In the opening scene of The Other Guys, the 2010 action-comedy directed by Adam McKay, bulletproof action-star police officers confidently leap off the roof of a building in pursuit of their perps. Played by Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson, the officers agree to “aim for the bushes” before plummeting to their deaths.

Ride or Die, the latest installment of the Bad Boys franchise, which that movie was loosely parodying, features its iconic gun-slinging partners returning to survive far more ridiculous stunts: mid-air helicopter shootouts, thrilling car chases, and explosions galore. Ride or Die packs all the over-the-top hallmarks you’d expect from the series. Like its predecessor, Bad Boys for Life, Ride or Die wasn’t directed by Michael Bay, but it certainly does his incendiary craft justice.

In Ride or Die, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their iconic roles as Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett. With both actors and, consequently, characters pushing 60, the film tries to leverage their age rather than pretending they’re still a pair of wanton adolescents.

In an early scene during Lowrey’s wedding, his partner Burnett suffers a heart attack. Upon discharge from the hospital, he goes through a midlife crisis, believing himself to be immortal. “It’s not my time,” Burnett claims as he ravenously pursues his indulgences, primarily candy and car chases.

Meanwhile, as a newly married man and father, Lowrey begins to grapple with his own mortality, now having something greater to live for than the adrenaline he craves from thrilling shootouts with mobsters.

There is far more depth and introspection to this story than you’d typically expect from a Bad Boys film, especially when the next scene is a drawn-out, slow-motion sequence of Burnett trying to placate his candy cravings with Skittles. It’s a funny gag at first, but it quickly becomes overused and annoying. There’s a fine line between lighthearted action comedy and farcical vaudeville, into which Ride or Die occasionally veers.

The plot is largely what you’d expect from such a movie: simple and to the point. A generic villain (Eric Dane) without much backstory or motivation seeks to frame Lowrey and Burnett’s late police captain (Joe Pantoliano) by falsely wiring the Miami drug cartel’s money through his name — surely a common mistake any dirty high-ranking officer could earnestly make. In efforts to clear his name, the titular bad boys are themselves implicated in the conspiracy and framed as accomplices, and they find themselves fugitives on the run.

The action in Ride or Die is generally exciting and well-executed. The film makes generous use of its R-rating, exaggerating headshots and bullet wounds. Smith, hot off his last action film — that is, the 2022 Oscars — is still in top form, beating adversaries with his bare hands and exchanging quippy banter. The highlight of the film, best left under wraps, is a scene featuring Burnett’s son-in-law, who is revealed to be a cross between Rain Man and John Wick.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The largely predictable narrative is padded with a slew of slapstick gags — some work better than others, but it never feels dull. In one scene amid a getaway chase, Burnett and Lowrey’s car is set aflame by Molotov cocktails, which Burnett cleverly attempts to extinguish with the use of the windshield wiper fluid, exacerbating the flames.

The Bad Boys franchise hails from the ’90s, an era when superhero films were scant and action entertainment was firmly in the hands of suave mavericks with an aversion to authority. In contemporary culture, where it seems most big-budget films need to shoehorn “woke” politics into their narratives, Bad Boys: Ride or Die remains refreshingly true to the apolitical ethos of pure action fun.

Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) is a film critic for the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a computer engineer in Toronto pursuing his MBA.