Bad Boys for Life is the third, and convincingly, the last of the Bad Boys trilogy franchise. Yes, there are bits of shortcomings in the movie, but there’s no denying that Bad Boys for Life is not a bummer, and it‘s so awesome it deserves the 424.6 million dollars Box Office, and some appraisal too.
Scarlet Media has come with Five Ways Will Smith Saved Bad Boys for Life.
Warning: may contain spoilers
5. Will Smith is a Realistic Hero
When we are not watching fantasy or science fiction, we expect a more realistic and familiar experience. But don’t you wonder when you see some heroes who get shot and still chase whoever had shot them? Some even catch up with automobiles…ahah… I have even seen many who removed the bullets and cure their wounds themselves, despite having no experience in medicine.
Oh, I can as well become a surgeon when it’s needed, innit? For other heroes who don’t become surgeon, they leave the hospital a day or two after the incident, and next, you see them fighting, beating up someone as bulky and healthy as an elephant.
Detective Lowrey (Will Smith) is not that kind of hero. He’s shot, taken to the hospital for treatment, and spends a realistic amount of time for recovery.
If not a superhero movie, gone are the days of over-romanticized heroes, people want something more realistic nowadays.
4. Will Smith Seeks Help
The usual thing is seeing our heroes helping people. You know, they are gods and can hardly seek help. But this is different with Will Smith in Bad Boys for Life. We see him seeking help around to know who has shot at him. Even when the help doesn’t come from Marcus who will later be his partner, he goes elsewhere to seek the help, because he knows there’s no way he can do it all alone.
Will Smith, as Detective Mike Lowrey in the movie, understands that there’s limitation what everyone, no matter how smart and powerful can know or do. It’s a remarkable evolution from the usual I-can-do-it all kind of hero we are familiar.
Even when Marcus refuses to help, Mike goes to Manny the butcher to get information he considers relevant to the search.
3. Will Smith Fails at Some Point
Writing a hero in film or literature doesn’t necessarily mean that the hero must be better than other characters and with no shortcomings. In Bad Boys for Life, it is even hard to ignore Will Smith (Mike Lowrey)’s failure, because it’s what lead to Grassie’s death.
Also, he fails to protect Howard, who gets shot in the throat. The failure is quite expensive, yet it is a good reason to be committed to the cause. Another mistake of his is letting Armando go, all because he is transfixed after seeing the face behind the mask. And this truly happens. He is a hero who can fail, get beaten and also win. When Marcus later offers to help, Mike (Will Smith) accepts the offer because he knows that he is bound to fail if he doesn’t get help from people that are capable of helping out. Altogether, the series of failures is what charge him more to work on finding Armando and his mother, Isabella. Besides, he knows that his life is in danger too, if he fails to capture the criminals.
Elsewhere, you will find a hero who doesn’t kill their darlings and still wins the fight against a formidable legion of antagonists. Some don’t even have a scratch or sweat while or after fighting. The only being capable of doing this in real life is angel Michael. Perhaps they those heroes are a better version of him.
2. Will Smith is Haunted
At the climax of the movie, we later go to know that Isabella and Detective Mike Lowery had an encounter that led to bedding Isabella who would later be Armando’s mother. Mike Lowery kills Isabella’s husband and this past haunts him until the end of the movie. When shit as such happens, it’s obvious that it doesn’t usually end with the causer, everyone around suffers the consequence. This accounts for the death of nameless people, including lawyers, police and judges slain by Armando.
While we all know that Armando is vindictive, he doesn’t act in his own accord. There’s a force behind him, and that force is his mother. He has raised him along the path of vengeance, and that’s the path he takes almost throughout the movie, until the truth surfaces.
This back story is what further strengthens the plot and provides us the premise for Armandos behavior. Imagine there’s no back story as such, we wouldn’t have even known why Armando is so vile and bloodthirsty. Besides, it quite a great twist.
The plot is further consolidated when Will Smith should be shot dead, and Armando steps in to take the bullet and saves his father. This must have roused some emotion in you too, right?
1. Will Smith Changes a Hardened Criminal
Armandos has wreaked lots of evil on society. Han yo, we know that these are grave deeds, but it would be a bummer to have him slain for those deeds. Well, that’s my view. He can be forgiven, especially after he’s agreed to work for the police in order to capture other bad guys. You know it’s like accepting the offer of the police translates to becoming a new creature, and all bygones are bygones.
After all, killing Armandos will not resurrect those he had killed, and since we preach forgiveness in America, I think it’s appropriate to showcase this in our movies too, even though it might be a different story in real life. You know, it’s a version of the ‘don’t try this at home’ WWE instruction. Have left a stone unturned concerning how Will Smith Saved Bad Boys for Life? You’re free to remind us by commenting below.
