The previous film in the franchise, Bad Boys for Life, was the fourth highest-grossing film of 2020, amassing over $426 million worldwide. While it had the advantage of being released in January 2020, before COVID changed everyone’s plans for that year, it showed that even with a 17-year gap between installments, an audience was ready to welcome back Miami police detectives Mike (Will Smith) and Marcus (Martin Lawrence).

However, the release of BB for Life was preceded by the infamous Will Smith ‘slap’ at the Oscars, which somewhat tarnished his Best Actor win for King Richard. His subsequent release, Emancipation, went straight to streaming. This raises an interesting question: has the cinema-going audience forgiven Will and forgotten about the Chris Rock incident? The answer could significantly influence the success of Bad Boys Ride or Die.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die is the franchise's fourth installment and is expected to be one of the big summer hits this year. Plotwise, all we have to know is that Mike and Marcus's late boss is being implicated with having links to drug cartels. To clear his name, the two run afoul of the law and, ironically, end up having to resort to extra-legal means to complete the mission.

Most of the beloved cast of BB for Life is back, including Vanessa Hudgens, adding a sense of continuity and familiarity to the new installment. Directed again by El Arbi and Fallah, the film also sees the return of Armando (Jacob Scipio), who we discovered in the last installment as Mike’s son. This revelation promises to add a new layer of complexity to the story.

It’s hard to believe that the very first Michael Bay (who has a cameo) - directed Bad Boys was a 1995 film, with a sequel in 2003 - before the duo's 2020 return. It’s a cop buddy film that has proven its Hollywood worth over decades.

So, is Will Smith forgiven? The primary audience of this film franchise never cared all that much about the Oscars' ballyhoo. As long as this film delivers the anticipated mix of action and humor, which it does, it’s heading to the bank in grand fashion. And I will give due credit to the filmmakers for making the last 40 minutes of the film a pleasing actionfest, helping compensate for the slow-burn start.

Notwithstanding the lackluster run of Furiosa: a Mad Max Saga; this Bad Boys will prove that the trend of proven IP, like Planet of the Apes, is still the bank-worthy route for Hollywood. I’m unhappy to say that, as it means less support for new film concepts, but it is the prevailing lesson and hard truth. In the meantime, a resounding welcome back to Will and Martin as a top-grossing summer release.