie since before the slap (which, by the way, is awkwardly but effectively incorporated into the action near the end) since there were a few loose ends at the close of the previous movie that could justify another go. Most critics I’ve read so far have been charitable with the movie probably because the filmmakers and the cast seem so invested in the appeal of the characters, their sardonic give-and-take, and the patently ridiculous action set pieces. It’s nothing if not earnest, and may be a step less intolerably loud than the two Michael Bay-helmed installments, but it’s still teeth-gratingly convoluted and, at times, downright stupid. 

And while the duo’s put-upon mentor, Captain Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano), is already dead, his spirit keeps the plot going in the new one. With Mike marrying his sweetheard, Christine (Melanie Liburd), who barely appears in the movie after the ceremony, and Marcus suffering a heart attack at the wedding that puts him in a temporary coma, the two are haunted by the captain in their dreams just as an investigation into his aborted search for a cartel mole in the Miami police force is instigated, threatening to soil Howard’s legacy, which Mike and Marcus won’t stand for. The increasingly involved plot eventually takes in an evil cartel enforcer, McGrath (Eric Dane), who is framing Howard’s memory; Mike’s criminal son, Armando (Jacob Scipio), who has inside knowledge of the cartel in question; a Miami politician (Ioan Gruffudd) who is now going out with Mike’s ex (Paola Nunez), who also happens to be his new boss; and Howard’s daughter (Rhea Seehorn), a U.S. Marshall, as well as her daughter (Quinn Hemphill), because the movie is nothing if not a family affair. 

The Moroccan-Belgian directing team of Adil & Bilall try to leave their stamp on the action with funny camera moves and colors you’ll remember from 90s techno raves, but the best you can say about the style of the movie is that it isn’t as nerve-wracking as what Bay produced. Then again, I don’t really think people come to Bad Boys for that kind of thing. They come for the Lawrence-Smith chemistry, and in that regard Smith’s annoyed straight man shtick remains effective, while Lawrence’s increasingly unhinged purchase on reality (Marcus believes here that, having survived a heart attack, he’s now invincible) will either have you in stitches or looking for the nearest exit. I left a long time ago.

Though fantasy fever dream The Watchers isn’t part of a franchise, it was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan, and produced by M. Night, so it also feels as if it takes place in the Shyamalan alternate universe, where pretty much anything weird can happen. The source novel by A.M. Shine doesn’t seem to lend itself to an easy transfer to the screen, and a lot of the plot points feel forced, the most glaring one being the lead character, Mina (Dakota Fanning), a depressed young American woman living in Galway on the west coast of Ireland, a fine city that nevertheless would be the last place a depressed young American woman would probably choose to live. Mina spends her days working in a pet store and her nights dressing up as someone else and hanging out at bars. Ordered to deliver a parrot, she gets lost in a dense forest and her car breaks down. While being chased by some unseen force, she comes across a bunker, where she is met by an older woman named Madeleine (Olwen Fouere).

There are two other people in the bunker, Ciara (Geortina Campbell) and Daniel (Oliver Finnegan), who inform the new arrival that they are trapped in what they call “the coop” and must display themselves in front of a bunker-long one-way mirror for the denizens of the forest after nightfall. During the day, they can go wherever they want, but at night they must be in front of the mirror. If they aren’t, they are promised a violent death. 

Basically, Shine’s story is about mythical creatures and how they’ve entered our folklore, but the younger Shyamalan doesn’t seem to know how to work with allegory. Everything about Mina is trite and obvious, from her trauma-filled back story to her habit of talking to herself as a means of providing plot exposition. Though there are a few tense scenes the scares never make a deep impression. Most annoying is the lack of any real substance to the titular monsters’ existence, which is explained every which way but coherently. And the suggestion that they may, in fact, be creatures of somebody’s imagination is just insulting. 

Bad Boys: Ride or Die now playing in Tokyo at Toho Cinemas Nihonbashi (050-6868-5060), Toho Cinemas Hibiya (050-6868-5068), Marunouchi Piccadilly (050-6875-0075), 109 Cinemas Premium Shinjuku (0570-060-109), Shinjuku Wald 9 (03-5369-4955), Shinjuku Piccadilly (050-6861-3011), Toho Cinemas Shinjuku (050-6868-5063), Toho Cinemas Shibuya (050-6868-5002), Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills (050-6868-5024).

The Watchers now playing in Tokyo at Toho Cinemas Nihonbashi (050-6868-5060), Toho Cinemas Hibiya (050-6868-5068), Marunouchi Piccadilly (050-6875-0075), Shinjuku Piccadilly (050-6861-3011), Toho Cinemas Shinjuku (050-6868-5063), Shibuya Humax Cinema (03-3462-2539), Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills (050-6868-5024).

Bad Boys: Ride or Die home page in Japanese

The Watchers home page in Japanese

The Watchers photo (c) 2024 Warner Bors. Ent.