Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are 'Bad Boys for Life' in just-released trailer: 'We're not just black, we're cops, too'

Ethan Alter
·Senior Writer, Yahoo Entertainment
Updated

We may be a quarter-century removed from the original Bad Boys, but Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are here to show you that they definitely aren’t too old for this... well, you know. The first trailer for Bad Boys for Life, the third installment in the duo’s signature franchise, dropped today promising one last outing for Miami-based detectives and all-around destruction-causers, Michael Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence). At least they’re going out in style: The two-and-a-half minute clip shows the stars flexing their action muscles and even offering some contemporary social commentary about cop vs. community relations. “We’re not just black, we’re cops, too,” Lawrence says in the middle of a car chase through a mall. “We’ll pull ourselves over later.” (Watch the trailer above.)

Even as Lowrey and Burnett get back to their “muscle shirts and body counts” ways, the movie acknowledges that they aren’t the young guns they were back in 1995’s Bad Boys. That film, and the 2003 sequel, were produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Michael Bay and perfectly encapsulate his oft-imitated action aesthetic. The Transformers director isn’t involved in Bad Boys for Life — Belgian directing pair Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are behind the camera instead — but Bruckheimer is back, as is Joe Pantoliano as long-suffering police captain, Conrad Howard.

Picking up some 17 years after Bad Boys 2, the new film finds Burnett on the cusp of retirement, until Lowrey enlists him in a new mission to take on a Romanian mob boss. But maybe the poor guy would be better off taking the gold watch after all based on his vocal distaste for his partner’s run-and-gun style. Some on Twitter have already tweaked Lawrence for not appearing in fighting shape.

On the other hand, others are eager to see the boys back together again. Cue the music!

Bad Boys for Life will speed into theaters on Jan. 17.

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