After Bad Boys For Life became one of the few genuine box-office successes of 2020, another sequel in this previously long-dormant franchise was inevitable. And so four years later, here we are with Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, which reteams stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence with directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah for another dose of buddy cop carnage. They probably feel really silly ing For Life as the title of the third movie.

The story, which presumably made sense to at least one of the creative team, sees detectives Mike (Smith) and Marcus (Lawrence) investigating claims that their late captain (Joe Pantoliano) was on the take and working with the cartels to smuggle drugs into Miami. Before long, they’re accused of being part of his scheme, and are forced to go on the run to clear their names.

The means by which their captain is framed for drug smuggling are mystifying, and the villain’s motivation and plan are equally opaque. It seems to essentially amount to “drugs = profit”, but why this elaborate scheme to frame half the Miami PD is necessary is never clear.

A franchise with Michael Bay as its progenitor was never going to be a paragon of good storytelling, but story-wise this really is gibbering nonsense. It’s frantic, frenetic, and unwilling to even pause for breath, which would be fine if the plot were simple, but trying to make sense of its convolutions while keeping pace with the unfolding chaos is far more trouble than it’s worth.

A nonsensical plot might not be much of an issue if the character work were up to snuff, but Ride Or Die doesn’t have much going for it there either. Smith and Lawrence get by on pure star power and charisma, but Marcus is a cartoon character, and the script’s desperate efforts to give depth to Mike amount to nothing. He’s started having panic attacks on the job, the implication being that he’s much more aware of the danger he’s in now that he’s married. Unfortunately, his newfound anxiety comes out of nowhere and never gets satisfactorily addressed, just fading into the background and being forgotten about.

However, the story being absurd and the characters being outlandish caricatures does mean that for all these faults, entry number four is very entertaining and often extremely funny. More importantly, the main draw here – the action – is actually pretty excellent, riotously fun and superbly directed.

It’s as chaotic as the story but it remains comprehensible thanks to El Arbi and Fallah‘s genuinely brilliant camerawork. We get first-person shooter-style POV shots, the camera attaching itself to a gas canister as it flies through the air, and giddy, gleeful drone photography that will doubtless have Bay himself beaming with pride, having deployed drones himself to such great effect in his underappreciated, under-seen Ambulance.

There are Bay-isms galore including the obligatory magic hour sequences and the camera spinning dramatically around our heroes, but there are other influences too. A particular highlight is a home invasion sequence that channels the fateful attack from the very beginning of the original John Wick.

If you yourself are ride or die for this franchise, you’ll probably have a blast here. It’s utterly bonkers and great entertainment, but more casual viewers may be a bit baffled. Fitting the legacy of the late Don Simpson, who produced the first Bad Boys before his death and whose production company is involved here, it’s like everyone did a line of coke each time the cameras rolled. Your mileage may vary as to whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

★★★

In Cinemas from 5 June / Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Eric Dane / Dir: Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah / Sony Pictures Releasing / 15